Cleaning Dry Sift with Rubber Glove Static Tech
Cannabis enthusiast and student of the art of solventless extraction
Dry sift is a form of solventless cannabis concentrate that’s made by sieving dried cannabis through a series of nylon screens. This sieving, also referred to as sifting, separates trichome heads from the plant material on which they grow during the plant’s flowering cycle. Trichome heads contain significant amounts of therapeutic compounds like cannabinoids and terpenes that we seek from the cannabis plant. The overall quality of a batch of dry sift is measured in part by the ratio of trichome heads to plant material.
The goal in making dry sift is to collect only trichome heads without any plant particles, which we refer to as contamination. Contamination comes in the form of trichome stalks and tiny pieces of chlorophyll-rich plant material.
However, isolating and collecting only trichome heads while leaving behind all contamination is nearly impossible with dry sifting screens only. You can read about the full process of creating dry sift in our Ultimate Guide To Dry Sift.
After the sieving process, a round of cleaning is essential to produce the highest levels of purity. Rubber Glove Static Tech is a way to clean dry sift with the help of a nitrile glove and static electricity. Trichomes and the plant contaminants blended in with them take on different electrical charges following the dry sifting process. With the application of static electricity, an imbalance of electric charges within or on the surface of different materials, we can effectively separate the two.
Fortunately, static electricity is safe to work with and automatically produced while dry sifting. We just need to harness it.
What Are Nitrile Gloves?
Nitrile gloves are a type of rubber gloves that are common in the cannabis industry and specifically solventless concentrates. Nitrile is a synthetic type of rubber that’s resistant to oil, which makes them great for handling sticky trichomes. The black ones work really well for static tech and are easy to find online.
Avoid gloves with powder or additional coating.
When To Use Rubber Glove Static Tech
Extractors apply Rubber Glove Static Tech to clean dry sift as it sits on top of the sifting screens following extraction. The 200 LPI sifting screen (74 micron) generally collects the most desirable qualities of dry sift, and you can use Rubber Glove Tech to clean dry sift right on top of this screen. There's no need to remove the dry sift from the sifting screens to do Rubber Glove Static Tech. In fact, the nylon mesh screen is actually helpful to the process.
Equipment for Rubber Glove Static Tech
- Nitrile glove
- Cold Plate
- Cleaning card (hotel room key, credit card, etc.)
- High quality brush (e.g. shaving brush)
Cold temperatures are best for both making and cleaning dry sift. If you can work in a room that's 60 degrees or cooler, you'll have an easier time extracting and handling the dry sift.
How To Clean Dry Sift with Rubber Glove Static Tech
Step 1: After you've completed sifting your cannabis through the series of dry sifting screens, remove the upper screens to expose the 200 LPI screen and the resin that's collected there.
Step 2. If you're not already wearing a clean pair of gloves, put a nitrile rubber glove onto your dominant hand.
Step 3: Place your hand on a cold plate to lower the temperature of your hand by a degree or two. Make sure the glove stays completely dry. Moisture and heat are both adversaries in Rubber Glove Tech.
Step 4: Sweep your gloved hand over the dry sift in quick, smooth, circular motions. This resembles the way you would apply wax to a car. Be sure to apply a moderate amount of pressure while you're doing this, to force remaining contamination through the sifting screen.
Step 5: Continue these circular motions until you've passed over the entire layer of dry sift several times. This movement creates static electricity between the screen and the glove, and also gives the trichomes an electrical charge.
You'll start to see trichome heads collect around the outside of your palm print, and up and down the sides of your fingers. The heads stick to the edges of your hand where it comes into contact with the sifting screen, while the contamination does not.
Contaminants either get pushed through the sifting screen, or remain on top. The contaminants are less likely to be drawn to the glove than the trichome heads.
Step 6: After a layer of heads collect on your glove, it's critical to remove them before they start to warm up with contact on your skin. When the trichomes get warm they clump together, becoming difficult to work with.
Use your brush a whisk the trichomes off of your hand and back onto a clean section of the sifting screen, away from any contaminants. You can also whisk these heads onto another clean surface for collection.
Step 7: Repeat this process over the entire layer of dry sift at least 2-3 times. Keep the room temp and your hand as cool as possible. Use a cooling plate to chill your hand before you touch the dry sift.
If your workspace and/or your hand are too warm, the friction will create enough heat to start melting the resin, creating mini balls of dry sift to form on top of the screen. This is counterproductive to cleaning.
Step 8: There will still be resin remaining on the screen after 3 or more times of sweeping over and cleaning the dry sift. This remaining sift is several degrees cleaner than it was in the beginning, but not as pure as what you’ve collected on the glove.
Especially considering the great reduction in contaminants that pressed through the screen, this is usable dry sift. You can run that resin through the sifting screens again, then give it another round of cleaning.
Step 9: Use a card to collect the clean dry sift and store it in a glass container.
Check out this video by Bubbleman Marcus Richardson that demonstrates Rubber Glove Static Tech for cleaning dry sift. Thank you Bubbleman!
Conclusion
Rubber Glove Static Tech is a quick and easy way to clean dry sift. Nitrile rubber gloves generate static electricity with the nylon sifting screen, and this static charge attracts trichome heads. While contaminants are pushed through the sifting screen, the heads stick to the outer edges of the rubber glove where they can be whisked away for collection with a brush.
Dry sifting leaves behind some plant contamination, so it's important to clean all dry sift with some sort of Static Tech. Read about other methods in How To Use Static Tech To Clean Dry Sift.
What do you think about Rubber Glove Tech? Let us know in the comments!
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is Rubber Glove Static Tech?
Rubber Glove Static Tech is a method of removing plant contaminants from dry sift using a rubber glove and static electricity.
Are there other ways to clean dry sift?
Yes, there are other approaches to cleaning dry sift in addition to Rubber Glove Tech, such as DVD Tech and Paint Roller Tech. All of these approaches utilize static electricity.
What is nitrile rubber?
Nitrile is a type of synthetic rubber that's resistant to oils and other substances, making them perfect for handling cannabis products.
How can you keep dry sift from clumping together while cleaning?
The best way to keep dry sift from clumping together is to keep it cold. Once the dry sift starts to heat up, it clumps together.
Do you have to clean dry sift?
While it's not necessary to clean dry sift, it does contain plenty of plant contaminants, even if you can't see it with the naked eye. Cleaning dry sift with Rubber Glove Static Tech helps to remove these contaminants.
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