Great UK Naphtha Source

[eastlancsguy]

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the correct sub forum. Mods - please feel free to move if not.

A friend of mine thinks he may have found a great source of naphtha for our UK members: SWS Panel Wipe. Looks like it is 100% naphtha and hexane:

My friend bought this 5 litre tub from a small independent roadside motor shop, purchased at the unbelievable cost of £10.99!!!! Much, much cheaper than buying small tins of Swan / Rononsol.

Hope this helps anyone in the UK searching for a high quality source of naphtha.

All the best
ELG

 

[Jees]

Looks good at first sight, ask for a MSDS sheet and post it here?

 

[eastlancsguy]

Yeah, unfortunately my friend asked the supplier (SWS) for one, but they wouldn't provide one as he hadn't purchased it directly from them. I've looked for one on the web but haven't been able to locate one.

The shop where my friend bought it won't have one, so I'm not sure if it's going to be possible to get one.

 

[d*l*b]

I found an SDS, it is from 2009 though. See attached PDF.

 

[Jees]

Thanks dIb, according to that sheet it must be pentane-hexane ish, mostly n-hexane, like the label on the can says.

Ideal for re crystallization purposes due low spice-solubility at lower temps.
To extract, one better warm the soup to make the hexane more soluble for spice.

The data sheet has a error:
it says boiling point 107 - 137 deg C.
That must be Farenheit, because it is in real 40 - 60 dec C which corresponds with the functionality of a panel wipe.

 

[eastlancsguy]

Thanks d1b and Jees,

My friend used this solvent to pull from both an MHRB and AC extraction recently. He got just over 2% for the MHRB (2 pulls, 100ml solvent each time) and just under 1% from the AC (he only did 1 pull on the AC [100ml solvent], so there's likely still more to come). He always gently heats his base layer and heats up the solvent quite a bit to ensure maximum efficiency.

My friend's not sure how long this stuff will last, but if it lasts indefinitely, he doesn't think he'll ever need to buy solvent again!

Hope this helps someone out there .

All the best
ELG

 

[Jees]

... He always gently heats his base layer and heats up the solvent quite a bit to ensure maximum efficiency...

I guess you know this already but be careful, I think like 40 deg C (100 deg F) feels like cozy warm to the hands and already enough for pulls.

A warm water bath indirect heating is preferred. E.g. put a big pot with water on the fire and heat it too desired temp like 50 - 60 deg C. Remove pot from fire. Only then place flask-to-heat in that pot so it can absorb the warmth.

 

[eastlancsguy]

... He always gently heats his base layer and heats up the solvent quite a bit to ensure maximum efficiency...

I guess you know this already but be careful, I think like 40 deg C (100 deg F) feels like cozy warm to the hands and already enough for pulls.

A warm water bath indirect heating is preferred. E.g. put a big pot with water on the fire and heat it too desired temp like 50 - 60 deg C. Remove pot from fire. Only then place flask-to-heat in that pot so it can absorb the warmth.

Yeah, that's exactly what my friend does. He's cracked masons jars and had a litre of horrible base soup all over his kitchen and clothes before from heating too much/quickly, so he's learnt the hard way lol....

Funny story... When my friend went into the motor store to ask for panel wipe, the owner gave him a funny look and told him he was the second young guy who'd come in recently specifically asking for the panel wipe that contains naphtha . Luckily, my friend knew that people use this panel wipe as a substitute for expensive cooking fuel, and so had a ready made excuse We both wondered whether or not the other dude was a fellow traveller, I hope so