I am not too enthusiastic to pay $10+ shipping for a large jug. I am from SW Michigan. Also, if I can't find a jug, is there an alternative I can use? Thanks.

You can do it in a HDPE gallon jug, like a distilled water jug, milk jug, vinegar jug, they have a #2 in the recycling triangle. Or you can buy a 4L jug of wine and do it in that (I've done both ways successfully). Only "downside" of the wine jug is you gotta transfer or drink 4L of wine before using it. Not necessarily a bad thing, just something worth considering.

All right thanks. I don't drink but I'm going to see if any of my friends want to drink some wine out of a classy 2L Coke bottle.

I recomend distilled water gallon jugs(must say HDPE on bottom). They cost 2 bucks. You can use the distilled water. And when u decant if you squeeze the sides of the jug u can decant from the very narrow mouth of the jug. Honestly I wouldn't use anything else.

coke bottle as in, PET plastic? Please dont use that unless you want to smoke some plastic (or make major spillage when the lye/solvent breaks through the plastic).

only ever use HDPE or glass for extractions.

(edit: oops you meant using the coke bottle to store the wine, sorry )

as for finding glass containers, go to kitchen stores or to the biggest supermarket that sells stuff like glasses, forks, containers. Otherwise yes, hdpe gallon jug

Oh, of course not. I was going to transfer the wine into some 2 liters. I think I'm going to take the HDPE route but will investigate my other options.

Swim has used those monster pickle jars. They are like 3 bucks. Just a warning dont re-use them too many times.

is the reason not to reuse the pickle jars because of etching??

Yeah, don't re-use them. It's just asking for trouble.

How do you feel about apple juice? Or just buy a gallon of the cheapest, shittiest wine available and pour it down the sink.

I always find a big glass jug or two at the local flea markets.

just a cheaper/alternative solution possibly

Ok I decided on using a HDPE container that used to house canola oil. I washed it out several times and put a little naptha in it to clear all traces of remaining oil. The jug has a hollow handle on it, will this be a problem? Could I cut the handle off and melt it shut?

Handle won't hurt. But a leak from a badly melted shut hole will. Make sure its clean. And when you think its clean give it a few more rinses.

Handles are actually quite convenient.

Link

I found that wine jugs work quite well...Drink it or pour it down the sink like I do...
Love and Peace
Aetherbound

What is the reasoning behind not reusing the glass jars?

I have repeatedly used the thick glass wine jugs because they hold up to the heat, but when I tried this with the thin pickle jar the third time it cracked and broke. I believe it couldnt take the heating so well...Made a nasty mess and if I had not been following safety precautions could have been alot worse.
Peace and Love
Aetherbound

Lye will etch the glass and make it more susceptible to cracking, and repeated heating and cooling can also potentially cause it to break. Why increase the chance of an exploding jug full of hot lye and naptha, when you can just as easily mitigate the risk by dumping a gallon of wine? This isn't lab glass we're talking about. It's not really meant for this purpose.

HDPE is probably the safest, but a good thick wine jug is pretty durable (though I'd still not use one twice).

hmmm
Im very happy with my way of doing experiments.. involving a big glass jar, and a set of smaller glass jars equal in size.
So far i have experimented only a few times, and i tend to clean everything afterwards, so i can re-use..

But now after reading this thread im asking:
- would the big glass jar need replacement if only lime is used, never lye? there does not seems to be any etching of the glass so far..
- and if there is no heat involved/produced in the experiments, would the jar still break at some point of use?

i really like my jar

The jar is thicker than a pickle jar, but after it was used twice, I guess it's time to get new ones?

In my area I found that apple cider is sold in those glass jugs, in the regular grocery store.