Bubble Hash Washing Machine vs. Hand-Washing

Bubble hash is a popular and potent cannabis concentrate. The origins of bubble hash date back to the 1980s, when Northern Californian growers sought ways of extracting the purest cannabis trichomes from their yields. For growers today, quality bubble hash offers an exceptional way to increase sales and unlock additional revenue.

However, like many products in this industry, the quality of your bubble hash will depend heavily on your preparation and extraction methods. Ice water hash is created by agitating cannabis flowers with ice water, which helps to release the plant’s trichome heads from the plant material.

Specially designed ice water hash washing machines can improve efficiency for commercial growers, enhance yields, and deliver a host of other unique benefits. Let’s explore the basics.

Bubble Hash Washing Machine vs. Hand-Washing

Traditionally, professionals relied exclusively on hand-washing methods, which required the meticulous manual agitation of cannabis buds, often over extended periods of time. Though hand-washing provided an excellent level of control to growers, it was both time-consuming and physically demanding. This led to the quest for a more efficient and scalable alternative: bubble hash machine washing.

The Machine Washing Method

Automated ice water extraction involves using a specially designed bubble hash washing machine, which carefully agitates buds in a controlled environment.

The process begins with attentive material preparation and selection. Growers first select the best quality buds with the highest concentrations of trichomes that contain the desired levels of cannabinoids and terpenes.

Next, they load the buds, ice, and water into the washing machine drum. The ice-cold water helps to preserve the delicate trichomes while facilitating the separation process through agitation.

Triminator’s revolutionary ice water extraction machine, the Triminator Maker™, imitates hand mixing with an effective yet gentle vortex for easy trichome separation. The Maker™ also has customizable washing cycles that allow you to adjust and save your settings, including:

• RPM speed
• Run time, for each direction
• Rest time between switching directions
• Total run time  

The Maker’s innovative design includes a perforated false bottom where trichomes settle during the washing process, away from the vortex, protecting the separated trichomes from any potential damage. After agitation, the water is then drained through a series of micron screens, which capture the trichomes, allowing them to be dried and cured.

Yield and Quality Expectations 

The highly controlled and efficient process offered by a machine hash maker allows for exceptional extractions and often a much higher yield than hand-washing. Commercial companies can collect more trichomes in less time while maintaining uniformity. 

The consistency in agitation also helps to preserve the overall quality of the bubble hash, ensuring aromas, potency, and flavors remain stable. What’s more, with careful temperature control, companies can ensure a more flavorful and potent final product without excessive time or labor investments in the production process itself.

Pros:

• Smooth and consistent agitation allows for more gentle treatment, separating the trichomes from the cannabis flower without breaking up the buds and overly contaminating the hash with plant material.
• Companies save time by collecting more trichomes in a shorter period.
• Washing machines allow users to scale production rapidly.
• Improved yields of highly potent hash.
• Quicker turnaround of hash production to maintain steady solventless rosin production.

Cons:

• Potential risk of contamination if multiple machines are used. Stick to an all-in-one machine for less chance of contamination. 
• You may need to purchase additional equipment without an all-in-one solution.

The Hand-Washing Method

While newer machines have undoubtedly revolutionized bubble hash production, there are still some growers who prefer the hand-washing method. Some feel this technique allows for a higher level of control and craftsmanship, particularly for small batches. 

The process of washing cannabis by hand is labor-intensive and time-consuming compared to using a washing machine, but the steps are similar. To begin, growers select premium flower rich in trichomes and place them into a container, such as a 5-gallon bucket, for agitation. 

Using gentle hand movements, usually with a spatula, spoon, or paddle, the producer then agitates the buds within the ice water to encourage the separation of the trichomes from the plant material. This water is then poured through a series of screens or mesh bags to collect the trichomes for hash production.

Yield and Quality Expectations 

The hand-washing method does have some distinct benefits. For instance, when hand mixing each product, cultivators can maintain some more control over the process. This allows for greater attention to detail, particularly when preparing smaller, craft batches of bubble hash.

Unfortunately, there are significant downsides, too. The first is the time it takes to manually wash the product. Usually, cultivators start with a pre-soak of around 30 to 60 minutes to ensure the plant matter is supple. Next, a pre-wash is necessary to remove any dust, dirt, and outdoor particles.

The first official wash can take around two to three minutes, but several additional washes are often necessary to increase the yield of trichomes. You’ll need to carefully balance the number of washes with the quality of the bubble hash. Each subsequent wash can potentially lead to more contamination with chlorophyll and plant material, which influences the end quality of the product.

What’s more, investing in hand-washing requires companies to employ and train skilled workers to perform routine processes. The whole process is far too labor-intensive and expensive to allow for the scalability that larger companies need. 

Why Choose Machine Washing Over Hand-Washing?

Although hand-washing has its appeal for craft makers of bubble hash, it’s not a scalable or particularly efficient model. In the past, many cultivators felt they had to compromise on the “artisan” quality of bubble hash by switching from hand-washing to machine washing alternatives.

However, it’s now possible to find hash-washing machines that have been carefully designed to facilitate efficient agitation without compromising on quality.

The Triminator Maker™ provides optimal trichome separation and high yields of extract. It’s ready to use with a collection vessel, base frame, and water pump already included and requires no additional parts for operation.

 Premium features of the Maker™ include:

• Multiple capacity options: Growers can choose the ideal capacity to suit their cultivation needs, such as the 20-gallon model for smaller batches or the 60-gallon model. This makes it easy to find the best fit for your facility according to your specific requirements.
• Quality preservation: The top machine washing solutions are constructed with food-grade materials, such as durable stainless steel. This not only allows for easy, effortless cleaning but also limits the risk of contamination and preserves the quality of the product throughout the process.
• Custom washing cycles: To optimize trichome separation, cultivators can customize their washing cycles, choosing the ideal RPM speed, run time in each direction, rest time between switching directions, and total run time.
• Temperature management: Thick insulation sleeves on machines help to reduce ice usage, ensuring companies can keep costs low while monitoring and maintaining optimal temperatures throughout the preparation process with a large, built-in thermometer.
• Gentle performance: The no-shear impeller imitates the effects of hand-washing to create an efficient yet gentle vortex for separating trichomes, minimizing the risk of lost quality.
• Automatic operation: The all-in-one system and automatic washing frees up personnel for other tasks. Save time and labor mixing and complete multiple washes in one day.

The Benefits of Machine Washing Solutions

Specialized hash washing machines allow for the extraction of higher volumes of trichomes in a shorter period of time with minimal physical labor. 

Additionally, with a hash washing machine, commercial producers can maintain more consistent quality across batches. Machines offer a standardized agitation process, which allows for greater flavor, quality, and potency, giving customers a uniform product to enjoy. With the Maker™, you can save your settings, which allows for a repeatable process, delivering high-quality results, even from one batch to another. 

For those companies operating in a GMP facility or seeking GMP compliance, a hash washer like the Maker™ can ensure they adhere to the highest possible standards. Machine washing solutions can even reduce downtime, with simplified cleaning systems that reduce the work involved in preserving sanitary environments.

Machines also reduce the need for skilled labor, particularly when you choose an advanced machine like the Maker™ with a user-friendly interface. Unlike other machines, the Maker™ allows users to save wash cycle recipes for repeatable processes in the future.

The Maker™: The New Age of Ice-Water Extraction

Although there will always be traditionalists who may prefer the hand-washing method for making bubble hash, washing machines offer superior scalability and efficiency. They’re the best choice for commercial bubble hash production, offering consistent agitation processes, large-scale processing abilities, and exceptional results. 

If you’re looking for a way to rapidly scale and enhance your bubble hash production strategy, Triminator’s Maker™ is the perfect solution. Available in two different capacity models, the Maker™ brings a whole new level of productivity to commercial bubble hash production.

Have more questions?

Contact the Triminator team today to discover how our hash washing machine can deliver top-tier bubble hash to high-efficiency solventless labs.