Acetone

[kalikisu]

My brain feels 10x bigger. Wow, the possibilities and experiments I will carry out. Cant wait till my girls are ready.

 

[Lemmongrass]

science is really fun dude

 

[leafminer]

Yeah science IS fun!
It was such fun making that experiment that I'm going to try an extraction on oregano. (No, I am not going to try smoking it!) I am just curious to see if I can make oregano oil that I can just add a drop when making Italian food. I must be mad . . .

 

[Lemmongrass]

actually i can tell you how now.

its called "Infused Oil". or Herb infused oil. you take a small amount of olive oil, add fresh chopped herbs, onions, garlic shallots, peppers, anything with an oil based flavor. now for things like berry flavors and water based flavors, match them to a vinegar that sounds good be it balsamic, white, champaign, rice wine, red wine, etc.

you simmer whatever in your oil until the flavoring gent seems totally cooked out. strain out the solids, and save the oil/vin. You cant save these out on a counter very long so fridge-it or use it within a week.

I made a very fine extraction of only oils from habenero peppers one night at work. it was 95%+ capsaisin oil. evil deeds were had.

be sure to only use fresh herbs. the oils and aromatics need to be undamaged.

 

[leafminer]

It had crossed my mind to extract capsaicin, I admit! I have had a run-in with those damn peppers.
Extracting using oil ... yeah, why not, like dissolves like. I am curious though to see what "oregano hash" looks like.
I just unfortunately got a reminder last night of the downside of smoking hash. I ruined a pair of perfectly good almost new trousers with ... yeah you guessed it ... the damn PINHOLE BURNS. Argh! (Once upon a time I had two rock-star-style satin shirts. They went the same way.) Well it was a hell of a stone. I can't remember any of the PPV movie I was watching ... in fact I can't recall anything from 8 pm onwards.

 

[wineman]

So Leafminer, how'd it go? Are you still alive after Acetone? I'm curious cause I use it for work all the time. There are No VOC's because it all flashes off, and it would be quicker than ISO.

 

[leafminer]

It's perfectly ok IMO. There was no detectable trace of acetone left, to my sense of smell and as we know, acetone is detectable by human noses in very small ppms.
It was relatively fast. I left it outside in a light breeze and within a few hours it had reduced to a small pool of what smelt like 90% water, 10% acetone. This IMO is the only weakness, that acetone dissolves the moisture content of the sample. It took another 24 hours to get rid of the remaining water and acetone. So if I use acetone again, I would make sure to dry - even dessicate - the sample prior to extraction.
It did produce a 'thin' hash. Pretty good method.

 

[Lemmongrass]

^_^

 

[WeedHopper]

It's perfectly ok IMO. There was no detectable trace of acetone left, to my sense of smell and as we know, acetone is detectable by human noses in very small ppms.
It was relatively fast. I left it outside in a light breeze and within a few hours it had reduced to a small pool of what smelt like 90% water, 10% acetone. This IMO is the only weakness, that acetone dissolves the moisture content of the sample. It took another 24 hours to get rid of the remaining water and acetone. So if I use acetone again, I would make sure to dry - even dessicate - the sample prior to extraction.
It did produce a 'thin' hash. Pretty good method.

Did it work any better then Alcahol?

 

[leafminer]

I've never tried it with isopropyl. I tried making it in the African bush once, with brandy, but the results were pretty terrible!
I'll have to obtain some isopropyl alcohol and see how it goes.

 

[imager777]

If this is as good as it sounds, then it's my new method. My usual methods consist of screening (Works best but smaller yield,) cold water extraction, and 100 proof vodka (If I don't feel like going through the trouble of the other two.) Acetone seems like it will pruduce a stronger end product, with less waste -- thanks!

 

[Lemmongrass]

yes it works much better.

 

[leafminer]

imager, this is what I learnt:
1. Acetone can dissolve a huge amount of thc per ml. So you can process a lot of trim by running it consecutively. However this brings me to a problem I xperienced:
2. Pressing the trim. Once you've extracted all the vital products, you need to get the acetone out of the trim and into the evap dish. I didn't anticipate this and probably lost about 1/2 of my product. You need to procure or build a small press to crush the trim and recover as much acetone as possible. Or possibly you could spin it out in a 'fuge of some kind. But I guess this is the same with any solvent process, ISO, ethyl, whatever.
3. Lightly toast the trim in a toaster oven set to bare minimum for about 20 min. to dessicate it, prior to the extraction. You dont want water in the product it takes days to dry. Or use calcium chloride dessicator.
4. After a few days it forms up nicely into mini temple balls!

 

[Lemmongrass]

go to walmart and find a kitchen strainer that fits a bowl you have/buy. press thru strainer into bowl then from bowl into funnel w/ filter.

zero loss. =]

i also would suggest using a desiccant in a proper desiccating chamber(google).

 

[imager777]

You guys are the best. I was just going to click the thanks button, but this requires a hand typing. Thank You

 

[wineman]

Some additional facts and experience with Acetone you should consider;

Acetone is HIGHLY flammable. Do it outdoors or have good ventilation. No open flames! No water heater flame, no furnace flame, no gas stoves, no smoking!

Acetone is very dangerous to inhale - not high, just giggle, pass out and take the big dirt nap. if confined space, use respirator with "organic" filters. (lowes, home depot...)

Acetone is an "absorption" hazard - 6 seconds from skin contact to entering blood stream, where it heads straight for your liver. There it cannot be broken down and disposed of - it sits in your liver - toxifying. Google liver detox.

Acetone in the blood stream also causes "chemical depression". This is real and can last for weeks or months. I know... Makes you feel like crawling in a hole and dying.

So be careful!

 

[Lemmongrass]

I was soaked in it my teenage years between making experimenting with apan and organic extractions, moltov(much better than gas... i was a kid.). im sure these things are a worry, but just like you shouldn't speed.

 

[leafminer]

I was soaked in it my teenage years between making experimenting with apan and organic extractions, moltov(much better than gas... i was a kid.). im sure these things are a worry, but just like you shouldn't speed.

I used to work in a government lab when I was a teen, where I would soak an entire box of tissues in acetone and climb into a giant belljar to clean it out! And then there were the years I spent using organic solvents custom-spraying cars. And all the ether I inhaled running a disco lights projector. Surprising I am still walking around, really....
Seriously though, Wineman is correct, use precautions please. I simply work outside in the garden and keep my nose out of the fumes.