Extraction Anyone look at trichomes after QWISO or Everclear washing?

[lunarman]

I did a couple of mason jar washes yesterday with 99% Isopropyl then I had a look under the microscope and was surprised to see a lot of trichomes left behind. I would have thought the extraction would strip off the trichomes from the plant matter. But it really hardly touched them from what I can see. Wondering why this is. Is it normal for the physical trichome stems and heads to still be left behind? Or is this a sign that I should do a another good wash?

 

[Simplicio]

I did a couple of mason jar washes yesterday with 99% Isopropyl then I had a look under the microscope and was surprised to see a lot of trichomes left behind. I would have thought the extraction would strip off the trichomes from the plant matter. But it really hardly touched them from what I can see. Wondering why this is. Is it normal for the physical trichome stems and heads to still be left behind? Or is this a sign that I should do a another good wash?

Fast washes leave more medicine behind than users realize.

There are smaller kinds of trichomes that also contain medicine.
Some medicine will naturally leak into the plant matter.
Only long soaks will pick up everything.
After a quick wash, something can probably still be done with the medicine left behind.

 

[lunarman]

Fast washes leave more medicine behind than users realize.

There are smaller kinds of trichomes that also contain medicine.
Some medicine will naturally leak into the plant matter.
Only long soaks will pick up everything.
After a quick wash, something can probably still be done with the medicine left behind.

I'm going to do a long soak next of the same stuff. I put the two jars of plant matter that were soaked in alcohol back in the freezer since with all the trichomes left I figured there had to be some value in extracting more of them with a longer wash. The only thing I don't like about that is this is fresh bud so it's got a lot of chlorophyll in it that is going to come out with the wash.

 

[Simplicio]

I'm going to do a long soak next of the same stuff. I put the two jars of plant matter that were soaked in alcohol back in the freezer since with all the trichomes left I figured there had to be some value in extracting more of them with a longer wash. The only thing I don't like about that is this is fresh bud so it's got a lot of chlorophyll in it that is going to come out with the wash.

My experience is that for edibles, chlorophyll, waxes, and other things dabbers don't want, don't affect taste much.
I frequently make edibles from decarbed herb powder, and I barely taste anything.
Using long soak tinctures in edibles, there's even less taste.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

I'm going to do a long soak next of the same stuff. I put the two jars of plant matter that were soaked in alcohol back in the freezer since with all the trichomes left I figured there had to be some value in extracting more of them with a longer wash. The only thing I don't like about that is this is fresh bud so it's got a lot of chlorophyll in it that is going to come out with the wash.

You do not need to do a long soak in alcohol since the trichomes dissolve readily in 3 or 4 minutes. The long soak will pick up more chlorophyll. I suppose I need to read more of this to see how you got here. Oh crap I went back to the beginning and discovered you are using Isopropyl - I have never used this only 100% grain (ethanol) alcohol. So disregard what I said.

 

[Dynodave]

Good shake helps a lot
Davo


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[lunarman]

Good shake helps a lot
Davo


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I did shake it quite a bit. My soaks and shakes were about 45 seconds on each jar. I'm thinking of another way to agitate it more like when I use a cement mixer and drill making bubble hash. And soak it for a couple of minutes. This is will be the second extraction on this bud so I know I have to do more. But there is so much trichome left when viewing with the microscope I should be able to get a lot more yield out of the plant matter I would think.

 

[Simplicio]

I did shake it quite a bit. My soaks and shakes were about 45 seconds on each jar. I'm thinking of another way to agitate it more like when I use a cement mixer and drill making bubble hash. And soak it for a couple of minutes. This is will be the second extraction on this bud so I know I have to do more. But there is so much trichome left when viewing with the microscope I should be able to get a lot more yield out of the plant matter I would think.

I have never seen a lab test of strained-out material from a quick ethanol wash.
Nor have I seen lab tests of cannabinoid content of interior parts of the plant.
There might be some hard to get at cannabinoids inside plant material, not just in the trichomes.
Although the vast majority of medicine might be produced inside the trichomes, the dna of every plant cell knows how to make thc.

I have seen claims of 80% cannabinoids dissolved from a single 3-5 minute wash.
These claims might be completely true, but are hard to believe without a lab test.
Quick washing my laundry or dishes probably wouldn't get all the dirt out/off.

 

[VitaMan]

I did a couple of mason jar washes yesterday with 99% Isopropyl then I had a look under the microscope and was surprised to see a lot of trichomes left behind. I would have thought the extraction would strip off the trichomes from the plant matter. But it really hardly touched them from what I can see. Wondering why this is. Is it normal for the physical trichome stems and heads to still be left behind? Or is this a sign that I should do a another good wash?

That's the nature of QWISO (and QWET too). The ways around it is more thorough agitation and longer process. You might pick up more chlorophyll, too. (cure helps) Quick extractions are more pure in that sense, so why not do both?

 

[VitaMan]

I did shake it quite a bit. My soaks and shakes were about 45 seconds on each jar. I'm thinking of another way to agitate it more like when I use a cement mixer and drill making bubble hash. And soak it for a couple of minutes. This is will be the second extraction on this bud so I know I have to do more. But there is so much trichome left when viewing with the microscope I should be able to get a lot more yield out of the plant matter I would think.

I primarily use ethyl, but the mechanics will be the same either way. A "Bodem" type coffee press can be used to churn your mixture. Or you could try washing a few coins and tossing them in the jar before agitation. It helps with shaker hash, so worth a try? You'll filter anyways, so a tiny bit of plant matter will be no problem.