MrHonekyDonkey said:
What I want to know is how do I do this step exactly? How do I know the DMT is in the acidified water & not the naptha? Does the saturated naptha get less saturated if I'm doing it right?
In your first picture, I think there is a very very fine layer of plant fats. There looks like there is 3 layers, albeit a very fine line.
The solvent will still retain that dirty looking color even if you're doing it right. However the DMT salts back into the acid. I tend to see microscopic white specs floating around in the acidic water, but after enough swirling I just trust that its migrated across especially If I knew the pre-cleanup solvent was highly saturated.
When I clean ACRB there is a definite layer of brown fatty plant oils. Every Acacia I've extracted with does this. There is the possibility that it's clean, but I'm probably more inclined to believe that your bark isn't great.
You could try adding a little more acid into your water and swirling around again 10+ times. You could also try putting it into a heat bath - which is something I do too.
After that, remove the solvent and put it aside in a jar, mix your base and put it in with the acidic water. If it doesn't turn white like milk then your DMT is either in very low quantity or your solvent wasn't saturated (low yielding) before the cleanup step.
You have come unstuck twice at this point. When I was doing my first few extractions I really didn't understand or know what saturated solvent looked like until I extracted with MHRB. After that point I was like "aha!, that's what its supposed to look like!".
I'm starting to think that you are believing that your solvent is saturated when it's actually not at all. When solvent is saturated it looks kinda magical. The slightest blowing on it/change in temperature makes it really obviously cloud up, even when you have 100+ml of naphtha.
You need to check your solvent before the clean up step. Evaporate it down by half and if you can still see through it then its not heavily saturated.
Once you've based the mix, put up a photo and we'll have a look.
On a side note, see if you can find Hydrochloric acid HCl at your local hardware store. I find it a hell of a lot easier to work with (make sure you have adequate protective gear, eyes, respiratory, gloves). Doesn't stink your house up either.