There are a number of different ways of consuming weed. While there are a majority of people who like to smoke their weed in the form of joints and blunts, and just smoke the weed away, others like to consume it in different ways. There’s bongs, vapes, pipes and so many other ways. However, concentrates are also pretty popular among stoners and these concentrates are often called ‘dabs’. Dabbing is the art of consuming marijuana via dabs and while many people tend to buy their dabs, it is quite possible to make some at home too!
Over the course of this article, we shall be taking a closer and detailed look at how to make dabs at home. Apart from the core question of how to make homemade dabs, we shall also be covering some basics such as what are dabs, what are the different kinds of dabs, how dabs are consumed, etc. Chances are that since you’re here you are planning to make dabs at home! Towards the end we shall also look at some pros and cons of dabbing. We hope that this article helps you make your own dabs at home, but also helps you get a good understanding about what dabs are and how dabbing works!
What are Dabs?
When you extract the THC and other cannabinoids out of the marijuana bud and convert it into a concentrate, it is commonly known as a ‘dab’. Dabs can be of different kinds – be it oils, waxes, shatters, resin, rosin, budder, crumble, etc. Once the extraction is done and the concentrates are ready, they are inhaled using dabbing rigs! Oils and waxes can also be consumed using vape pens and vaporizers.
Dabs have been a trend for about a decade now but are still quite a new form of consuming marijuana. Dabbing is for those stoners who want to get really high and want to get high really fast! Cannabis extracts might have THC content ranging between 60-90% which is a lot and give you an instant ‘hit’. While smoking normal weed too gets you high, since dabs have specific elements which are basically the elements of the plant that give you the high, these are much more effective. Some stoners also extract terpenes which form the aromatic oils.
There are a number of different kinds of dabs as well. Here’s a look at some of these different kinds of dabs and the difference between them before we take a closer look at how to make homemade dabs.
What are the Different Kinds of Dabs/Extracts?
Here’s a list of some of the different kinds of dabs/extracts that you should know about. People often confuse many of these terms and use them interchangeably but it is good to know what exactly you mean when you say these words:
- Wax: Contained to be one of the best types of extracts, waxes are supposed to be the purest dabs of the lot and offer the stoners with high levels of THC/CBD quantities in them. Wax is very sticky and it is advised to not touch it with naked hands.
- Shatter: These are concentrates which are pretty glass-like in nature and can be easily shattered into smaller pieces. These are known to be quite pure and can either be sticky or smooth.
- Budders: This one’s got a clever wordplay right there. This is a bud extract which is as smooth as butter. Bud+Butter gives you budder! It is simple to consume and simple to extract too.
- Oil: While most other forms of extracts are available as solids, oils are viscous liquids which are quite different from the other forms, and one of the most popular ways of dabbing.
- Rosins: When you cut and dry cannabis flowers for a while, and then make use of pressure and heat to extract the resins out of them, you are basically making a rosin. This is considered to be safe and easy to make at home. There’s no need for solvents and beginners can also try and get these dabs right. When we talk about how to make homemade dabs or how to make dabs at home in this article, we refer to Rosins as they are the safest way to do so.
How to Make Homemade Dabs? – How to Make Dabs at Home
Yes, it is now the time to address the big question that you all are actually here for. How to make dabs at home. It was essential for you to first understand what dabs are and what are the different types of extracts. In case you have skipped it and come straight to this section we strongly recommend that you read it first. In case you have already done that, we shall now be looking at how to make homemade dabs, and in particular – rosins.
For those wondering why we will be focusing on Rosins, it is because of multiple reasons. First off, the safety aspect. Many things can go wrong including fire hazard when it comes to making other types of dabs at home. Rosins are relatively safer. They are a simpler, cheaper and hassle-free way to make extracts as they allow you to have a solventless preparation. Moreover, making rosin doesn’t even take much time. You can prepare these extracts out of marijuana flowers, bubble hash or even from kief.
What Do You Need to make Rosin Dabs at Home?
In order to make Rosin, you’d need a few things. These are regular household items and are present in most average households.
- The material out of which you’d be extracting the concentrates (flowers, bubble hash or kief)
- Unbleached parchment paper
- A hair straightener, preferably one which does not go beyond 300F
- A collection unit
- Gloves for safety
Step by Step Instructions on How to Make Rosin Dabs at Home
Step 1 – Cut the unbleached parchment paper into a square of 4 inches by 4 inches. Then, fold it and press from the center. Next, place the material you are going to squeeze the extract out of in the center of this paper. Following that, give it a gentle finger press all over the crease of the folded paper. Turn on the hair straightener and set it to the lowest setting.
Step 2: Align the buds inside the paper along with the hair straightener and then give it a press. Release when you hear a soft sizzle. Under ideal circumstances this should take between 3 to 7 seconds to happen. Make sure you are wearing protective gloves while you do this else you may risk burning your fingers.
Step 3: Unfold the parchment and remove the material away. Now use the collection unit to scrape up the resin that has been left behind. Sometimes you’d need to do this multiple times before you get just the right amount of rosin.
That’s it! It is a simple, three-step process and this is all that you need to do in order to make some fresh rosin right in your home. However, mind well that this is a process that might be dangerous if you do it the wrong way and always make sure that you are wearing safety equipment such as gloves while you do it. Sometimes, some users also like to scrape away any visible plant material that might have stuck around – this is a recommended step and we suggest you do this to maintain purity.
What are Some Pros and Cons of Dabbing?
Now that you know what dabbing is, and how to make homemade dabs, let us take a closer look at some pros and cons of dabbing.
Pros
- The first benefit of dabbing your weed instead of rolling it up in a joint is straight and simple. You need to dab it up if you want to get a ‘kick’ really fast. Since it is quite concentrated and largely consists of elements that are psychoactive in nature, they give you a really nice and fast high.
- Next, they have a medicinal benefit too. For those who suffer from acute and extreme bouts of pain or from other similar chronic ailments and nausea, dabbing gives them an instant relief from their conditions. However, if you plan to consume it for medicinal purposes, it is compulsory to first consult your doctor about it.
- When you smoke your weed, you take a lot of burnt up plant matter, twigs and seeds and a number of other impure elements into your body. However, dabs are quite pure as they are made out of only the elements that you need! This purity is better compared to smoking joints.
Cons
- Consuming too much too soon of anything is always bad for you and this effect gets even worse when this is about dabs. Dabs are cannabis extracts and they need to be treated carefully. If you are starting out, always take small doses. For those who have been doing it for a long time, know your limits and know when it is the time to stop else you might face symptoms such as anxiety, extremely altered sense of reality and a slowdown of your response time.
- Extracting the concentrates out of marijuana can be a complex and tedious process and if done wrong there’s fire hazard involved in it. There’s a chance of getting contaminants and a large amount of residual solvents when extracting concentrates by yourself which might be bad for you when you consume it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Dabbing:
Here are some frequently asked questions about dabbing – do go through them carefully as you too might have some of these queries, especially while making dabs at home.
1. Can I overdose on dabs?
While there’s no such thing as ‘marijuana overdose’ and many researches have shown it is not fatal, but there’s still a lot of harm that it can cause you. It can knock you out of your senses enough for you to do something wrong – or it can cause you to throw up or you might want have a prolonged effect on your mental health such as anxiety and depression. Hence it is strongly advised to consume it in limited and small quantities.
2. How to dab weed?
Oil rigs are among some of the most common forms of dabbing weed. They are like a pipe and there’s a chamber at the end. You’ve got to fill up the pipe with water and heat it up where the nail is. Once it is red hot then you use a dabber to apply the concentrate on to that heated glass nail and inhale it!
Some sorts of dabs can also be rolled up in a joint and smoken up the old fashioned way. Waxes and oils, and some other concentrates can be consumed by using vape pens. Vape pens and vaporizers allow easy consumption of these concentrates and are quickly becoming a preferred way of dabbing by many stoners around the world.
3. What are some medicinal benefits of dabbing?
Dabbing has some medicinal benefits thanks primarily to the fact that it provides an instant effect on the consumer. Those who need an instant relief from ailments such as chronic pain or major nausea can actually use dabs to soothe down. However, even in places where medicinal marijuana has been permitted by law, it will be quite rare to find a doctor who would suggest you to dab your weed!
Conclusion
To conclude, we hope that this article on how to make homemade dabs has helped you understand exactly that! The focus when you make your own extracts and concentrates at home should be on purity as well as safety, which are both important. Always make sure you have enough safety equipment on and around you while preparing these! If you want to know more about it, do check out our website for more detailed articles. If there’s anything specific that you might want to know, drop us a mail or let us know in the comments below. Till then…
….Happy Dabbing! 🙂
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