naptha ruins metal - ?

[Liz Day]

Greetings, and a warning...

I didn't have any large flat glass containers big enough to float a spread 
polyphemus moth in, so I decided to degrease the moth specimens using my 
steel cooking pans.  I figured that if you store gasoline in a metal can, 
then a steel Revereware pan ought to be suitable for naptha.

DON'T DO IT.   The pans now have these wavy, iridescent markings on the 
bottom - caused by the naptha, I can only assume - and I can no longer cook 
in them on high heat without stuff promptly burning to the bottom of the 
pan.   This never happened before.    I should have gone out and bought a 
glass tray for $15 (that I would never have another use for), but I was 
trying not to spend any more money than necessary on this volunteer 
moth-exhibit project.  Now I'm out the cost of two new pans (about 
$65).  Plus the three times I had to spend 20 minutes scraping burned-on 
food off the bottoms with steel wool before I figured out that something 
was wrong.

I had no idea that naptha would affect steel or any kind of 
metal.  :-(   Also, I'm not mounting any more large moths.  If something 
won't fit inside a small fruit jar I'm just letting it go.

Liz



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Liz Day
Indianapolis, Indiana, central USA  (40 N, ~86 W)
Home of budgerigar Tweeter and the beautiful pink inchworm (Eupithecia 
miserulata).
USDA zone 5b.  Winters ~20F, summers ~85F.  Formerly temperate deciduous 
forest.
daylight at kiva.net
www.kiva.net/~daylight
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