How to Make Wax from Cannabis: A Guide to Concentrates

Why Wax is Popular

Cannabis culture is no longer about flowers. Today, concentrates such as wax, shatter, and dabs are among the most potent and flavorful ways to experience the cannabis plant. With these increased strengths comes curiosity: how do you make wax from cannabis? To make wax you would be extracting cannabinoids and terpenes into a sticky, glassy, or crumbly substance that burns clean and has an intense effect.

“Wax is cannabis in its concentrated form – just a little amount with increased power.”

What Is Wax and Shatter

Cannabis wax is a type of concentrate made by extracting THC, CBD, and terpenes with the help of solvents. Depending on the method and what’s done to it afterward, you may have a crumbly wax or a very glassy shatter. Both of these substances fall under the same category of extracts but have differing textures.

1. Wax: soft, sticky, and easy to work with.
2. Shatter: hard, brittle, with appearance of amber glass.

This is often why people search for to make shatter wax – it is because the process is similar, just different outcomes.

How to Make Wax Concentrate: Basics

There are various methods, but one of the most common ways is Butane Hash Oil (BHO) extraction. While this is the most common and effective method, it is also the most dangerous and should only be attempted by professionals or at least in a controlled setting.

Through this process:

1. Preparation: You will need to select cannabis buds or trim of high quality. The quality of the concentrate corresponds to the quality of the starting material.
2. Extraction: A solvent is passed over the cannabis, typically butane, dissolving cannabinoids and terpenes.
3. Collection: The solvent moves the compounds into the collection container.
4. Purging: The pull of heat and vacuum removes butane from the concentrate leaving you with concentrated wax.
5. Finishing: Depending on the method of handling, the product can become wax, budder, or shatter.

Using Good Butane to Make Wax

Not all butane is created equal. Butane impurities can ruin flavor and in some cases make the product unsafe. The best butane to use when making wax is highly refined butane that is often referred to as near-zero impurity or triple refined. Many extractors use brands like Colibri or Newport as they tend to limit the risk of any butane impurity in the final leaf concentrate product.

What is the difference between wax and dabs?

When someone asks how to make dab wax, they mean how to make wax that can be dabbed. Dabbing refers to the process of consuming wax. It requires the use of a concentrated and hot surface (nail or banger) to be combined with the wax to vaporize it for inhalation.

Term	Definition
Wax	The concentrate itself
Dabs	The experience of consuming wax with a rig.
Shatter	A brittle type of wax.

Even if dabs and wax are related, they are not the same: one refers to the product, and the other refers to the process.

Safety Factors

While the guides you see online will make the practice seem simple, please don’t attempt to have a solvent based extraction process in your home. Butane is flammable and we have all seen instances of a butane explosion. That is why labs use closed-loop extraction systems and purging equipment. Home enthusiasts can use other methods that do not involve solvents. The safest method is to use a method that is heat and pressure alone, also known as rosin pressing.

From Canna City

At Canna City, we believe the educated consumer is the empowered consumer. Understanding how to make wax concentrate is not just about the do-it-yourself, but about getting an understanding of what it took to create the end product you find on the dispensary shelf. Quality concentrates come from a specific manner of operation, safe operation and top-end cannabis materials.

So how to make wax from cannabis? It takes the method of extracting and refining cannabinoids into a concentrated product, typically by butane or an alternative method. Whether it is extracted wax, budder or shatter, the principle of the process is the same: take the essence of the plant and condense it into something smaller, stronger and efficient.