wax to clean up extract ?

[plantshaman]

SWIM heard someone mention this on tribe.net  and is not sure if its true or false.  SWIM read that before reducing a san pedro extract you can clean it up by melting some Paraffin Wax into the brew .... Then place in the fridge ... the wax ends up ontop and takes with it alot of the wax, oil, plant material and other gunk from the brew but the alkaloids are left behind in the water . Just peal off the layer of  foul green wax and continue to reduce the brew which is now much cleaner. .

i've done alot of reading over the years and i told swim i'd never heard of it but Swim wanted me to ask some people who might know a little more about it .

[EA-1306]

In theory it is being used in a fluid state as a non-polar solvent for removing lipids and similar things from an acidic solution during a A/B (+P/NP) extraction. I read about it as well.

[winder]

The value of using the wax to pull the non-polar out does have some compromises to consider.

First of all, the separation of wax from water is slow and diffusion into wax is slow.  Finally, if the jar has any taper to it, then the wax is stuck in the jar.

It seems far easier to freeze the water layer and pour off the organic solvent that floats on the water.

Those points made, I can see some value in wax over a liquid non-polar solvent - lower cost, added safety, easier use and clean up, etc.

[DrYRHead]

I'd think that a vaporizable NP solvent like naphtha would be the better way to go.

[blizznshot]

Nevermind...