It says "nylon" but I'm not sure if it means the bulb or the tube?

I've done extractions before but I used a milk jug this time so I can't spoon off the naptha.

SWIM got his from the dollar store. It's translucent, not transparent so it may be HDPE, but it doesn't say.
Either way it is withstood xylene through 4 extractions and naptha for 2 with no wear/degredation.

Can't say anything about that one, just saying that it doesn't need to be an expensive one...

I got what looks like the same baster from walmart and in all honesty it sucks, it can do the job but when sucking up the naptha it doesnt hold it (it just flows out of it) making it extremely hard to get it out. Also it's quite big so unless your pulling alot of naptha at once then i reccommend you get something smaller. I got a couple of eyedroppers from my drug store and they work like a charm. Takes a little more patience to get it all but still easier then trying to get it into another container before it all drains out

Exactly what zeekborg said I have the exact same one and it does suck.
Just backing zeekborg I also recommend something smaller such as an eye dropper.

Eye droppers are well worth it, but are a pain in the ass.

Go to publix, or get a glass one. you can do a siphon technique, or go buy a pipette too.

My walmart baster holds water. Make sure you hold it straight up, and dont even touch the bulb unless your pulling liquid up at that exact moment. I couldnt do it before, but with a steady hand, my baster works just as good as a syringe or eye dropper.

Swim also bought one from the dollar store. Its plastic with a yellowish bulb. Been through many ectractions and works like a charm. No visible degradation. Doesn't leak after a pull (maybe a drop or 2). I'm iffy about the material of the bulb so I just don't let liquid get that high.

strangely enough the one I bought holds water but not naptha so maybe I just got a defective one (but i bought two and both dont hold the naptha).

SWIM has 2.
One glass pipet for decanting the last bit. The bulb costs more than the pipet part btw.
SWIM also has a glass baster found on amazon that had nice reviews for the general part.

Having both made it more efficient time wise and accuracy wise.

I never had any success using a baster, unless I modified it heavily, but that was still a pain in the ass. I use syringes and pipettes.

So.... I talked to people in the chat and did some searches in the past, and I always thought I was safe using the turkey baster I was using for extractions (the one pictured at the top of this thread). However, I never confirmed the EXACT type I was using.

Would someone with much more chemistry knowledge than myself confirm/deny that this baster is ok to use? Again, I apologize for the stupid question, as I know I should have confirmed this before I completed extractions and partook of the final product.


Peace and Happy Journeys.

Cant you buy a glass pipette/syringe/baster and be 100% safe instead?

yes , definitely buy a glass one. I have glass baster and its great to work with it plus its safe. I know its more expensive but its worth the money and it will last you for ever.

anyone use a separatory funnel? was wondering if it works well.

A separatory funnel works GREAT. You will have to do A/B, no STBs, otherwise they block the stopcock. If you use a heavier-than-water solvent its even more practical but even for normal solvents that stay above the water, just drain out the mimosa liquid and then make a couple of washes to get rid of the mimosa traces stuck to the sides of the container or whatever, before draining out the solvent cleanly.

Sep funnel is great for quickly separating layers, also during wash and salting process. Def worth the purchase. I suggest at least a 1l one.

Thanks for the help endlessness and smokerx! I really appreciate it. I will definitely buy a glass baster/pipette for my next extraction.

However, do you think I'm still OK to smoke the spice I have now? The baster never showed any signs of degradation, and the chemical resistance chart shows nylon to be resistant to room temperature hydrocarbons. Also, the baster was only exposed to the solvents for a few seconds at a time (transfer from gallon jar to small jar for freeze-precip).

Thanks again for your help. Peace and Happy Journeys

So is the whole thing made of nylon?

Looking up "nylon chemical compatibility" online, I found a few conflicting ideas.. but generally (considering it doesnt have anything else than nylon), it should be safe for solvents according to info around (though maybe there are different types of nylon?), but it says in some places it might not be so resistant to acids or bases. I dont know how much a little base coming across can damage it, and what the damage would actually be (meaning, does it mean something end up in the final product? And if so, what?).

It also depends how much spice you still have. If its a considerable amount, it might be worth, just in case, to clean it up. There are several ways to clean it up, and since we would be dealing with unknown impurities, a mixture of methods would be best. Like as an example, lets say one could redissolve in minimal acidic water, filter, add base, re-extract, salt, wash salt (like wash fumarates with cold dry acetone), convert to freebase with water crystallization. Or at least redissolve, wash and re-x ?

It might be none of that is necessary and that the turkey baster is all fine and your alkaloids are perfectly clean, but if you want to play safe, its never bad to further purify an alkaloid

If it says nylon its no use, it cant handle solvents. I would imagine the bulb is some sort of rubber, they usually are.

I used a clear nylon baster before and it changed colour, like it was being stripped half way through an extraction. The stripped nylon ending up in your final product probably.

one knows its not quite what the OP asked... but...

don't bother with that kinda stuff... plastic/nylon etc.. non-glass basically isnt worth it!...

one has tried to use basters, syringes, pipettes etc... while it seems to work ok, even for brief moments at a time... if you leave it to sit in the NP solvent for a while it may be more noticeable.. even if it doesnt effect your baster to noticeable degree... do you really want to risk using non-glass items???.... it just bothers one

a glass separatory funnel is where its at .. it may cost about $70+(in CDN S at least) for a 1L sep funnel .. but it reduces frustrations/time and worries!.. and that is well worth the $$$ to one

even with a STB, after swirling / stirring ...and letting it separate... try to just pour off the NP

... and then do a sodium-carb wash on the NP collected ..

followed by a normal wash or two, with just water .. this should quell all your worries...

no need for anything non-glass...

just not worth the risk

The dude