Many marijuana enthusiasts enjoy consuming cannabis using a dabbing rig. Dabbing rigs use weed concentrates, but there are so many different types on the market it can be hard to keep them all straight.
Shatter and wax are two popular types of products suitable for vaping. While they undergo similar techniques for production, the two products look and feel very different. Read on as we explain these differences to help you try to decide which is best for you.
Shatter and Wax: Different Butane Hash Oil Products
Shatter and wax producers make both substances by pushing butane through marijuana flower. Butane is a chemical that is able to bind with cannabinoids and terpenes, the substances in weed that produce a high and other effects.
After extracting these cannabis compounds, the product cools, allowing the butane to evaporate. What is left behind is a highly concentrated substance. Depending on the manufacturer’s technique, the concentrate may resemble candle wax or a translucent peanut brittle – wax and shatter, respectively.
Both products are suitable for dabbing and can create a faster, more powerful, and longer-lasting high compared to smoking a joint or taking hits from a bong.
Some marijuana enthusiasts are wary about consuming butane hash oil concentrates too often due to fears that they may inhale too much butane. If that is a concern, you may prefer products made with less or no solvent, such as bubble hash or rosin.
If you enjoy the strong highs that shatter and wax provide, remember to buy from a trusted dispensary to ensure a quality product. It is not safe to produce wax or shatter at home. Butane is highly flammable, so using it to make concentrates can be dangerous.
Shatter vs. Wax: What Do They Look Like?
Though shatter and wax are both cannabis oil concentrates produced using butane, manufacturers can make subtle changes to drastically affect the end product. The precise methods are technical, mostly related to how they control temperature during the extraction and cooling process. These different methods affect how the molecules arrange themselves in the final product.
The names shatter and wax do a pretty good job of letting you know what you will get.
Shatter is translucent or even transparent with an amber tint. It’s hard, rigid, and brittle like rock candy. In fact, it’s comparable to peanut brittle because of its color and texture. The molecules in shatter are neatly organized, making it hard and giving it a longer shelf life.
Good wax is gold in color and looks like, well, candle wax or ear wax. Some products may have a more gummy or crumbly texture. If shatter is peanut brittle, wax is peanut butter. You won’t be able to look through wax because its molecules are all thrown together in a heap rather than neatly stacked. This gives it a texture many cannabis aficionados find easier to use, though it also causes wax to lose its potency faster than shatter.
Shatter vs. Wax: Which is Right for Me?
Both are excellent concentrates that can provide a powerful high. Shatter is harder to make than wax, which has led some users to believe that hard workers get rewarded with a more potent product. In truth, you can find good and bad manufacturers of both shatter and wax.
The decision comes down to personal preference. Wax is easier to handle since it is simple to measure, while breaking up shatter can be messy. On the other hand, shatter lasts longer than wax.
Whichever you decide to buy, be sure to select a quality product.
Shatter should be aromatic. Good shatter will just smell like it can get you high. Generally, the easier you can see through shatter, the more potent it will be. Lighter products tend to be of a higher quality.
Top-shelf wax will be somewhere in the golden-amber color spectrum. Stay away from anything with dark or green hues, which indicate a problem during extraction that allowed plant material into the final product.
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