How to make rosin dabs

Dabbing enthusiasts everywhere, rejoice! Rosin is here, and it’s making some big waves in the extract community. This emerging solventless extraction technique allows anybody to make their own high quality hash oil from the comfort of their home.

The best part about making rosin is that it can be done safely and inexpensively in just minutes by using ordinary household tools. This method utilizes heat and pressure to squeeze the cannabinoid-rich resin from your flowers, bubble hash, or kief. Your average hair straightener, some parchment paper, and a collection tool are all you need to produce a hash oil that rivals hydrocarbon extraction methods in flavor, potency, and effect.

What is rosin made of?

Rosin can be made of cannabis flower, kief, or hash. These starting materials can be easily transformed into rosin wax.

Aesthetically, rosin is almost impossible to distinguish from shatter or sap. However, the difference between the two is that rosin is completely free of the residual solvents often left behind by hydrocarbon extraction processes (e.g. butane, propane, etc.). You can also be making dabs at home in minutes without the dangers associated with using butane.

Materials for rosin dabs*

Learn how to make rosin wax with a DIY rosin press. First, you’ll need to gather a few materials. You may already have most of these items at home, but if not, you should be able easily acquire them quickly and cheaply.

1. Hair straightener (try to find one with a low setting of around 300°F or lower—any higher and valuable terpenes will evaporate off)
2. Starting material (this can be cannabis flowers, bubble hash, or kief)
3. Parchment paper (unbleached, if possible)
4. Collection tool (many dabber tools work well here, although you can get creative!)
5. Heat-resistant gloves for safety

*Homemade rosin press safety tip: Please exercise caution when handling the hair straightener and use heat-resistant gloves as an added safety measure—we don’t want you to burn yourself!

How to make rosin

1. Turn on your hair straightener to the lowest setting (280-330°F)
2. Cut yourself a small 4×4” piece of parchment paper
3. Fold the parchment paper in half
4. Place your material in between the folded parchment paper
5. Lightly press the folded parchment paper with your fingers
6. Carefully line the buds inside of the paper together with your hair straightener and apply a very firm pressure for about 3-7 seconds. You will want to hear a sizzle before you remove the pressure—it indicates that the resin has melted from the plant material.
7. Remove your sample from the hot surface
8. Unfold the parchment paper
9. Pluck the flattened nug away and grab your collection tool. This is a very sticky process so be patient and careful. For larger batches, use different clean sheets of parchment and collect your samples together at the end.
10. Remove any visible plant material if you wish
11. Fold the finished product between the parchment and flatten it to your preference
12. Use a clean tool to pick out any plant particulates. You may place the substance on a cold surface for a few seconds if you desire a more stable material to work with.

Who knew you’d be making dabs with your very own homemade rosin press? Now load a nice fat dab of your fresh new rosin and celebrate—you just became an extract artist who knows how to make dabs!