If a person were to heat MHRB in white vinegar as in Q21Q21's tek, then add Sodium Hydroxide to the sludge instead of Calcium Hydroxide, would that be safe? Said person would then plan to freeze precip using VM&P Naphtha.

If a person were to add Sodium Hydroxide to the vinegar/water/MHRB mixture in a gallon HDPE 2 milk jug, would the expansion of jug and seeming raise in temperature be cause for alarm, or is this just a normal part of the process of changing from acid to alkaline in such a container?

the tek states it doesn't work with lye

I suppose that it would have been wise to search the Q21Q21 document for the term "lye" and not just for "sodium hydroxide" prior to attempting to improvise.

Is there any way to recover the batch if sodium hydroxide was used to make the mixture alkaline?

Why does it not work with lye, is there a stated reasoning for it ?


I've never done it but I can't see why it would not work...

This was my assumption as well, since lye and lime both react the same way to the vinegar. Of course, that doesn't mean that they react the same way with vinegar, water, AND the other contents of the MHRB... So perhaps that assumption was incorrect. If someone could explain it though, that would be appreciated.

Lye is a strong base, the thing you have to be careful is that you dont hurt yourself, use gloves and goggles...

I think I even read of people having trouble with the non-polar solvent not separating in q21 tek, and that they added sodium carbonate to help (sodium carbonate + calcium hydroxide = sodium hydroxide), so cant see why it wouldnt work.. But yeah maybe someone else knows something we're not thinking of?

Dunno... If I remember correctly q21 reported trying it with lye and with zero yield. MAybe I'm wrong, someone should maybe ask him.

I also do not see why it wouldn't work, but these things are sensitive. I mean, if q21q21 couldn't get it to work I'd believe him!

On another note, why use lye instead of Lime? I love using lime! It's cheap, has a much better safety profile, isn't watched by the DEA, is readily available at ANY hispanic food-market, food-grade (having been using for centuries by mesoamerican natives for processing corn), AND works GREAT in q21q21's... I am just going to recommend you look up a hispanic grocery Calcium hydroxide is like 99cent for a few ounces.

I guess I should ask, why use lye?

If someone had previously only done STB, and then found themselves unable to find a local source of lime, they may be inclined to attempt to use the lye that was already on hand. Of course, 8 hours later and the solvent has still not begun to separate.