Has anyone in Australia purchased a solvent from an industrial chemistry lab?

[reun]

Hi all,

I'm new here and I'm having a lot of trouble finding a clean non-polar solvent. I'm based in Australia, and regular naphtha brands (called "shellite" here) are failing the evaporation test. One yet unexplored avenue for me to look into is buying n-heptane from an industrial chemistry lab. Most of these do not sell to residential addresses; they require a business registration number to make such purchases, but some shady ones seem to sell these products to retail consumers. That said, I'm worried about going down this track. First, the transaction would look highly suspicious and I'm not sure whether this suspicion would culminate in anything. Second, it's a dangerous good that I'd be buying and I'm concerned about the delivery itself being a rather dramatic process somehow. However, perhaps I'm overthinking all this. If anyone from Australia has bought n-heptane or other chemical products from an undustrial chemist to a residential address, I'd love to hear from you.

Many thanks!

 

[blig-blug]

Is it illegal to buy heptane in Australia? If it's not, I wouldn't assume that the ones selling to consumers are shady. Heptane has many more uses than extracting DMT. I usually get it from retail lab supply stores (in Spain, so different laws) without issues. And, as I mentioned elsewhere, the delivery is always in a normal box, using a normal courier, in a normal truck. It could be different there, but I wouldn't assume it is.

 

[reun]

Is it illegal to buy heptane in Australia? If it's not, I wouldn't assume that the ones selling to consumers are shady. Heptane has many more uses than extracting DMT. I usually get it from retail lab supply stores (in Spain, so different laws) without issues. And, as I mentioned elsewhere, the delivery is always in a normal box, using a normal courier, in a normal truck. It could be different there, but I wouldn't assume it is.

Technically, heptane is legal in Australia, but as I noted in my original post, two factors concern me:

• Logistics: I'm not sure what's involved in delivering dangerous goods like heptane, but I feel that such order may raise questions
• Scrutiny: if this order does raise questions, I feel like it would be very difficult to explain why I'm buying this

But yes, there are some retailers offering heptane, for example Lab Supply and Pure Science.

When I posted this thread, my hope was to get clarity on the two problems I mentioned above: logistics and scrutiny. I wanted to understand if others have dealt with this and what was their experience like.

 

[TheGreenPhantom]

As far as scrutiny goes: you're using heptane to remove the adhesive on stamps you are collecting, as well as dissolve some stubborn rubber cement stuck on... whatever it's stuck on. There's a huge mess of it 'cuz some kid got rubber cement all over your rec room, so you need a liter of heptane.

Logistics: if you're not dealing with customs, it's like receiving any other package.

 

[Animistic]

I've had a friend purchase solvents like heptane online, no issue and based in Aus. He may have had it delivered to a work address in a semi relevant industry but I'm pretty sure he had it delivered to his house.

 

[reun]

Thank you all! Alright, I feel more at ease about the idea of finally dealing with that rubber cement

That said, I'm currently exploring an artisan solvent that may do the trick, so I hope I won't have to go down the heptane route, but I do, then I will update this post!

 

[TheGreenPhantom]

I'm currently exploring an artisan solvent...

Please, do tell more!

 

[reun]

Please, do tell more!

This is the one I just ordered: Sceneys Quality Shellite. I should get it in a few days and I will report back with my evap test results!

 

[_Trip_]

You can have lab grade heptane delivered from sellers on ebay in Aus.

You'll still likely get goo with it though if using acacia, depending on your process.

 

[reun]

You can have lab grade heptane delivered from sellers on ebay in Aus.

You'll still likely get goo with it though if using acacia, depending on your process.

It appears as though you can indeed buy heptane via eBay, but it would have to arrive from overseas, and I'd really prefer not to do that with dangerous chemicals. As noted earlier, there are some chemistry labs catering for the retail sector locally, it's just that I'm still not sure whether doing business with these organisations may lead to complications. I'm exploring other alternatives for now.

I'm working with a finely powdered MHRB, so hopefully I will not be dealing with goo!