Purifying NaOH traces from spice

[NotTwo]

I've just prepared a batch of spice from MHRB and after 3 x A/B cycles have ended up with a very nice yield of white mini snowball crystals. After a sample vape of 10 mg - which produced pretty amazing visuals - it seemed a bit harsh in the throat. I took a sample amount, added a small amount of deionised water at 25°C, agitated a bit then tested it with the pH meter. The pH came out at 8.7, not high I know but enough to determine that at least some sodium hydroxide had passed through at the non polar phase.

My inclination would be to redissolve in minimal warm solvent, shake with warm deionised water slightly basified with sodium bicarbonate, leave to separate then recrystalise in the freezer. However I'm a bit concerned that I might somehow lose the spice in the aqueous layer (the chemistry says it shouldn't but it's taken a lot of hours of patient work to get this far and I'm reluctant to go ahead without a bit of advice on whether this is the best approach).

Many thanks

 

[paperjack]

Hi,

If the water is basified then the DMT should not dissolve in it, only in the nonpolar solvent. If you want to be sure, increase the pH of the water even more, but make sure not to saturate it otherwise it will not absorb the NaOH

BR,

PaperJack

 

[concombres]

Washing after initial extraction is a good practice & does seem to make the spice less harsh, but personally the only thing that seems to keep the vapor cool enough for a smooth hit is a water bong with a copper mesh disk/plug in the stem & good control over the flame.

 

[NotTwo]

Washing after initial extraction is a good practice & does seem to make the spice less harsh, but personally the only thing that seems to keep the vapor cool enough for a smooth hit is a water bong with a copper mesh disk/plug in the stem & good control over the flame.

Do you mean a water bong with real water in it, concombres? If so, doesn't the water just remove a large amount of the vapor as it passes through?

Before now I've added about a foot (30 cm) of clear PVC hose to my wooden VG pipe which seems to cool it a bit and has the advantage that you can get an idea of when and how much vapour is heading your way.

 

[concombres]

Washing after initial extraction is a good practice & does seem to make the spice less harsh, but personally the only thing that seems to keep the vapor cool enough for a smooth hit is a water bong with a copper mesh disk/plug in the stem & good control over the flame.

Do you mean a water bong with real water in it, concombres? If so, doesn't the water just remove a large amount of the vapor as it passes through?

Before now I've added about a foot (30 cm) of clear PVC hose to my wooden VG pipe which seems to cool it a bit and has the advantage that you can get an idea of when and how much vapour is heading your way.

Yes a water bong with water
& no it does not trap any vapor that I know of.
It can be a little hard at first getting a mesh disk right, too tight & it restricts airflow, too loose & spice melts through.

If you have a glass bong lying around & can find 99% copper mesh locally ($2usd tops) try it out & perfect smoking technique this way.

Smoking method is personal preference & different methods may be easier or suit what you have available better.

I can never get a good hit from pipes & a bong offers cooling & a large chamber for big, dense hits so I stick with that.

 

[NotTwo]

Yes a water bong with water
& no it does not trap any vapor that I know of.
It can be a little hard at first getting a mesh disk right, too tight & it restricts airflow, too loose & spice melts through.

If you have a glass bong lying around & can find 99% copper mesh locally ($2usd tops) try it out & perfect smoking technique this way.

Smoking method is personal preference & different methods may be easier or suit what you have available better.

I can never get a good hit from pipes & a bong offers cooling & a large chamber for big, dense hits so I stick with that.

Cool, thanks.

Yeah, even with the VG pipe and a few meshes in place I still find I need to insert a little wodge of fine wire wool and melt the crystals into that before going for the full vape. I'll try out the water bong method and see how that goes.

 

[DeltaSpice]

Hi,

If the water is basified then the DMT should not dissolve in it, only in the nonpolar solvent. If you want to be sure, increase the pH of the water even more, but make sure not to saturate it otherwise it will not absorb the NaOH

BR,

PaperJack

I have to say your avatar picture is truly disturbing :roll:

 

[NotTwo]

Hi,

If the water is basified then the DMT should not dissolve in it, only in the nonpolar solvent. If you want to be sure, increase the pH of the water even more, but make sure not to saturate it otherwise it will not absorb the NaOH

BR,

PaperJack

I have to say your avatar picture is truly disturbing :roll:

I presume you mean Paperjack's?

Yes, the incongruity of that avatar with fractals and machine elves is just too much for me to get my head around

 

[paperjack]

I have to say your avatar picture is truly disturbing :roll:

I presume you mean Paperjack's?

Yes, the incongruity of that avatar with fractals and machine elves is just too much for me to get my head around

You guys are just jealous of my freshness