RE: Is Monokote really garbage??
I haven't used Balsarite but I have put a hot iron to Sig Coverite that was saturated with dry nitrate dope to help form it around tight corners before doping it in place (a tip I read here on rcu). The dry nitrate dope was unaffected by the heat. Perhaps Balsarite uses the same solvents and hence smells similar leading to confusion.