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Solvents in Australia

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DMTPanda

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Taking a stroll through a local Bunnings the other day, SWIM could really only find Shellite and Xylene as solvents for extraction.
Shellite leaving an oily residue and Xylene stinking like a major chemical spill, are there any other solvents that could be suggested to SWIM?

Toluene I believe is highly carcinogenic.

D-Limonene sounds ideal for its smell, safety, and pulling ability however I'm pretty sure it's not an available product in Australia.

Are there any other suggestions of what products that can be used for extracting Obtusifolia?
 
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DMTPanda said:
Taking a stroll through a local Bunnings the other day, SWIM could really only find Shellite and Xylene as solvents for extraction.
Shellite leaving an oily residue and Xylene stinking like a major chemical spill, are there any other solvents that could be suggested to SWIM?

Toluene I believe is highly carcinogenic.

D-Limonene sounds ideal for its smell, safety, and pulling ability however I'm pretty sure it's not an available product in Australia.

Are there any other suggestions of what products that can be used for extracting Obtusifolia?
Click to expand...

Toluene is a classified as group 3
" (IARC): Group 3 - Not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans. " Basically no evidence to say it is or isnt. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IARC_Group_3_carcinogens
The body breaks it down easily and it isnt too bad for the environment either as long as it is disposed of responsibly and not into water.

I noticed diggers have 3 brands of naptha available, shellite , low odour and paint brush cleaner.
 
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So far since I've been looking in local shops I've found 4 different brands of naphtha:

-KCB (Supercheap)
-Sceneys (Mitre 10)
-Diggers (Bunnings)
-Zippo (most tobacco stores)

From the MSDS on the first three in that list, and I could be wrong, but Sceneys looks like it is the only one that contains some toluene?
 
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Sceneys is 100% toluene and zippo has been used numerous times around the world successfuly.
You cant freeze precip with toluene (its not naptha) and it takes even longer than water to evaporate but you can salt then convert the blab way if you want, also, zippo is selective you wont get a full spectrum..
Let us know how you get on!
 
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If I'm doing a freezer precipitation using the aforementioned Sceneys shellite (naphtha) but which has a toluene content of up to 5%, do you think it will make a difference to my final yield? Being that toluene and freeze precipitation don't work?

I'm guessing the toluene content of less than 5% won't really make an appreciable difference?
 
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Hmm hard to know but it is very soluble in toluene even at low temps so could caus problems..You also need to know if it leaves a residue it may have impurities from production that drop out at low temps and contaminate your spice..
 
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Well upon streaking both Diggers and Sceneys shellite onto a mirror tonight, here is what I found:

- Diggers seemed to leave no trace of any oily remains
- Sceneys left a very obvious oily film

Diggers also smelt much more akin to Zippo brand naphtha, it had that "sweet" smell to it. The Sceneys smelt a lot different, had a harsher smell, more like paint thinners, it definitely has something extra in there.

I also wasn't sure if the fact that it left an oily film naturally means that I shouldn't use it for extractions, or if it will be okay still? I simply don't know how the Sceneys shellite will perform at low temperatures and whether this oily residue will actually contaminate the spice when doing a freeze precipitation - I imagine because it doesn't evaporate off at room temperature that it probably will sit in the precipitated spice even with a fan blowing on it and stay there, thus contaminating it though.
 
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Toluene can easily be obtained from motor shops.
I believe it is used as a fuel additive for increasing octane level...but I am not certain >_<.
I personally perform a Toluene extraction, evaporate, and then re-xtal freeze precip with Zippo. :)
I also find Toluene evaporation is considerably faster than water...but slower than something like Diggers Shellite.
 
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+1 vote for sceney's toluene as recommended by choco.. great quality solvent, smells awesome (not that you should be smelling it) and evaps nice and clean. pulls alkaloids just as well as xylene .. hehe and if you hold them side by side the xylene smells even worse than it normally does
 
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Ok so toulene seems to be the preferred choice, doing multiple pulls with shellite does suck..
So to Choc, Shaneduddy & Acacian, how much can 100ml of toulene hold/pull? And does it evap to form crystals if it's saturated with mostly DMT?..( if the pull was from a clean species, would it solidify after evap or would you HAVE to r-x because of the oils and other things it pulls )
Thanks If anyone could help out:thumb_up:
 
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Zippo premium is reported to leave behind jelly when freeze precipitating. That melts and evaps at room temp so not a good one to use.
Looks like Aus researchers dont have a clean naptha.
I hate the stuff anyway Im sure Ive seen limonene on sale in bunnings now..
Now all Aus.needs is a fumaric acid supplier..
 
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shanedudddy2 said:
Toluene can easily be obtained from motor shops.
I believe it is used as a fuel additive for increasing octane level...but I am not certain >_<.
I personally perform a Toluene extraction, evaporate, and then re-xtal freeze precip with Zippo. :)
I also find Toluene evaporation is considerably faster than water...but slower than something like Diggers Shellite.
Click to expand...

After you evaporate the toluene, is the next step of re-xtaling with a zippo fuel freeze precip essential? Or do you do it just to get cleaner spice? What is the spice like after just the toluene evap?
 
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dmt_spider said:
What is the spice like after just the toluene evap?
Click to expand...

This^
I mean surely for extractions with 7grams of dmt in the soup a pull of toulene wouldn't turn to goo.. But are the crystals red/orange/waxy or clear? If anyone has experience..
 
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No experience but Ive read it pulls the full spectrum of alks and more, resulting in a waxy resin.

AVOID zippo premium lighter fuel it freeze precips a jelly like substance that melts at room temp. Hours later a stain on the coffee filter was noticed after it had evapped.
It is also a potent CNS depressant even in adequate ventilation.

Limonene is widely available online in aus and it isnt much more expensive than toluene and you can re-use it.
 
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I found another brand of shellite today in Mountain Designs (outdoor shop) - Hateleys Shellite (a Hunters Products brand). I'm thinking outdoor shops might be a good place to look due to shellite for use with camping stoves.

Incidentally, I tested it on a mirror with the Sceneys and Diggers brands again. This time I made certain the mirror was absolutely spotless and streaked each out using some pieces of paper towel.

All of them evapourated fast, and all three left ever-so-slight streaks behind, so I don't know if this is the paper towel or what. The first time I tried it the Sceneys stuff was quite streaky but I couldn't replicate that tonight and I think it may have something to do with the dust on the mirror the first time around.

Smell wise, the Diggers definitely has the sweet naphtha smell, Sceneys is the harshest and Hateleys lies somewhere in between the two.
 
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Nice harm prevention work :) I too saw another in Bunnings, with the lamp fuel. No label just written "traditional fuel' or something, 100% hydrocarbons.
I hope Aus catches on to limonene supporting the oil companies seems counterintuitive. Buy Limonene Aus im sure there is some entrepeneur out there who will sell fumaric acid from inside Aus too.
 
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Hey all,

After some time off, I'll be looking to get into the swing of things again.
Question on Shellite.
Since the solvent must be hot when used to pull, if the shellite cools while still in contact with the basified solution (i.e. the cooled shellite hasn't been seperated from the basified solution), will the dmt migrate back towards the basic solution?

Or will the dmt remain in the shellite?

In other words does the solvent still have to be hot when its seperated from the basic solution?
 
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