Free spirit - could you guestimate how much lye is used in your procedure? It seems as though you're basifying a quick tek like an A/B, which in my friend's experience, leaves a lot of spice behind.    Coyote - point taken here's my thoughts, for what they're worth.    A pH of 3 -4 is perfect. One should use more volume though - 2-3X the volume of the powder - and applying heat really speeds up the breakdown and extraction.    The only filtering necessary is through a fine strainer and that is only so that one doesn't have a lot of particulate clogging up their sep funnel.    Defatting is unnecessary with MHRB. Isopropyl alcohol is not a non polar solvent and will not separate from your solution.    The best way to basify is to make a very strong lye solution and add small amounts until the solution turns black and feels slippery and soapy. Note how much solution it took to get there and then add an additional 25%.    The naptha quantity sounds right. My friend would evap it down until it gets cloudy and then freeze precipitate it. This should give crystals like table salt that don't need recrystalization unless one wants them to be bigger.