Ammonia Wash

[Atrox]

N00b here. Been reading over extraction reports and it seems that many are foregoing the ammonia wash. Is it necessary when performing an STB extraction? SWIM is going to attempt their first STB extraction this weekend with Noman's tek.

Wish SWIM luck.

 

[xdream]

N00b here. Been reading over extraction reports and it seems that many are foregoing the ammonia wash. Is it necessary when performing an STB extraction? SWIM is going to attempt their first STB extraction this weekend with Noman's tek.

Wish SWIM luck.

Tell your pets boyfriend that if he does a recrystallization ammonia wash isnt necessary.

Good luck!

 

[acolon_5]

There are much better ways to wash and much better things to use than ammonia.

You loose too much product with an ammonia wash. There is a ton of info on here about washing spice (and the correct way to wash!) as well as recrystalization.

For STB crystals I do suggest at least recrystalizing. Many find them to be extremely harsh to smoke.

If you really do want to wash, do it while your spice is still in the naphtha. Never wash the actual crystals, it accomplishes very little except dissolving perfectly good spice.

 

[burnt]

Washing crystals themselves is a waste. Impurities get trapped within the crystals. The best way to wash is with a solution of sodium carbonate of about pH 10-11. Use it to quickly rinse the non polar solvent a couple of times if you are concerned about contaminants from the original basic extract.

 

[aznedy]

So, the consensus here is that, a re-crystallization will remove any NaOH that is present? I'd like to know how likely it is that NaOH gets trapped in the solvent to begin with. It's my understanding that NaOH would have to be bonded to another molecule in order to get trapped in the solvent.

 

[Infundibulum]

NaOH does not get into the non-polar solvent. And even in the otherworldly scenario in which some NaOH could get into the non polar solvent, then it would be the first thing to precipitate out during recrystallisation.

If one suspects NaOH contamination, this can be removed by washing the non-polar solution which has the dissolved spice with basified water. But this is usually unnecessary if NaOH removal is in mind since NaOH would not go in the non-polar solvent anyway.

 

[aznedy]

Thanks for your reply, Infundibulum, it puts my mind at ease.

 

[Atrox]

So is it safe to smoke spice after the freeze precip without a wash or recrystallization?

 

[xx13w7xx]

@burnt I thought you want your sodium carbonate wash ~pH 8.5.. not 10 or 11... Any incites on this?

 

[BeenHereBefore]

So is it safe to smoke spice after the freeze precip without a wash or recrystallization?

I'd like to know this as well

 

[Jorkest]

yeah..its usually ok..but sometimes you may get a little bit of the lye solution in there and its good to at least recrystallize to remove it...but if its a white..to slightly yellow..it should be fine

 

[acolon_5]

You can, but if you find it burns or is too harsh, then purification might be warranted.