Hi all,

It's been an awful long time since I did an extraction. I always preferred A/B and use to get great results close to 2%.

However I haven't been able to do any for a good few years, maybe even a decade and think I am very rusty.

From a kilo its looking like I'll be lucky to get 5g.

the first half I used vinegar as my acid, after low yields I switched to HCI, but think I got my quantities very wrong and have an insanely acidic aqueous solution. i also think I reduced it too much perhaps?

Anyway, when I basified (my solution here may have been too strong too) it first went a little clumpy, but did turn grey/blue and then jet black but wheh I pulled with warm naptha I've pull next to nothing.

I think there's plenty of DMT in there I just can't get it out.

Would adding salt help?

I've done 3 naptha pulls on 175g HMRB result in about 1.5l very acidic aqueous solution. NaOH was used to base and warm naptha to pull and I've got a total of about 300g DMT

Any ideas on what I can do as I think I'm only get about 1/4 to 1/3 of goodies here.

Many Thanks

now I am thinking perhaps I have also used way too much naptha to freeze precipitate it out? Maybe I should evaporate what I have, perhaps it is in there but not saturated enough to freeze out.

I should have read up a little more on teks rather than using my memory.

This could end up as a post on how not to do an extraction.

As an alternative to evaporating your naphtha, you could simply wash it with a few portions of vinegar - keep the vinegar of course!

Then you can base the vinegar and pull again with a smaller quantity of the same naphtha.


Sounds like your fundamental mistake was chucking a whole kilo in an extraction when you didn't know what you were doing!

Thanks downwards, thats a much better idea.

Anyway I am still getting only 0.5% at best!

Everything looks great in the process. I can't understand why my yields are so low.

I have still keep all my extractions. I have boiled my bark so much that literally no colour comes out of it anymore. When I basify the reaction takes a while and a far old bit of NaOH is added.

I have pulled and pulled and pulled with naphtha over and over again and nothing more is coming out.

I can only put it down to crap MHRB.

Maybe I should switch to Acacia Confusa?

I enjoy working with acacia better than mimosa. Not sure why, but my expected yields have been better with acacia. And I’m not a purist/cleaner, so I work with full spectrums, and I like the acacia profile better. Just my two cents.

Well I feel for you. My mimosa gives me close to 2% if I go the extra mile . 1.5 anytime. Try some different bark.

I am now doing a STB on 400g and see what I get.

I'm convinced the spice is still in my basified solution but for whatever reason I can't get it out. Would adding salt to make it more ionic help? Would Heptane or Hexane work better?

I would be careful with your posts. This is the third post in this thread that you mention sourcing. I would change it before you piss off some mods!

Thanks Metta, I sorted it. I had a misunderstanding. I do apologies to all

If anyone from the UK is able to PM to discuss I would appreciate it, thanks

Okay, so it seems my Azure hydrotreated light naphtha, according to another thread, turns out to be only 10 - 20% naphtha.

I'm thinking this is my problem? Although I've done multiple pulls with it will it only pull so much being so diluted? what's it diluted with?

Last time I extracted I use to use Colemans but in my local camping shop they no longer sell this and when I look online they have added some kind of rust prevention additive to it and has a blackish hue to it so I don't fancy that.

If my naphtha is only 10 to 20% I'm surprised I got what I have now. I'm not a chemist so not really sure of the consequences.

I think I can find n-heptane at 95% but it's a bit pricey.

What do U.K. peeps use to pull their spice?

Your Non Polar Solvent hardly being made up of naphtha is a big concern. Also, scale down your MHRB to 50-100g batches and go check out Cyb's Salt Tek, or even better his Max Ion Tek. I have done two extractions using those; Salt Tek got me just over 2%, Max Ion gave me about 2.5%

You can easily get some lab-grade petroleum ether in the UK.
And i'm with nibs, cyb's tek is really accessible and relatively easy to start with.