Divine

Just been reading about making hash oil using mineral spirits / grain alcohol etc. Sounds great and I want to try it, my first crop I just chucked the males away.

Anyway, just been down my local hardware store looking in the paint thinners section. Here in the UK the normal paint thinner is known as 'white spirits' which is a clear, highly flammable liquid used for cleaning brushes etc. Can anyone tell me if this is the same thing as mineral spirits / grain alcohol?

I'm guessing it may be the right thing but may just be known under a different name here. The characteristics sound fairly similar. However, given the toxic nature of these sorts of chemicals I don't want to go using the wrong thing and make myself ill. The only other paint thinner type liquids are turps and methylated spirits (purple coloured).

Please, can anyone advise me if this is safe / any good to use? Alternatively, where might I find something I can use? It sounds like grain alcohol is most peoples favourite, where would I buy this? What legitimate uses does it have?

Many thanks,

Divine

Shaman

grain alky- most commonly everclear. it's 151 proof hard stuff ;-)
I actually found this other stuff called diesel that's like 154 proof or something like that, might be better.

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Divine

I know grain alcohol is what I want and I know it is often sold under the 'everclear' brand name but where would I find it? What sort of shop? What are the legitimate uses?

The fact you all talk about strength measured in proof makes my assume you're mostly in the USA so I don't have strong hopes of finding the same brands here in the UK (where we usually measure alcoholic strength as a %). I need to find a UK equivalent.

Various threads have mentioned buying these things as paint thinners which is why I was asking whether 'white spirits' (which is the standard stuff for cleaning brushes etc in the UK) is the same thing?

Please can someone help me? (I have read all the other threads in this forum looking for an answer, I'm not just being lazy.)

Many thanks,

Divine

stevethewire

I do not think that white spirit is the same as it would take a long time to evaporate,the thinners that you should LOOK at are car paint thinners very very flammable have alook at the cold water methode to be on the safe side

Shaman

Personally, I wouldn't use anything not meant for human consumption. Everclear is sold in liquer stores, it's a drink. Proof = twice the percentace, so 151 proof is 75.5% alcohol. nasty drinking stuff, but makes a good extract. Basically, go to a liqour store there, find the highest % clear drinking alky.

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Divine

Thanks steve, I'll try looking at somewhere that does car paints etc.

Shamen, thanks for the proof to % conversion that will help me. Normally the highest strength drinking spirit you can get in this country seems to be 50% vodka (which I know is made from grain). The only thing stronger I've ever had (I like my booze as well as my MJ ) is absynth which was around 70% but is fairly hard to find. I think our government might be quite strict about what really strong spirits are allowed, it's very rare to find anything stronger than 50%.

My thanks to both of you. Anyone else got any UK specific advice?

Shaman

Wow, I'd say go with the absinth if you can get it... while your at it, send me some, it's illegal here in the U.S. ;-)
Vodka will work. I've used 43% light rum before.
Happy Hashing!

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Divine

Car paint thinners;
The only 2 that gave any indication of what was in them;
1. One contained - Dichloromethanl & methanol.
2. The other said - Dichloromethanl, methanol, & kerozene.
The scary disclaimers on both of them make me very nervous about using them in something I'm going to consume.

Local off-licence;
Loads of things available around 40-50%. Not much available that's stronger. The guy who works there said he can order me;

1. Hills Absynth 65% - 70cl - 40 UK pounds (about 65-70 dollars, I'm not sure of the exchange rate).
2. Dedo Absynth 75% - 20cl - 15 UK pounds (about 25 dollars but it's a smaller bottle).

The problem with strong drinking alcohol is that our government taxes it heavily using an exponential scale based on how much stronger than 40% it is. As you can see this makes the really strong stuff bloody expensive.

I'm still stuck, I'm too nervous to try the paint thinners in case I go blind or something. And the drinking alcohol is very expensive.

I know I can get butune but that sounds way too dangerous. I live in a flat so I don't have a nice private garden to do it in and there's not enough ventilation and too much risk of sparks indoors.

Anyone think the paint thinners above sound safe?

Anyone know whether 'surgical spirit' would be any good? How strong is it? I'm pretty sure I can get that in the UK.

Any other suggestions?

Many thanks,

Divine

Shaman

Hmm, well I sure wouldn't use the paint thinner. If nothing else, use 50% vodka. I wouldn't really use the absynthe because it has some other stuff (wormwood?) in it. I made some more last night with everclear, really the best. Sux that they don't sell it over there. You could set up a home distillery and make moonshine ;-p lol j/k
The vodka should work though

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alien_farmer

If you can't afford the booze go to your local chemist and get a bottle of either denatured ethyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol ('rubbing alcohol'- get the highest percentage you can find, like 91% or so). Either of these will serve you well, as long as you don't drink them. Best of all you can get a bottle of rubbing alcohol for nawt more than a few quid.

Stay away from nasty chemicals. Paint thinners and suchlike cannot be good for you, and there are all sorts of nasty solvents (ketones, ethers, and other carcinogens) out there that if you don't know what they do you should stay away from.

Alcohol will evaporate at room temperature if left out, so soak the leaves in the alcohol until it's saturated, take the leaves out, and put a fan over it until it's sticky. Keep away from open flames during this stage.
Then scrape it up and... you know the rest.

If you're miserly, throw the leaves in some fresh alcohol and soak them again.

n'joi!