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Sorry, I didn't see this thread again after I posted to it a while back.
With respect to the GFO "holding together", it's going to vary depending on the porosity of the particular GFO brand. BRS high capacity GFO works very well - it consists of relatively small, hard particles that don't degrade in the initial 0.1 N HCl treatment. There are some GFOs, however, that are highly porous, relatively soft particles where acid could potentially break down the internal structure of the particle. On the other hand, the sodium hydroxide solution shouldn't do any damage to the particle structure.
With respect to the rinsing step, the key thing to remember is that what would potentially be left in the GFO from incomplete rinsing is sodium hydroxide. Getting this into the tank would do nothing other than increasing the alkalinity. Since one is typically using a fairly small amount of GFO compared the the tank volume and at least 2 to 3 rinses will bring the initial concentration of the sodium hydroxide solution down at least 90% or so, there's little worry about substantially altering the alkalinity of your tank water.
Also, if you regenerate in a Mason jar, you don't need to stir the GFO so long as you let it set for at least 12 hours in each rinse.
Again - never do this is a reactor. It's dangerous.
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