So Swims just completed (nearly) a Nomans tek using a gallon demijhon with a cork.
Swim used a glass baster to remove the naptha top layer. Which was ok but there was a certain degree of lost material. As the layer got thinner the harder it became to not suck up aqueous solution. What are you guys using for this?

Now soon Swim will start a BLAB and she is looking for more suitable vessels to use. Jorks tek requires two 800ml vessels. Now she was going to use these, but they mention having integral rubber seals.

Is this going to be a problem?
What are you folks using to mix and hold various extraction fluids?
Can you share some suppliers?

This has been bugging her for a while so she thought she would ask me to start a thread. Maybe a little discussion on the subject might throw up some good ideas.

If any other uk specific materials questions arise, feel free to pm me.

Milk jugs work fine... cheap and you get free milk as a bonus. That way you can squeeze to get the naptha/limonene out the top.
I also sometimes use a gravy separator to help seperate.

Swim found some HERE



And i think the lids can be used on the half gallon jars... for extra piece of mind.
I was just tripping out on the whole rubber seal on most jars.
STB's use pretty caustic solutions and Naptha, which cant do nice things to rubber seals.


EDIT: Or aluminum seals as above^^ Doh!

The demijohns are pretty sweet looking, and are nice to work with for that rustic feel! I was using one, and did a rough separation with a baster into a more managable jar, then used a pipette for the detailed work. I somehow broke it on my 2nd extraction when pouring my NaOH in. A small amount clumped at the bottom, and I managed to poke a hole through the glass when stirring it. NaOH water all over me and my kitchen Luckily I had safety gear on, so nothing damaged other than my pride.

The rubber sealed 3L preserving jars worked fine for me, there is minimal contact with the rubber seal and the mix, but you are probably right xtechre that any contact with rubber and the chems used is best avoided! Can you re-post your link to the 1/2 gallon jars you found that can take the no-rubber lids? I could only see a 1L jar... I will use the 3L ones with those special lids in future.

Just a tip, if you are having trouble getting all of the top layer off, just suck up the rest of it along with some of the bottom layer and put it in a narrower vessel for easier separation.

Right on touche! Top tip, thanks.

I'd like to point out that those lids are likely aluminum.

I don't know....I'd use an HDPE container before I used anything with aluminum. That being said, I've never used lye or a 'wet' tek, so....

Personal preferences.


Edit: Wiki says.......

Aluminium etching

"Strong bases attack aluminium. Sodium hydroxide reacts with aluminium and water to release hydrogen gas. The aluminium takes the oxygen atom from sodium hydroxide(NaOH), which in turn takes the oxygen atom from the water, and releases the two hydrogen atoms. In this reaction, sodium hydroxide acts as an active catalyst. This reaction can be useful in etching, removing anodizing, or converting a polished surface to a satin-like finish, but without further passivation such as anodizing or alodining the surface may become degraded, either under normal use or in severe atmospheric conditions."

http://en.wikipedia.org/...roxide#Aluminium_etching

Very dam good point about those aluminum lids. Swim forgot about that.

Maybe these. 32oz jars are about 946.353 ml. They might just do the trick for Jorks BLAB Tek (needs two 800ml jars). The lids look like steel with the typical hdpe lid lining. Says Acid / vinegar proof.
Oz to ML conversion.
Its worth mentioning that all the jars Swims been using to store and freeze precipitate in have been food jars washed out. And there's been no adverse reactions to the inside seals on the lids. But thats with naptha and not highly basic solution's of lye.
I guess there's only one way to find out.

Half gallon jars are here or here.
With the same vinigar/acid proof lids. Not sure which metal tho.

Tbh Swim didn't have that much confidence in her Demijohn lasting long. They are mass produced with cheap glass. The cork only just made it trough the extraction and disintegrated as soon as it was done with. Swim will be buying a few of these half gallon jars for future extractions, and the demi will become a pretty looking piggybank.
Swims kinda glad i made this thread. We need more UK specific discussion on hardware and supplies.
Swim will thank me for raising the issue.

While we are on the subject. These look good for PK tek uses. As they are straight gauge, you can pack them with vermiculite/flour cakes and they will be able to be tapped out the jar. The mouths are not narrower then the body of the jar.

...and these look great for aya vessels.

xtechre, good links on the big jars, cheers. If you just need 1 or 2 800ml jars, you could buy a big pickle jar from the supermarket or similar. I bought a Sarsons vinegar jar which was about 1100ml I think, for about £1.30, which was a cheap source for a good jar, and I stored some of the vinegar elsewhere as a precaution against lye spills.

Nice find 1664. Swim will be checking out the super markets tomorrow.

I'm all about the HDPE containers that my acetone comes in.

I don't trust the rubber seal on preserve jars and the like. I suppose they are ok for acid soaks, but I don't trust them when it comes to strong bases and solvents.

Which acetone containers would these be SF? Are they transparent? I like to be able to see what inside the vessel.
I know there are some Ebay vendors of acetone and the like... could this be what your using?

Its HDPE so it's a little frosted in its transparency, but I can clearly see layers of separation.

I guess you can only do small extractions with that right? If Swim does this BLAB she is gonna follow the numbers... So a she will use 2x 1/2 gallon jars for a pound of bark. Hence the need for some big jars.

yeah, they should be fine.

I've actually used a PET bottle for an STB with xylene before and I didn't notice any wear and tare, though I imagine there would be. I only really noticed issues with using acetone in a mason jar... but that's acetone. Takes no prisoners.

But as a responsible chap I'd recommend folk use HDPE for everything.

I prefer HDPE milk jugs (various sizes depending on the amount extracting). The good thing about milk jugs is that:
a) You can squeeze the jug to get the naptha to the top - a bit annoying as it distorts the jug after a while
b) if your extract/naptha mix is about 3/4 the way up the jug then you can tilt the jug and suck up the naptha from the thin handle.
c) once you have very little naptha left to pull then use a baster/pipette etc and suck up the naptha/extract mix and squirt it down the handle. Just clean out your baster and suck up the naptha from the handle - this way you can maximise the amount of naptha pulled.

HDPE milk jugs last for ages except sometimes you need to replace the lids as they tend to dissolve quicker.

You can use PET but they tend to distort with heat - I've had half an extraction flood my kitchen due to the bottle bevelling with heat and not having the lid on, not very nice to clean up pH 13+.

geeg - Are the milk jugs you get in supermarkets HDPE?
Once you are separating the naptha, do you mean make a hole in the handle to put the pipette through?

yes people HDPE milk jugs are the one... and yes standard milk jugs are almost always HDPE so stand up well against solvents.

nice tip about using the handle bit to get the last bits of naphtha/limonene off the top!!

If you want something a little sturdier or larger than milk bottles the 2.5/5L HDPE bottles that deionized water come in are good, although not translucent.

I use a 5ml plastic pipette which bends slightly down the handle, a big turkey baster might have some problems. Don't worry about using plastic as if you are only pulling from the handle there is not really much contact time with the solvent, although I use plastic all the time for naptha and usually give it a rinse out every now and again when pulling.

No holes needed.

6 pint jug from Asda is excellent for 200g extractions. (STB)

Using this method you can quite easily be left with around 1-2ml of solvent left in your mix.