When alcohol is used to sterilize, what about it changes that it can't be re-used? [closed]








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I read online that when you use regular household rubbing alcohol to soak something for sterilization purposes, you're then supposed to toss it out. I'm just curious why. 


Like, as long as there's a lot of liquid still left, why is it not re-usable? Is it because there's bacteria or other stuff that transferred from whatever you were sterilizing into the alcohol, therefore reducing its effective % of alcohol, and that's what's important to sterilize, so once you're below a certain % concentration it's worthless. Or is it because the alcohol has actually evaporated off and what's left is just liquid (water)?


