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!

 

[dazzB]

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!

Thanks Reun
Ive put some of my Diggers Shellite into a dish to test for evaporation. In theory, there shouldnt be anything remaining is that correct. No oily residue etc?
I'll see if I can find anything from your list.

I can get xylene or toluene. Perhaps using one of those? I know I cant freeze-precip with it.

 

[reun]

Thanks Reun
Ive put some of my Diggers Shellite into a dish to test for evaporation. In theory, there shouldnt be anything remaining is that correct. No oily residue etc?
I'll see if I can find anything from your list.

I can get xylene or toluene. Perhaps using one of those? I know I cant freeze-precip with it.

You just need a single drop on a clean piece of glass to conduct an evap test -- it's usually very quick. There should be absolutely nothing left behind.

I haven't used xylene or toluene, but I believe it is used for extractions, however, since they do not freeze-precipitate, you may need to take a different approach than you would have if Diggers actually worked.

 

[Transform]

You just need a single drop on a clean piece of glass to conduct an evap test -- it's usually very quick. There should be absolutely nothing left behind.

There's a small caveat to this, that the glass must be absolutely clean. Even tiny traces of detergent can lead to an oily ring being left behind with an otherwise clean solvent. Wiping the glass beforehand using an absolutely clean tissue or lint-free cloth, moistened with a little of the solvent to be tested, helps in this situation. Glassware for detergent analysis is routinely rinsed with high purity hydrochloric acid, so that may also be worth bearing mind as an additional cleaning method.

 

[dazzB]

You just need a single drop on a clean piece of glass to conduct an evap test -- it's usually very quick. There should be absolutely nothing left behind.

I haven't used xylene or toluene, but I believe it is used for extractions, however, since they do not freeze-precipitate, you may need to take a different approach than you would have if Diggers actually worked.

Thanks Reun
I believe using Toluene still requires shellite to produce crystals from the jungle juice. So I still need to find a solution to the Diggers Shellite or use another method - the fumarate to freebase method.

 

[dazzB]

There's a small caveat to this, that the glass must be absolutely clean. Even tiny traces of detergent can lead to an oily ring being left behind with an otherwise clean solvent. Wiping the glass beforehand using an absolutely clean tissue or lint-free cloth, moistened with a little of the solvent to be tested, helps in this situation. Glassware for detergent analysis is routinely rinsed with high purity hydrochloric acid, so that may also be worth bearing mind as an additional cleaning method.

thanks Transform. I'll do another clean and do the drop test.

 

[reun]

There's a small caveat to this, that the glass must be absolutely clean. Even tiny traces of detergent can lead to an oily ring being left behind with an otherwise clean solvent. Wiping the glass beforehand using an absolutely clean tissue or lint-free cloth, moistened with a little of the solvent to be tested, helps in this situation. Glassware for detergent analysis is routinely rinsed with high purity hydrochloric acid, so that may also be worth bearing mind as an additional cleaning method.

Yes, that's a great point, and I'd also like to add one other tiny detail to this: be mindful of how you transfer the shellite to the glass surface. If you are using a pipette, then make sure the pipette itself is clean, otherwise it may introduce contamination. Some metal shellite containers may also introduce contamination, e.g. if you collect a drop that leaks along the outer side of the container. It's a small detail, but it has the potential to give you a falsely failng test

 

[reun]

Thanks Reun
I believe using Toluene still requires shellite to produce crystals from the jungle juice. So I still need to find a solution to the Diggers Shellite or use another method - the fumarate to freebase method.

If you have clean shellite or heptane, then you can skip toluene altogether. Just dissolve the bark in a lye solution, mix with shellite, then pull and freeze. You can find teks on the Nexus that describe how to do this. As far as I'm aware, if you want freebase but you don't have shellite, then you will need to use the fumarate to freebase conversion method I referenced earlier. You could use the Q21Q21 tek or the BLAB tek if you don't have shellite.

 

[dazzB]

If you have clean shellite or heptane, then you can skip toluene altogether. Just dissolve the bark in a lye solution, mix with shellite, then pull and freeze. You can find teks on the Nexus that describe how to do this. As far as I'm aware, if you want freebase but you don't have shellite, then you will need to use the fumarate to freebase conversion method I referenced earlier. You could use the Q21Q21 tek or the BLAB tek if you don't have shellite.

Thanks Reun.
I just need to find good shellite.
I'll have a look at your list and see whats available and do some test evaps.
Failing that, I'll look at those other Teks you suggested.

 

[dazzB]

Yes, that's a great point, and I'd also like to add one other tiny detail to this: be mindful of how you transfer the shellite to the glass surface. If you are using a pipette, then make sure the pipette itself is clean, otherwise it may introduce contamination. Some metal shellite containers may also introduce contamination, e.g. if you collect a drop that leaks along the outer side of the container. It's a small detail, but it has the potential to give you a falsely failng test

I'll just be tipping it straight from the Diggers plastic bottle that it comes in so only contaminate potential will be on the glass surface itself.

 

[reun]

I'll just be tipping it straight from the Diggers plastic bottle that it comes in so only contaminate potential will be on the glass surface itself.

That seems sensible, you'll probably just end up pouring more than you need out, but that's okay. Just make sure that the shellite doesn't drip along the bottle, which itself may introduce contamination.

That said, personally, I don't recommend even trying. I've seen a bunch of people on this forum report that Diggers is consistently failing the evap test. I would be very surprised if it didn't. I tested a bottle myself just a few months ago, it failed, then I ended up having to evaporate the whole bottle just to dispose of it.