Hello all...
SWIM is doing a rather small scale extraction and has run into something SWIM has not seen before. SWIM is still a bit of a newbie and apologizes in advance...

SWIM has put 85g of powdered MHRB into a 1/2 gallon mason jar, then added 1300ml of NaOH water with roughly 85g of NaOH in it.

In past extractions, SWIM's mixture would turn black and there would be no sediment left in the concoction.

This time, there are definitely 2 distinct layers... one dark, almost black layer, and another gray layer on the bottom. The top layer is liquid... the bottom layer is sludgy sediment. Something SWIM thought was odd... the bottom sediment layer takes up several times more volume than how much the powdered MHRB took up (before adding the NaOH water)...

SWIM tried adding more more NaOH directly into the jar, but it did not seem to change anything.

SWIM was wondering if anyone knows what happened or what SWIM should do. SWIM was considering just adding solvent and seeing if it pulled anything...

Wow never seen that before are you using the same brand of lye you always use?
That is just lye, mimosa and water right? Are you using distilled water?
Have you given it a good stir I know the water can form around the mimosa making a kind of gray paste but never seen it that bad. Was the MHRB powdered as much as you usually get?
Have you tried a hot water bath might make it all mix together better?
You can try and do a pull and see what happens as long as you don't throw anything away their is always hope.
The only other thing I can think it is, is lye that hasn't fully dissolved or that your lye contained aluminum, did it have gray beads in it?
Maybe it's an impurity from your mimosa but I highly doubt that looks almost metallic in the picture.

That doesnt look right! Have you used the same lye as previous extractions and have you also used the same mhrb before?

SWIM used the same MHRB and same NaOH as SWIM used a couple weeks ago to make some really nice clear crystals... It is really strange...




SWIM tried heating the mixture with a hot water bath but it didn't seem to do anything... SWIM has already used the exact same MHRB and NaOH... SWIM did not use the same water as before though... maybe there are metals in the water... it was tap water... SWIM will use distilled water in the next extraction...

I think SWIM will do a pull and see what happens...

Strange indeed...I'm personally at the end of my knowledge and can't think of anything else.
I guess it could be the tap water but I highly doubt it would account for that much sediment.
Keep us posted if you get it figured out I'd be interested.

try pouring off the liquid until you are only left with the grey layer and then filter it.
I'd like to see if its really that much (not possible imo) or just a very very fine precipitate that doesn't settle to the ground. Anyways if it has been removed you can continue on with your naphtha pulls and see how it goes.

I strongly advise against a bioessay of the grey sludge but I would try to extract it with naptha anyway to see if you get something out of it.

That must be some impurity from lye.I have never seen this before so can not advise you as what to do.

I would stop right there and wait for some experience members to come back with advise.