Hi, Just sharing a little experiment. I bought a clear glass plate and polished it up. Put a few squirts of torch-lighter butane on it: it evaporated almost instantly, but left a residue behind. Later, I put a few squirts of Ronsonol lighter fluid on the clean plate. It took longer to evaporate, but when it did, there was no trace of the fluid on the plate: couldn't even tell it had been there. So, to me, it seems like Ronsonol is the winner for potential non-polar extractions.
Ronsonol is the best for everything. It even takes off old sticker gunk from windows and such. Besides that, Torch lighter fuel isnt able to keep a liquid state for extended periods of time. And there is some impurities in Butane aswell. They add odor to it like propane so its identified easily as gas.
I thought for sure the butane would be cleaner because it evaporated so fast and was a clear color to begin with. But nope, it left a very noticable residue. But the Ronsonol? Nothing.
any number of non-polar solvents CAN be terrific. it depends on how clean the product is. you only compared two substances of one brand each; hardly an accurate means of determining which CHEMICAL is better. and of course, "better" is a relative term. when you're talking about using a solvent to extract something for human consumption, of course you'll want whatever leaves behind the least amount of impurities - ideally none. that said, naptha is safer for an amateur chemist to work with as it is slightly less...well....explosive. still quite dangerous, but a bit less so than butane. a long time ago ellis d. tripp told me that he had, in the past, had good luck with bestine brand rubber cement thinner, made from hexane. its apparently somewhat less explosive than butane, as well, and he said in his experience it had always been clean enough to use, but even with a brand thats been good in the past you should ALWAYS do the residue check before using it for something intended for consumption. formulas and standards in manufacture often change, and sometimes people slip up and make something wrong....if you're talking about lighter fluid or rubber cement thinner, why would they care? it still works for the INTENDED purpose....no one at those companies would DREAM of suggesting to use it to make hash oil or extracting lsa or anything of the sorts! its not so much that one chemical is "better," its that one sample of one product made by one brand may have fewer impurities than a different product made by a different brand.....you get the picture. still, good to know. if i'm doing any kitchen chemistry anytime soon i'll keep this in mind!
