Extraction Extract Purification

[Afrikaaner]

Hey guys, having some minor experience extracting DMT, part of the process can involve having the DMT dissolved in a solvent, and then "washing" the solvent with some specially prepared water, which will absorb things like left over lye and unwanted plant matter which are also dissolved in the solvent with the DMT.

So this got me thinking, why can't we do the same to our hash oil? Shouldn't we be able to say use hexane (very non polar) to either dissolve dirty extract we want to clean up or even just use it from the start of a QWISO tek, then toss in some plain old water (quite polar), swish it around, see the water absorb chlorophyll and whatever other crap might be included, separate them, and then evaporate the hexane resulting in a higher purity product?

Not sure if those "steps" were clear or not, let me know if you want me to clarify things.

 

[Mr Bloom]

I once boiled up a San Pedro Cactus and used lighter fluid to extract the mesc. It tasted like petrol, wish I'd known how to clean it up back then! But those were the days before broadband and all I had to go by was a few hastily written down notes. Would have extracted a few other plants and grasses too if it had of worked out ok the first time.

 

[GoidianGanja]

avoid using any organic solvent other than medical grade or human consuption grade ethanol or gelatine of course natural food oils may be used but AVOID ALL things with ISO Propyl Butane etc as there are too many potentially poisonous contaminants

 

[Afrikaaner]

Thanks for the advice regarding food grade materials and such, but I was looking first for some more chemistry related advice as to whether I'm on the right track or something like that. Anyone here with a decent understanding of chemistry want to chime in?

 

[kpex]

Shouldn't we be able to say use hexane (very non polar) to either dissolve dirty extract we want to clean up or even just use it from the start of a QWISO tek, then toss in some plain old water (quite polar), swish it around, see the water absorb chlorophyll and whatever other crap might be included, separate them, and then evaporate the hexane resulting in a higher purity product?

You are right on point! The problem is separating them. The solvent evaps faster than water, so your oil precipitates out first; BUT, determining when the solvent is gone and just the nasty water is sitting there is difficult, and then trying to separate them is a royal pain. I have tried it a few tmes but I ended up wasting too much product. In my anal retentative attempt at creating the pureist oil, I ended up messing up a whole batch by trying to decant the water off too soon. My advice is to keep adding r/o water and swishing it; however some oil will stay in suspension. Hence the loss. But I tried waiting over a week to let it settle and then pour off the water, but it just doesn't work out like it sounds. Then you just have a layer of unwanted settled solids making a film over your oil. Then you keep repeating. After all that work, time and loss, the taste isn't much noticible. I have learned to just make it right the first time and then just enjoy it!

But I encourage you to try. Good luck.

 

[Afrikaaner]

Thanks for the response, kpex. The way I've separated polar/non-polar solvents in the past is with either a makeshift separatory funnel (pour solvent and the washing liquid into a ziplock bag, slosh about, then hang the bag from a corner, let settle, then carefully cut a tiny corner off, and let the heavier solvent pour off, and you can reserve either one) or i would use a regular glass jar and siphon off the liquid I didn't want using a turkey baster, then a pipette when there was very little material left to siphon off. As for identifying which liquid you want, you could always try dying with food coloring, though it has never been too hard in my opinion to find the line where hexane/water is, and if either the water or the solvent is thoroughly

A second thought, once you get your solvents separated, with DMT, we'd use freeze precipitation, then redissolve in as little hot solvent as possible, then re freeze precip in order to get a higher purity product. Think that might hold true for hash oil as well?