When you filtered thru the DE cake, did you use a fritted Buchner funnel with or without filter paper? If so, that maybe your problem.

I use the perforated funnels in tandem with 1.5um filter paper to filter thru DE.

******Mix the DE into a slurry with whatever solvent was used to extract, prior to adding to Buchner Funnel.******

1) Wet the funnel with solvent.
2) Place appropriately sized filter paper in funnel and center. Wet the filter paper so it is saturated.
3) Apple vacuum to funnel and pour the DE slurry into the center of filter paper to reduce the chance of DE washing around the filter paper.
4) Once cake is set, take a wash bottle containing solvent used, and squirt it around the wall of entire circumference of inside the funnel. Doing this will help 'seal up' the cake to funnel wall as well as wash any DE from inside funnel that may have past by filter when pouring the slurry.

Fats, lipids and waxes maybe mistaken for DE once solution has been reduced and concentrated. In my experience, this can happen if the extraction wasnt properly winterized. These fats and waxes wil coagulate and form a 'ball'. It becomes very evident as the solution concentrates.

This had me totaly fucked up. I was thinking it was DE getting past filter. I was changing up anything I could think of to prevent this. In the end, I came to the conclusion it was my winterizing process.

GrandmaGanja said:

View attachment 2546992
I mean, potent, certainly. But disgusting. I did the cold ever clear 190 method.

Decarbed an ounce and broke it up into manageable pieces (did not grind, though since it was dry a lot fell apart) put it into a jar and froze it for 24 hours. Also chilled the everclear along side. I then combined them, freezer for 5 min, shook it for a few minutes, another 5 min in the freezer, another 5 shake, another 5 in freezer, another 5 shake, and then one more freezer and shake. I used a vortex mixer, figured it was more thorough and wouldn’t get tired like me. I then strained the solids through a mesh, and used many aero press to filter the tincture. I even put in a layer of diatomaceous earth. I put it though twice. Most of the earth ended up on my tincture, and I had to filter that out too. You can see from the picture it did not clean up.

I’m thinkng that with my aeropress some liquid went around the filter rather than through it. I also think that maybe I was too violent of a shake? It doesn’t smell of chlorophyll, which is good. Still tastes heinous though.

Advice on what to do for my next one? I’ve read a million things and the general gist of it was to do what I did, but it didn’t turn out great. I was hoping for something with some clarity to it. I made a tincture once before and it was a glassy green color, really quite beautiful. But it still didn’t taste great and not terribly potent. I was told that even done poorly, the cold extract method would prove a nice clean tincture.

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It sounds like your process was pretty thorough, but the aggressive shaking and repeated agitation may have pulled more unwanted compounds into the tincture, affecting both clarity and taste. For a cleaner result next time, try a gentler, shorter wash (often called a “quick wash”), avoid over-agitating, and stick to simpler filtration methods like coffee filters instead of pressurized systems to prevent bypass and sediment issues.

cronicoldguy said:

When you filtered thru the DE cake, did you use a fritted Buchner funnel with or without filter paper? If so, that maybe your problem.

I use the perforated funnels in tandem with 1.5um filter paper to filter thru DE.

******Mix the DE into a slurry with whatever solvent was used to extract, prior to adding to Buchner Funnel.******

1) Wet the funnel with solvent.
2) Place appropriately sized filter paper in funnel and center. Wet the filter paper so it is saturated.
3) Apple vacuum to funnel and pour the DE slurry into the center of filter paper to reduce the chance of DE washing around the filter paper.
4) Once cake is set, take a wash bottle containing solvent used, and squirt it around the wall of entire circumference of inside the funnel. Doing this will help 'seal up' the cake to funnel wall as well as wash any DE from inside funnel that may have past by filter when pouring the slurry.

Fats, lipids and waxes maybe mistaken for DE once solution has been reduced and concentrated. In my experience, this can happen if the extraction wasnt properly winterized. These fats and waxes wil coagulate and form a 'ball'. It becomes very evident as the solution concentrates.

This had me totaly fucked up. I was thinking it was DE getting past filter. I was changing up anything I could think of to prevent this. In the end, I came to the conclusion it was my winterizing process.

Click to expand...

In general lab filtration, diatomaceous earth or fine particulates can pass through or appear in the filtrate if the filter cake isn’t well formed or if the material is too fine, while fats and waxes can also cause issues by coagulating or forming cloudy aggregates during concentration if they weren’t fully removed beforehand.

alexxforests2 said:

In general lab filtration, diatomaceous earth or fine particulates can pass through or appear in the filtrate if the filter cake isn’t well formed or if the material is too fine, while fats and waxes can also cause issues by coagulating or forming cloudy aggregates during concentration if they weren’t fully removed beforehand.

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Yes. This can definitely be a problem if filter cake not properly formed.

- Buchner funnel
- 1x 3000ml Vacuum flask (for a 112g extraction, I use a 3000ml flask)
- 1x 500ml Vacuum flask (500ml, use this one to make the filter cake.
- 400ml beaker or alike to mix DE slurry in
- Appropriate filter paper (1.5um)
- Pure Diatomaceous Earth (enough to build a 10mm filter cake)
- Solvent wash bottle
- Glass stir rod or similar
****Vacuum Source


When making a filter cake, this is what I do:
1) With the solvent used to extract, mix the DE into a slurry in a 400ml beaker. Mix well and ensure all DE is solvent-wet. No dry clumps.
2) Wet the Buchner funnel with solvent. Then place appropriate filter paper (I use 1.5um) in funnel, and wet the paper. Ensure filter paper is totally saturated with solvent. Use the Small and separate Vacuum flask to do this.
3) Apply vacuum and visually ensure filter paper is sealing, and then pour the DE slurry into funnel to the center of filter paper.
4) Once slurry is poured into funnel and cake formed, use wash bottle to wash around the inside circumference of funnel. If any DE passed by the paper when making the cake, this should wash it from funnel.
5) Place the prepared Buchner funnel on the receiving vacuum flask (3000ml) and apply vacuum. Pour the extracted solution into funnel and filter thru the DE.
6) Once all the solution has passed thru the filter, I give the filter a wash. Pour some fresh solvent equal to the thickness of filter cake into funnel and pass thru.

If filtering done with all equipment at sub-zero (-20c), the resulting solution should be winterized as well. Most consumer refrigerator freezers will go down to -20c.
As mentioned above by @alexxforests2 , if solution not properly winterized, "fats and waxes can also cause issues by coagulating or forming cloudy aggregates during concentration if they weren’t fully removed beforehand"
*Using a rotovap to evaporate solvent, the fats and waxes will actually coagulate. If this happens to me (once), I continue evaporating. Once very concentrated, the shit will form a mass that can be picked out with a glass rod.