SWIM has done 3 small extractions, using 50g MHRB each time, and 4 X pulls of 50ml Naptha. SWIM combines the 4 pulls for simplicity, and then adds about 50ml water / sodium carbonate mix. This has worked great.

All has gone well with the exception of this last extraction. When using the SC wash, SWIM used more water than previously, (for no apparent reason!) and did two further washes with only distilled water. These extra washes were also done on previous extractions, but again, with less water.

This seems to have washed some of the spice into the water, as yield was way lower than previous. SWIM can also see some small crystals in the jar used to do the SC wash. SWIM has kept the water from the SC wash in another container. I read that SWIM only needs to add Naptha to this water and extract again to recover the lost spice. Is this correct or are there any other steps / addition to this that may help, such as adding more lye to the water?

Also, any tips on this not happening again? The SC wash is brilliant, so SWIM does not want to miss it out!

Thanks!!

If there is any product in the SC wash and you want to recover it with naphtha you will need to up the ph, yes.

As long as swim keeps the pH of the wash solution at 9-10 or higher no spice will be lost.