Solvents in Australia

[DMTPanda]

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?

 

[dazzB]

Can I ask if anyone here is getting results with Diggers Shellite purchased from Bunnings?
Ive had a few goes following the DMT Handbook method using Acacia Acuminata, hydrochloric acid to make the tea pH4 and caustic soda to basify over ph13. When I extra, the shellite turns a clear yellow liquid like pee, not milky like its supposed to.
I did get a very small amount of crystals in the freezing process, about 7mg from 100g of Acacia. That's a very poor result.
Any ideas on what's happening?
thanks

 

[reun]

Can I ask if anyone here is getting results with Diggers Shellite purchased from Bunnings?
Ive had a few goes following the DMT Handbook method using Acacia Acuminata, hydrochloric acid to make the tea pH4 and caustic soda to basify over ph13. When I extra, the shellite turns a clear yellow liquid like pee, not milky like its supposed to.
I did get a very small amount of crystals in the freezing process, about 7mg from 100g of Acacia. That's a very poor result.
Any ideas on what's happening?
thanks

Make sure you run an evaporation test on that shellite. I tried it and it failed, and from what I understand, there are others who can confirm these results. What this means is that Diggers Shellite is not safe to use for this exercise. As for the clear yellow liquid stuff, I've had pulls where the solvent was pee-like and other pulls where it was cloudy -- I think it partially depends on the temperature, but I don't think it's a sign of trouble.

 

[dazzB]

Make sure you run an evaporation test on that shellite. I tried it and it failed, and from what I understand, there are others who can confirm these results. What this means is that Diggers Shellite is not safe to use for this exercise. As for the clear yellow liquid stuff, I've had pulls where the solvent was pee-like and other pulls where it was cloudy -- I think it partially depends on the temperature, but I don't think it's a sign of trouble.

Thanks for the reply Reun.
Is there another solvent that I can use instead of the Diggers Shellite? Another brand that is easy to find in Australia?
I was thinking of trying Toluene and producing the Jungle Goo. From there I was going to us the Diggers Shellite to pull.

 

[dazzB]

I see there are similar threads that discuss solvents. Like:
"Regarding alternative solvents vs naphtha"
I'm working my way through them but getting suggestions from successful pulls here in Australia (and recently) is greatly appreciated.

 

[reun]

Thanks for the reply Reun.
Is there another solvent that I can use instead of the Diggers Shellite? Another brand that is easy to find in Australia?
I was thinking of trying Toluene and producing the Jungle Goo. From there I was going to us the Diggers Shellite to pull.

Earlier in this thread, I listed all options that I could find in Australia, they are:

• Sceney's Quality Shellite (verified - safe)
• Diggers Shellite (verified - unsafe)
• Zippo Premium Lighter Fluid (verified - unsafe)
• Bosca Shellite
• Shellite Solvent X55 from Sydney Solvents
• Super Pack Shellite Shell (available on eBay)
• Finisher's Edge naphtha (I think this one looks promising, but it appears to be permanently out of stock)
• Pure Heptane: this one is available from some chemistry labs and some seem to actually sell it to private individuals without asking for ABN information, but I feel very uneasy about approaching them!

I only actually tested the top 3 and only one of them passed the evaporation test. Sadly, Sceney's quality shellite appears to be virtually impossible to find. It's also worth noting that just because my batch passed the evaporation test, doesn't mean that another batch will also pass, so be sure to test everything. As for pure heptane, this is your best bet, but buying it may be fishy. If anyone here does end up going that route, I'd love to hear how they went. Similarly, if anyone verifies any of the other options on this list, I'd love to hear about it, too. Some of these are sold in large quantities, like Bosca, so if you get 5L and it doesn't work, then you have a lot of shellite to slowly evaporate away! This is not something that you want to pour down the drain.

Personally, I still have some Sceney's left for a few more extractions, but I have already procured all the necessary ingredients to use d-limonene based extraction methods. Note that d-limonene, just like toluene, does not freeze-precipitate, so if you want freebase, then you need to add another step: fumarates to freebase conversion.

Good luck!