Sodium bicarbonate vs Lye

[abc1234560]

Okay, So to keep lots of options open to me, I would like to have some alternatives to using lye in a MHRB extraction just incase I end up discovering that its not available where I live.

I have read from a post by 69ron about a year ago that sodium bicarbonate should be strong enough to basify my MHRB.

Sodium carbonate can be made from baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) by heating it in an oven. I forget the exact temperature and time used. So you can just buy baking soda at the local grocery store and make sodium carbonate yourself. You can also buy it on-line. It’s not a suspicious purchase.

He mentioned that it was easy to make from sodium carbonate (baking soda) by just roasting it in the oven (details unsure of as of yet).

So My question is: With noman's Tek, To basify my MHRB, would I use the same ammount of sodium bicarbonate as pure lye?

I would imagine that it would all have to do with its ph level with respect to amount required..

Thanks!

 

[endlessness]

you got it mixed up... sodium BIcarbonate is a weak base (which barely raises the pH to 9, not enough for extracting dmt), and by putting it in the oven you can make sodium carbonate, which is a medium strenght base that can raise the pH to around 11. You can read about how to convert bicarbonate into carbonate in the WIKI

But even with sodium carbonate, you cant really use it instead of lye like you seem to think. Sodium carbonate wont work for STB teks.. It could work for A/B teks, but there is a very big chance you might have troubles with emulsions when mixing your solvent. Emulsions can be easily cleared in lye teks by adding more lye, but this wont work with adding more sodium carbonate. You just might be able to clear the emulsions by adding a bunch of salt, but its possible also it will remain and will be a pain in the ass.. I never used sodium carb for mimosa A/B so I dont know from experience. I would suggest running a search on "sodium carbonate a/b" or something of the sort, and see what people have wrote about it

The other option, which is maybe the best alternative to lye, is using edible lime/calcium hydroxide (CaOH) instead, which you should be able to find it in most countries. But also there are changes in the teks if you use it, because CaOH is poorly soluble in water, so you have to make a dry tek instead (check the WIKI extraction teks, as both Amor Fati's non-toxic approach and q21's tek are dry teks that use CaOH as a base)

 

[abc1234560]

Wicked! I managed to mix the two up with the quote right in front of my eyes! Damn though, I was really hoping some one would say something like "Yup. Thats does it. All your problems are solved!" But than that would be just too easy... Besides, who would ever use lye if you could just throw a box of baking soda in the oven and have the equivalent..

I'm going to look for another Tek and explore the lime\CaOH options I think. I'm still not absolutely sure if I have access to lye or not here where I'm too. I would imagine that it wouldn't be off the shelves here, but just in case. Anyways that's the answer I was looking for. Thanks Endless!

 

[MySmelf]

You can NOT use sodium carbonate for a STB like noman's. Sodium carb is a weak base and will not break down the bark.

I've used it in A/B's before with varying results. When pulling with naptha I've always gotten poor yields though toluol seems to do much better.

Nowadays I only use sodium carb for a quick wash before freeze precip. And yes its very easy to make from baking soda. I cook it on the stove in a small pot with a clear lid and it only takes maybe 10 minutes.

Edit: Sodium carbonate is a WEAK base. it can go to pH 11.6 but no higher because its reversible unlike a strong base. I think I've even seen the pH go down slightly after add more, but I could've been seeing things.

 

[GirlsHateMe]

If you can find lye, I REALLY suggest using it. I also couldn't find lye at one time and used sodium carbonate instead.

It caused massive foaming and loss of liquid and tons of emulsions. I hated it.

People whine and moan about using lye and how dangerous it is. When in reality its not that dangerous if you are clean and consistent with your lab work. It also works SOOOO much better than sodium carbonate.

I dunno, alot of people here hate lye. Me? Im a huge lye fan.

Lye is sold at lowes under the brand roebic drain cleaner 100% lye, its in a white bottle with a big yellow label, hard to miss.