Quick Wash Isopropyl, also know as QWISO is one of the techniques the skunk pharm uses to extract oil from mixed leaf for topicals and sometimes buds or trim for vaporization. Here is our techniques for producing a pristine oleoresin extraction.
We also decarboxylate our oil for topicals and based on the 122C/252F curve shown in the attached graph, courtesy of Jump.
Note that the boiling point of the terpene ß-caryophyllene is 119C/246.2F, so it is boiled off at that temperature, and its anti-inflammatory, cytoprotective (gastric mucosa), and anti-malarial properties are diminished or lost.
The first question is why use a quick wash technique to extract the resins, instead of long soaks to extract as much resin as possible, or just reflux boiling the material in alcohol to get the greatest amount of extracted material?
The answer to that is that because alcohol is a highly polar solvent that is soluble in water, the latter two techniques also extract the water solubles like chlorophyll and plant alkaloids, as well as the plant waxes and vegetable oil.
Even quick wash does to a lesser degree, but the added steps that we include here minimize pickup even further and we take additional steps to remove the impurities that we do pick up, so that they are not left behind on the skin.
The first wash will usually extract 75 to 80%, leaving the balance for the second. If you use a hand microscope, you can easily see when the trichome heads are gone and the stalks look like wet fur.
A cured material QWISO absolute made from prime bud, is one of the most aromatic and tasty of the extraction and consistently gets high raves from the volunteer test panels, as well as the patients and students when vaporized. Both from an efficacy, as well as a flavor standpoint.
This process is for mixed leaf material however, which includes fan leaves, so it usually isn’t all that tasty.
The first step in the process is to get as much water as possible out of the material. Typically material for smoking has been cured to about 15% water content. 15% is a lot of water and the alcohol already has 1% in it, so unless we reduce the water content even further, we will be extracting a lot of water solubles.
We dry our cured material even further by spreading it on a cookie sheet and baking it in a 200F oven until just frangible when rolled between the finger and thumb.
At this point, we have a choice of running the leaf whole, or reducing it in size to improve packing. Leaving it whole will produce a more pristine extraction, with the least amount of chlorophyll pickup, and we do it both ways.
When we make QWISO for vaporizing, or for a show and tell beauty contest, we always leave the leaves whole.
When reducing it in size, while it is still warm from the oven, we force the material through a pasta strainer.
In both cases, we seal the material in a jar while still warm and place in the freezer to tie up any remaining water as ice. We also put the 99% Isopropyl alcohol in the freezer.
When they have both stabilized at about -32C/0F, we pour the alcohol into the jar of plant material, so that it is at least an inch above the material, and shake it gently for 20 seconds.
At the end of 20 seconds, we dump it through a wire strainer to drain quickly. I use a pasta strainer to catch the bulk of the material, followed by a fine mesh French Chinoise. This allows the material and the alcohol to separate fast.
We set the material aside to dry and refreeze for a second extraction.
Next we filter the alcohol, using either vacuum and a #1 lab filter, filter or a simple coffee filter, depending on the quantity we are processing.
After filtration, there are a couple of directions to go, depend on use. If it is to be used for vaporizing, we may place it a large surface area dish, like a Pyrex pie plate, and just blow air over it. That reduces it fast, but is not a suitable technique in dusty areas. That can be improved somewhat by placing cheese cloth over the dish and blowing over the top of that.
When the alcohol is visually gone, place the dish on a 140F heat mat, or float it in a hot water dish, until the smell and taste of the Isopropyl is gone, usually around 30 minutes to an hour.
For our use in topical, we place the filtered liquid in a bain marie stainless vessel and place that into an oil bath heated to 121C/250F.
I throw four jar lids in the bottom of my electric fondue pot to suspend the container up off the bottom, to eliminate hot spots and never trust the numbers on the fondue pot dial. Instead, I use a good a mercury lab, or a digital thermometer to set the dials. Good temperature control is key to the process.
That means the device that we use to control the oil temperature must have a narrow dead band, so that the temperature control is stable.
We paid about $60 for a Quisinart fondue pot that was designed to heat sensitive sauces like chocolate and has excellent control throughout its temperature range. We scored a second one for $15 at Goodwill, so do shop about.
There are a couple of Revels in our group that are slightly larger and work well, plus cost only about $30, though they have a slightly larger dead band.
Some fry cookers have sensitive enough controls, but many deep fryers designed to primarily run at 375F, lack control sensitivity and have large dead bands at 250F.
We boil off the alcohol until the liquid is reduced to a pool of oil and all but minor bubbles cease rising at the edges and then pour in at least ten volumes of ethanol and wash out the whole pot by swirling it and washing off any resin stuck to the sides.
Using a funnel, we pour that liquid into a jar or bottle, seal it, and place that in the freezer. After about 48 hours at -18C/0F, the liquid will lose its clarity and become slightly cloudy, from marginally dissolved inactive ingredients like waxes and lipids flocculating out. There will also be precipitant on the bottom of the container. While this step isn’t totally necessary, it makes a cleaner, more pristine oil.
Next, we carefully decant and filter that liquid one more time, leaving a bell clear extract, that is ready to reduce down a final time.
We pour it into a Pyrex beaker or a stainless bain marie container for return to the oil bath and since we. have much less material, we use a smaller one container to keep film losses low.
When the oil is completely bubble I free, we remove it from the oil bath, wipe it off, and weigh it. As we know the tare weights of our containers, we subtract it from our total weight and add the rest of the required ingredients for the topical into the same container, based on the amount of cannabis oil present.
We then set the container back into the oil bath and stir until thoroughly mixed and then remove it from the container using a glass syringe, so as to not leave a streak of material in the vessel.
Attached thumbnail(s)
GW
Posted by Richard on June 12, 2013 at 1:42 AM
So I don’t have a vac purger, can I still get all the iso out? That is my main concern with making this, and I don’t make it enough or have enough cash for the vac and chamber..
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on June 12, 2013 at 6:17 AM
Yes you can purge the Iso to below detectable limits if you keep it in a thin film and purge below 130F until the solvent bubbles cease and you can’t smell or taste the alcohol.
Posted by Richard on June 14, 2013 at 11:20 PM
Should i still put my product in the oven? I would on be using around 7gs if i was to do it. Ive heard to put everything in the freezer iso, product. But i just want to make sure im doing right. Nothing worse than waste.
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on June 17, 2013 at 7:35 AM
You can use an oven to purge, a heat mat, or just a hot water bath. The important thing is to keep the film thickness thin
Posted by Chris on June 15, 2013 at 9:30 AM
Why would the solution bubble at 130F. Nothing in the solution boils at that temp.
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on June 17, 2013 at 7:31 AM
Sorry bro, moment of insanity! I had my head in a vacuum at the time. Without vacuum assist, you have to rely on your sense of taste and smell to determine when the solvent is all gone.
Posted by Chris on June 7, 2013 at 8:40 PM
Please help,
Tried this method and just got tested by analytical360. 78%thc and 2%cbd.
Those are good numbers but the residual iso content was 50000ppm. I heated my oil to between 250 and 260 degrees using a fondue pot. How can I get the iso content down?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on June 8, 2013 at 1:29 PM
250F is high enough to get rid of residual Iso, if you leave it in the hot oil until the larger irregular bubbles cease, and only the fine fizzy bubbles remain.
You can also pull a -29.5″ Hg vacuum on it at around 115F to quickly remove the residuals.
Posted by Chris on June 15, 2013 at 9:37 AM
I thought I did that, twice. Once with the iso and again with the everclear. I’ll try another batch and see what happens. Do you test your iso oil and what residual numbers do you get. I can’t smell or taste any alcohol in my oil but analytical says it’s at 50,000 ppm. I don’t get it.
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on June 17, 2013 at 7:47 AM
I don’t get it either, if you have purged and decarboxylated in 250F oil. We are typically under 100ppm.
How deep is the film that you are purging and at what point did you cease purging?
How are they testing it? It would almost have to be a head space test, because the alcohol injection spike would cover the residual alcohol using a standard test.
Posted by Helio on May 29, 2013 at 10:54 PM
If you have a choice between 99% isopropyl and 95% ethyl (Everclear), which extractor would you go with? Or do you feel the results are generally even?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on May 30, 2013 at 8:20 AM
I would personally use the 95% Ethanol. Both will work, but ethanol is food grade and easier to purge.
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on May 30, 2013 at 8:35 AM
We have a choice and use 95% Ethanol.
Posted by Helio on May 30, 2013 at 2:54 PM
Thanks for the response! I was curious if the additional water content of the ethanol was enough to subtract from its positives. Looks like I’ll try to go with the ethanol.
P.S. Your website is a treasure trove. Thanks for doing what you do.
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on June 1, 2013 at 7:35 AM
Thanks for the good thoughts!
Posted by Richard on June 14, 2013 at 11:22 PM
What temp does the ethanol purge at? If the iso is 130F?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on June 17, 2013 at 7:33 AM
It depends on the vacuum level. If you are purging without vacuum, I would use the same 130F.
Under -29.5″ Hg vacuum, I use 115F.
Posted by Seth on May 29, 2013 at 2:35 PM
i’ve started using an aeropress to filter the material and trying to approximate the contact time to bho running through a tube…been working awesome so far…but the aeropress is made of plastic, are there any issues with the iso interacting with the plastic i should be concerned about? the iso itself is originally packaged in a plastic bottle, but i know not all plastics are the same…anything to worry about?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on May 30, 2013 at 8:33 AM
The Copolyester shell looks to be OK to about 150F, but it is unclear what they are using for the elastomer on the plunger and Iso is a pretty aggressive alcohol, so I would recommend contacting them and asking what they are using.
Posted by Seth on May 30, 2013 at 4:24 PM
this info help at all?
“The AeroPress is made of three different plastics. The clear chamber and plunger are made of copolyester. The hard black filter cap, filter holder, funnel, and stirrer are made of polypropylene. The rubber like seal on the end of the plunger is made of a thermoplastic elastomer. All of these materials are FDA approved for use in contact with food. None of these materials contain bisphenol-A (BPA) or any phthalates, chemicals that have been in the news lately because of possible health effects.
Aerobie has been shipping AeroPress coffee makers made of the materials described above since August 1st, 2009. Prior to that date, the clear chamber and plunger were made of a very special high humidity and temperature resistant polycarbonate. Polycarbonate does not contain phthalates but it does contain BPA. Even though the FDA and other governmental agencies around the world approve polycarbonate for use in contact with food, we had an independent lab test coffee brewed in a well used AeroPress to determine how much, if any, BPA leaches into coffee brewed in a polycarbonate AeroPress. Absolutely none was detected. Given that result, one could ask why we switched to using copolyester. The answer is simple. The use of copolyester removes any perceived risk from BPA and it is a more attractive material.”
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on June 1, 2013 at 8:12 AM
The Polypropylene is OK, but thermoplastic elastomers doesn’t help much. I would need more specific information to track it down.
Yup, we do some of what we do, because of public perception. It is easier to go along with it, than continue to fight over it.
Posted by Chris on May 26, 2013 at 9:41 AM
Skunk pharms rocks!
You suggest drying the plant material in the oven, could the drying be done in a vacuum chamber? My wife gets upset when I use her kitchen. He he he.
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on May 27, 2013 at 8:40 AM
You could vacuum dry the material, but the oven would be way faster.
Yeah, I have to be nice to Grayfox when I wreck the kitchen and stink up the house. I usually close off the kitchen and open the outside door to the patio, in conjunction with two fans providing draft and exhause.
Posted by sadhu on May 11, 2013 at 9:28 AM
After doing a QWISO extraction ……….. what’s the most effective wash or winterize . Ethanol , sodium chloride …………..or ………could I do both ?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on May 12, 2013 at 8:55 AM
Iso extracts more non polar waxes than Ethanol, so winterizing will drop out some stuff, but not much. Redissolving in Hexane and brine washing will wash out any water solubles that you’ve picked up.
Hopefully if you have done a frozen QWISO by the numbers, there will be very little needing washing out. Every extra thing that you do to the oil, costs more lighter terpenes.
Posted by Genevieve on May 9, 2013 at 7:37 AM
I every time used to study article in news papers but now as I am a user of internet so from now I am using
net for articles, thanks to web.
Posted by sadhu on May 5, 2013 at 11:20 AM
Is there any advantage to using anhydrous ipa ( 99.8 + % ) compared to regular 99 % ipa?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on May 6, 2013 at 12:59 PM
Not that I’m aware of.
Posted by James on April 23, 2013 at 5:10 PM
This is my tutorial completely based off of things i learned on this website!
http://boards.cannabis.com/concentrates/205709-great-iso-alcohol-method-high-potency-next-no-green.html
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on April 24, 2013 at 3:12 PM
Not true about the canned toxins with butane.
Posted by Erik on April 10, 2013 at 2:59 PM
What are the cheapest and most available options for non-polar solvents? I am located in canada, where everclear is not sold. I will continue to snoop around but it appears the best i can find is bacardi 151. If I have QWISO made and heat purged, with residual waxes and unwanted cloudiness what steps can I take to further purge?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on April 11, 2013 at 10:12 AM
Hexane and butane are probably the two cheapest non polar solvents that are readily available.
Cloudiness in QWISO is typically water. You might try a 115F purge at -29.9″ Hg.
Posted by dboy on February 20, 2013 at 6:26 PM
I followed your stepd and made my first QWISO extraction with your method however, there isa cloudy white milky liquid substance towards the end of the evaporation process. when using other methods I do not recall seeing this. This is the first time I am using 99 percent alcohol all other times was only 91.
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on February 23, 2013 at 6:33 AM
The cloudiness was water reacting with the concentrated alcohol. It will go away once the water is evaporated off.
Posted by Mike on February 20, 2013 at 7:00 AM
i just made some beautiful rock hard, lemon jolly rancher looking qwiso. I had her on low heat (100-110f) for 3 hrs, allowed to cool then scraped and repurged at the same temps for another 30 min or so and still seems to have some solvent left in it as when i put a lighter to it, it sparkles lol
im afraid of using higher heat as i heard it ruins the flavour, but all im reading hear are temps around 140-240 aswell as decarbing which i thought happened when vaping the concentrates.
just seems to me that i need more time than 3+hrs at those temps. ive thought about purging in the oven but it only goes as low as 170.
do you think that temp is ok in terms of flavour??
thanks in advance
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on February 23, 2013 at 7:08 AM
I like 115F at -29-9″ Hg for our strains.
To retain the oil mostly in its carboxylic acid form, we use 125/140F without vacuum or a 250F hot oil pot for purging and decarboxylating oil.
170F will cause some decarboxylation and soften your oil. You will also lose some of the mono and sesquiterpenes, along with their flavors.
Posted by Sam on February 16, 2013 at 3:14 PM
if i QWISO my material, run it a few times through a vaccum filter then winterize in ethanol, will i get absolute “amber”?
if not, then how can i get the chlorophyl out?
my aim is to get all the cannabinoids off the plant material in a single extraction and to produce some clean looking shatter glass while am at it.
TIA wolf.
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on February 18, 2013 at 7:31 AM
No, an Absolute is a non polar extraction, that has been winterized to remove the waxes, using a polar solvent like ethanol. The Ethanol wash will remove some of the undesirables extracted by the Isopropyl, because Iso is a more agressive solvent.
If you are looking for a clean shatter, you are better off not extracting the chlorophyll in the first place, as the steps required to remove it, will most likely also decarboxylate the oil, which will make it runnier.
I would suggest using frozen extraction techniques and keeping the different pulls separate. You can extract with one pull, but it will have significant chlorophyll pickup.
You can also switch to a non polar extraction like butane, pentane, or hexane, which will limit chlorophyll pickup.
Posted by Sam on February 19, 2013 at 1:18 PM
Im really more like moving away from butane see. its too complicated and smelly for my current purpose and situation.
I do still want to put together a “mini” terp’ using 4×6″ spools for the reservoir and tank and 1.5×18″ for the column but i wont mess with butane any more until i’ve the equipment to do lossless butane extractions.
what do you think about the dimensions i have in mind for the mini terp?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on February 20, 2013 at 11:37 AM
I think I would use a 6″ X 6″ spool, to get the larger surface area for evaporation.
GW
Posted by Dboy on February 16, 2013 at 10:56 AM
If being used for vaporization once “When the alcohol is visually gone, place the dish on a 140F heat mat, or float it in a hot water dish, until the smell and taste of the Isopropyl is gone, usually around 30 minutes to an hour.” is completed is it ready for use or does it need to go through further processing?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on February 17, 2013 at 11:12 PM
Should be ready to use. If it has an off flavor purge longer.
Joe
Posted by Dboy on February 18, 2013 at 12:33 PM
I am worried about the residual solvents left in the final product…is the qwiso or the qwet or bho method one better than the other? I read one of your articles that mentioned concentrates do not contain the free radicals like smoke does, but I still have concerns with the concentrate vapor and or vapor from a volcano vaporizer using bud(which I have used for the past 4 years)
Your site is the MOST informative sight I have found!
Thanks!
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on February 18, 2013 at 4:56 PM
With proper time and temperature during purging there’s no reason to worry about residual solvents. All three are innocuous in small volumes as vapor. I don’t off hand know what the threshold for isopropanol is but I’m positive its far past its detection limit with your olfactory senses. In other words don’t let it bother you unless the taste bothers you.
Joe
Posted by dboy on February 20, 2013 at 11:02 AM
In your observations, what are the advantages and disadvantages with of both qwet and qwiso? In terms of extraction process (time and work) and final product (best tasting and potency)?
Thanks again!
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on February 23, 2013 at 7:03 AM
Both work, Iso is cheaper and ethanol is more salubrious. Iso is more agressive and does in about 15/20 seconds, what it takes ethanol to do in 3 minutes.
Iso fumes are more explosive than ethanol and more poisonous to breath.
Iso is a pungent alcohol, that has to be purged to lower limits to get beyond human taste threshold limits.
Posted by NLD on April 26, 2013 at 10:52 AM
Can I skip the heating step and instead leave my oil spread thin in a pyrex plate covered with cheese cloth for a few days?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on April 29, 2013 at 9:30 AM
If you leave it long enough, but it would be much faster if the surface were kept molten, so that the alcohol molecules can more easily escape.
Posted by Dr teeth on February 13, 2013 at 1:04 AM
Do you typically heat material that is intended to be vaporized? Aren’t you decarboxilizing when you do remove moisture out of the raw plant material? Sorry for my ignorance, it’s just unclear to me.
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on February 14, 2013 at 9:01 AM
We vaporize both carboxlic acid forms, as well as decarboxylate. Either works.
Just drying the plant doesn’t decarboxylate it, although decarboxylation is a drying process, where a COOH hydroxl element is shed in the form of CO2 and H20.
Posted by dboy on February 20, 2013 at 1:24 PM
what would be the benefit of vaporizing 1 versus the other.
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on February 23, 2013 at 6:44 AM
Could you elaborate on the question? Vaporizing versus burning, or QWISO vis a vis other extraction methods?
Posted by dboy on February 25, 2013 at 3:19 PM
Vaporizing carboxlic acid forms, as well as decarboxylate
Posted by choof on February 11, 2013 at 9:51 AM
Excellent, that is what I expected, as any residual iso would make beautiful oil sad,, I use this same method for my reclamation process, with the 246 degree oil bath curve , an an infrared & candy thermometer, usually taking the opportunity to winterize the solution as well, thanks for your reply.
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on February 12, 2013 at 10:42 AM
Welcome!
GW
Posted by choof on February 10, 2013 at 4:57 PM
so qwiso for vaporiziong can be simply water purged and then heated to 140 for 30 minutes and it safe?? seems the oil bath method would be safest and cleanest for vaporizing -taste???
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on February 11, 2013 at 7:29 AM
It would probably be safe, but not very tasty with the residual Iso.
If I was making QWISO for vaporizing, I would probably blow dry the bulk of the alcohol and then cook off the remainder.
We use a 250F oil bath when we are decarboxylating the oil afterwards anyway.
Posted by frank l jones on April 28, 2013 at 10:02 AM
greetings,thank you for such fine info Im wondering about your oil bath temps
Im wanting to purchase a hotplate with heat senser and stir set up
would this hot plate with stirrer work instead,?or would it be best to use
a fondue pot set up?
hope you have time to get back to me
thank you
frank
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on April 29, 2013 at 9:48 AM
Depends on what you are using it for. Most hot plates aren’t controlable in the 80 to 115F range used for some processes, but would work for processing at temperatures above that.
I prefer a Quisinart fondue pot with Canola oil in it. The purpose of the double boiler oil bath set up, is to keep the heat even and constant, where even some expensive lab hotplates have hot spots.
Posted by frank jones on May 6, 2013 at 4:54 PM
thanks for your reply,as I compose this Im waiting for my fondue set up to arrive by mail
have to admit ive had so many questions but from hanging out at your web site from the photos many questions were evident,I did complete my first
Qwiso it was awesome 3 runs with 1 once of sugary trin and popcorn
,return was close 2.75 gms each run way different from each other
I do wanna ask about the filtered solution when transferring to evaporate
how deep to fill a pyrex pie plate?
thank you very much
frank
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on May 7, 2013 at 9:51 AM
Depends somewhat on the viscosity of the alcohol mixture, but at a 10:1 dilution, between .250″ and .375″, will leave a .025 to .037 thin film behind, which is easy to quickly purge, especially under vacuum.
Posted by C on February 8, 2013 at 8:34 PM
Your amazing the more I read. Is it possible to winterize in the iso instead of changing it to everclear? I thought I read something like that in one of these discussions but now I can’t find it. I see in this one you say to evaporate out the iso. I’m really excited to be able to get real answers with the science behind it. Some forums can be so frustrating because people talk but don’t know. You obviously know. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on February 9, 2013 at 7:44 PM
Yes, you can winterize a non polar extraction with Iso.
Peace,
GW
Posted by darken9 on January 20, 2013 at 10:08 AM
Thanks GW for the tutorial. Very informative. Are there any videos of the process available?
Also, what oil is used in the oil bath?
Cheers again,
Dar
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on January 21, 2013 at 6:09 AM
Thanks for the good thoughts!
Alas, no movies, but we are making videos for u-tube posting this year, so stay tuned.
We use Canola oil in the bath.
GW
Posted by The8l8 on January 18, 2013 at 10:12 PM
Thank you for putting time and effort in sharing your knowledge with everybody.
I learnt alot from reading all this.
I would also love to show you my own qwiso extracts but I dont own any good quality cameras.
My last batch was from some excellent quality indoor grown white widow, and from the first extraction came out a stable product showing a light yellow with a tint of green.
Taste delicious tho,
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on January 19, 2013 at 6:41 AM
Thanks for the good thoughts T818! Good to hear youare already making our own quality extracts and would love to see your pictures when you get a suitable camera. We need to drop a bundle there, but so far have continued to stay broke by dropping our bundles on more pressing needs than recording what we’ve already done.
Posted by Level1extractor on January 4, 2013 at 10:48 PM
Great Website! Would it be possible to place trim/bud in a mason jar with solid pieces of dry ice and shake for x amount of time to remove all the kief/trichromes from the bud leaving waxes/chlorophyll behind and then do a warm QWISO extraction with the left over kief/trichromes soaking it longer (around 5min) to dissolve the kief/trichromes into the oil and then extracting that way? Would this prevent contamination from plant material or would you be wasting your time with unnecessary steps and materials.
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on January 5, 2013 at 7:21 AM
A solvent extraction from kif, is easier to keep pristine, than one from the bud material. For that reason, we once extracted most of the oil we made for cancer patients, from bubble using ethanol.
It is more time consuming, and produces a lower yield than extracting directly from the bud with a non polar solvent, but the effects can be stunning.
Posted by herban on December 23, 2012 at 9:56 PM
hi there, I have a good deal of pressed, surface melt coldwater hash that I want to powder and extract the best volatile oil from and as its only surface melt and I know there is a good deal of water soluble and undesirable inactive content to it, I do not know enough to decide whether I should use the 99% iso that I have, or if I should invest in some everclear for the task. How do you suppose the quality/yield of the two would differ and which would be the better route? If I qwiso it, I will not winterize or otherwise do anything to further refine it and the qwiso will be my finished product as is so please make a recommendation accordingly. Also how long is a resonable time to wash for either? Thanks alot and happy holidays, herban
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on December 24, 2012 at 6:15 AM
If you adequately purge, you can use either. Isopropyl is a pungent alcohol, so is a little harder to purge below detectable limits. When frozen, we use a 30 second quick wash for Isopropyl and 3 minutes for 190 proof EtOh.
Posted by Hunter on December 7, 2012 at 7:58 AM
Hey guys, I attempted this method recently with a bit of dry-ice extracted kiefy powder that I had sitting around from a few months ago. I froze kief+91% ISO overnight > added ISO to kief jar > shook for 10 seconds. When I attempted to strain it, I found that the kief clogged up the filter a bit, causing it to take over 30 minutes to strain through. The strained material still contained a fair amount of particulate, so i attempted to filter once more. I then poured the liquid into a pyrex and double boiled to evaporate ISO.
Material that eventually was scraped came out a bit chunky, and tastes pretty harsh. First experience with QWISO, would this be worth running with ethanol?
I believe this “kief” has a fair amount of pulverized plant material in it and am curious what method would be preferred to improve this material. Have tried BHO and QWISO, with disappointing results, would you just press it in a cannabutton-like process?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on December 8, 2012 at 8:23 AM
You can extend the soak time to several minutes using kif, as the source of most of the chlorophyll and other water solubles, has been removed.
I use a French Chinoise to strain out most of the stuff and then refilter it with a coffee filter or vacuum filter with a Whatman #1. See at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinoise
I also wash out the filtrate with fresh solvent, to remove any residual oils.
It will definitely be harsh with residual plant material, so you might redissolve it in ethanol and refilter it.
Pressing kief into cannabuttons will make something akin to hash, which will be smoother, but anything with burning cellulose fibers in it, will be harsh on the lungs.
Prime Absolute Amber makes me cough, even when vaporized, as it is an expectorant. It isn’t a harsh irritating cough like with smoke however, and gets under any congestion so that it is expelled.
Posted by hunter on December 14, 2012 at 3:32 PM
Appreciate the advice.I think that I had some residual ISO in the product as well, stuck it in the oven for a few minutes, resulting in some pretty active melting and bubbling. Tastes quite a bit better now.
Currently trying to make hash/cannabutton by folding 5 gm chuncks into parchment-paper envelope, heating a bit with a hair straightener, and pressing under a desk w/ me sitting on it. Slow process, but it is definitely helping!
thanks again for spreading the knowledge, you guys are amazing!
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on December 15, 2012 at 4:20 AM
Ohmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Posted by Shannon on December 10, 2012 at 12:50 AM
With keif you can do your wash at room temp or warmer then freeze and filter the alcohol to remove fats, lipids, waxes etc.
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on December 10, 2012 at 5:58 AM
Starting with kif is an excellent way to extract prime oil using a polar solvent like alcohol.
After some initial reflux experiments with ethanol, I originally produced all of our oil by cold soak or refluxing bubble hash in 190 proof. I have since switched to non-polar extraction for the bulk of our oil, but one of the advantages of using a polar solvent like Iso or Ethanol, is that the waxes and lipids are relatively non polar, so not as many waxes and lipids are extracted in the first place. As you note, freezing the solution will drop out the what does.
Switching to a non polar solvent solved my need to start with kif, but it did increase the amount of waxes and fats requiring removal afterwards.
Posted by Ken on November 17, 2012 at 11:09 PM
I made (tried to make) some QWISO with 99% IPA. Everything was going great until I put the strained IPA in the Pyrex pie plate. The IPA was not evaporating very quickly, I was using a fan blowing ripples on the IPA. The last time I looked at it (after 4-5 hrs.), it had gotten milky. Is this water? It has been raining off & on the last couple of days, 50-65 degrees & high humidity. Does IPA absorb water from the atmoshere? Is there a safe way to evaporate IPA with heat(without a hood)?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on November 19, 2012 at 6:59 AM
Iso starts with some water in it and extracts a lot more from the plant material, besides drawing it from atmospheric humidity. Water turns Iso milky, but the milkyness goes away once the water is evaporated off.
I evaporate off iso in an electric fondue pot full of hot canola oil, which I set outside and blow the fumes away with a fan.
Posted by Ken on November 19, 2012 at 9:27 PM
I looked beautiful until it had been in the Pyrex pie plate with a fan on for about an hour. The next morning I floated the Pyrex in hot water. I kept the water temp. at 130-140F. This time I put it in a bldg. that was warmer/drier. All of the white disappeared, and it thickened-up. I left it in the hot water for another 30 min. I scraped it up. It hardened within a minute. It has a nice amber color with a little green. It melts fast, clean, and tastes good. It is a little harsh on the exhale. Smaller dabs cure this! Overall I am very pleased (excited) with the results!
Thanks for help!
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on November 21, 2012 at 5:33 AM
Lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 You are most welcome bro!
Good job paying attention to details and we’re pleased that it worked out to your satisfaction!
GW
Posted by kandro81 on November 13, 2012 at 10:22 PM
Hi guys the extract ive made for my g pen is a qwiso extract .
I made it because from experience I know how melty and delicious qwiso can be.
but its too waxy and stable and has too much residue when cashed.
I need something less stable thats liquid all the time.
I read a qwiso post on ommp pay it forward saying that after your qwiso is reduced to stir it back into some iso again
freeze it then strain out the waxy solids that solidifie on the bottom. they called the strained liquid a bell clear liquid
does anyone think this might work to destabilize my qwiso keeping it liquid and purifying it further to the point its atleast liquidy and leaves less residue when cashed.
does anyone with qwiso refining experience have any info on this. I prefer less dangerous methods involving as few chemicals as possible.
the qwiso article posted here didnt mention stability. it didnt say if it would be a more purified stable wax or a runny oil when finished and a purified runny oil is what Im looking for???
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on November 16, 2012 at 6:58 AM
I would suggest that you redissolve the QWISO in hot 190 proof Ethanol, instead of Isopropyl again, freeze the solution for at least 48 hours, and then filter it again.
Because of the differences in dielectric constants, the Isopropyl will pick, up more non polar waxes than Ethanol, so everything won’t redissolve, and some of what does will fall out of solution as the temperature drops.
Re-dissolving in Isopropyl would have less effect, but the added filtration might help with clarity, if you have fine suspended solids present.
We use a commercial coffee filter for general filtration, a Whatman #1 for vacuum assisted filtration, and a 0.2 micron syringe filter for maximum clarity
That will remove some of the constitutes that make it cloudy and if you decarboxylate the oil following ethanol purge, it will make it less viscous. We use about 70% decarboxylation for maximum THC effect, and 100% for more sedative requirements.
We use decarboxylated oil in our 510 e-pen carts, and just inject it into the wick hot, using a glass syringe and hypodermic needle.
Posted by adam on October 27, 2012 at 7:31 PM
91% is that ok isoproyl wise or to much water? 99% preferred or necessary?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on October 28, 2012 at 5:54 AM
91% will work in a pinch, but 99% is much preferred and does a cleaner extraction.
GW
Posted by adam on October 28, 2012 at 10:07 AM
figured as much thxs for the response.
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on October 28, 2012 at 1:44 PM
Ohmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Posted by adam on October 28, 2012 at 6:55 PM
one more quick question, let me see if i can word this right. which oil u think would work best for oral consumption? hexane, butane, etc…..
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on October 29, 2012 at 3:30 AM
We use butane and ethanol for most of our oral meds.
GW
Posted by Liam on October 21, 2012 at 2:15 PM
If a qwiso extraction has taken on a completely solid, glass like consistency subsequent to one hours thin film purging over low heat, Is it possible for it to still contain some residual alcohol? What is the best way to be 100% sure that your extract is fully purged of iso?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on October 22, 2012 at 8:16 AM
You can thin film purge it under high vacuum, or decarboxylate the oil at 250F without vacuum, and drive off any residuals.
If you just keep the oil in a thin film molten state and blow filtered air over it, it will keep the enriched boundary layers blown away, and encourage more rapid evaporation of the residual volatiles.
Posted by kannamed on October 11, 2012 at 6:28 AM
Thanks for your great website! I’ve made several RSO extractions for medical use, successfully. However, after reading your post on QWISO extraction, I feel that by decarbing and freezing, the extraction should be cleaner and stronger. I’m getting ready to try your QWISO extraction and would like to ask you two questions: Once the buds or leafs are dry (10 days after harvest) does it make any sense to go through a curing process, since the oil will be decarbed any way? Is the liquid used in the fondue pot (to set the Pyrex beaker in) regular cooking oil?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on October 11, 2012 at 7:18 AM
Thanks for your good thoughts!
There is no advantage to curing after you reach the 10/15% moisture content, where the small twigs snap.
We use Canola oil in the cooking pot, because it works well and is cheap.
GW
Posted by Liam on August 21, 2012 at 1:36 PM
If im making a qwiso for vaporizing and I extract the material twice without drying in between washes, just going straight back to the freezer, What is a typical yield to expect per ounce? Sometimes I use high quality fine trimmings with little to no shade leaf and small buds in it, and sometimes i use straight high quality flowers.How many grams of QWISO should I expect to be getting with two washes per ounce of either?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on August 22, 2012 at 6:26 AM
It is highly strain and material dependant, but the most I ever got on the first pass, was 16% and change, with a total after two passes of about 22%, using our methods.
Posted by Liam Morgan on August 18, 2012 at 5:37 PM
Ive managed to produce results im for the most part quite pleases with lately following a slighltly simplified version of this same procedure. I have one question that comes to mind regarding how one of the steps could be clearer. After one extraction has been done and is says “We set the material aside to dry and refreeze for a second extraction.” , what method are you using to fully dry the plant material for a second extraction before refreezing it? Or are you just refreezing as is directly after first strain, which is what I did?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on August 19, 2012 at 5:31 AM
We just air or vacuum dry it until it feels dry and refreeze it.
GW
Posted by Ommp Payit Forward on June 20, 2012 at 1:59 PM
Howdy folks, I made some QWISO yesterday and had some funny results. It’s RED! It tastes good, smells good, but is not very potent. I’m curious why it turned red and why it isn’t very comparable to the buds, which are very potent. You may want to know my process to help but first I’ll post some pictures and see if you can help from that.
Is this cloudyness the wax and plant material or the oil? Question from Member asks at pay it forward
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on June 20, 2012 at 4:50 PM
Hi bro! QWISO makes a red oil, compared to Ethanol. If you redissolve QWISO in Ethanol, it will drop out a red waxy substance, that won’t redissolve.
Cloudyness in a QWISO can be retained water or small bubbles. How was it purged?
Posted by weedwhat on June 20, 2012 at 9:16 PM
Frozen trim placed in large mason jar > washed 30-45 seconds with 99% iso alcohol > strained through coffee filters into pyrex baking dish > placed pyrex dish onto hot water bath that was at approx 200-240 degrees until alcohol was evaporated. also had a fan blowing high speed the entire time
I believe it was strain related. It was the first sativa I’ve processed with this method. The indica oils I’ve made like this turned out as expected, golden brown honey colored.
Would it be possible to re-dissolve it in 99% Iso and run it through coffee filters a few more times to get rid of the waxyness?
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on June 21, 2012 at 5:07 AM
Unfortunately no. Iso will continue to redissolve the same things.
Your process looks OK, though I use a 20/30 second wash. It is most likely related to material, and I suspect anthocyanins are the source of the color in the wax, as the wax itself is light tan colored. It would probably take a non polar wash to get rid of the polar cyanins.
Posted by weedwhat on June 21, 2012 at 8:07 AM
Thanks Graywolf. I very much appreciate your input.
Posted by Skunk Pharm Research,LLC on June 21, 2012 at 11:44 AM
Ohmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1