Chances are good that if you’re reading this you already know what rosin is but just to be safe let’s start with a short tutorial for the uninitiated. Rosin is a relatively safe, legal to produce dabbable concentrate, one that doesn’t require dangerous solvents. It is also impossible to make a good rosin without quality starting materials as it is a direct reflection of that material. This means that a good rosin cannot be made by cutting corners, the consumer will always be able to tell.
The other benefit of rosin is that it can be easily made at home in a pinch. A person with access to parchment paper, a hair straightener, a dabber, and your preferred cannabis can make rosin. Heat resistant gloves are recommended as well but are not necessary. This method is time tested and effective but it will not produce the highest quality of rosin. If you are looking to make a professional quality rosin you will want to use the best rosin press bags.
What does a rosin press bag do?
Similar to a coffee filter or tea bag, a rosin press bag keeps your plant material in, straining the concentrate through and leaving only the purest rosin. The bags are a necessity for smaller materials like dry-sift or bubble hash but they can also work wonders when pressing flowers. When pressing flowers there is always a risk of excess plant material being squeezed out into your rosin. This extra plant material will lower the quality of your concentrate, ruining the flavor and creating a harsh dab that leaves behind an unpleasant residue when vaped.
Choosing between quality and quantity.
In an ideal world it would be possible to make as much high quality rosin as you need. Unfortunately not everyone has that luxury and some people just need to get the most bang for their buck. This is where the micron size comes in. The micron size refers to the size of the holes in your rosin press bag which control how much plant material gets out into your rosin. Bags will range in size from 25-220 microns which leaves a lot of room for confusion if you are not familiar with each size range and their uses. So how do you decide what micron size to use?
The answer depends on what material you are using and what you plan to get out of your rosin.
Micron sizes.
The material you are using to make your rosin is the most important factor when deciding on micron size. Smaller material like bubble hash or kief will require smaller holes to filter properly without spilling all of your material into the rosin. These two materials filter best in the 25-90 micron range. Larger material like flower or trim will need larger holes and are best in the 90-220 range. Another factor to consider is whether you are looking for the highest quality yield or the largest amount. Smaller micron sizes will filter out the most material but this means that while your rosin will be clean you may not get very much. Larger holes have the reverse problem, they will give you a lot more rosin to use but the rosin itself will have more plant matter and so will be a lower quality. So before you get your bags you’ll want to carefully consider two things; which material you are using, and whether you want a higher quality or a high yield.
Bag Size
If you are trying to step your rosin game up a notch then chances are you have gotten your hands on a rosin press. There are countless benefits to using a hydraulic rosin press, namely speed, ease of use, control, consistency, and quality. There is just no way a hair straightener or some other type of homemade device is going to get the same amount of rosin out as a press. However presses can come in multiple sizes and so something to take into account when getting your press bags is the size of the plates on your press. Plates can range from 2.5 to 6 inches and you want to make sure that your press bags will fit inside. Getting a bag that is too large will result in a blowout as the excess material is pressed to the outside edges of your bag. The most popular sizes are the 2×4 inch rosin press bags, but you should be getting whichever bag fits your press the best.
Additional Factors
There are a couple more, less important, things to keep in mind when getting a rosin press bag. Firstly is material, bags can be made out of several materials like silk or metal screens, silk is less durable and metal screens can result in more residue, so nylon is going to be your preferred option if at all possible. Secondly is dyes, some bags are made with dye and since you will be ingesting whatever passes through these bags you are going to want to make sure your bag is made without any of these chemicals. Speaking of chemicals, it’s also a good idea to get bags that are solvent resistant if you plan on washing and reusing them with some kind of rubbing alcohol. No need to worry about this one of you plan on just throwing your bags out after each use. Lastly, you will want to check and make sure you have bags that are pressure and heat resistant. Different methods of pressing use different pressures and temperatures, so you will want to check the specs on your bags in order to avoid heat or pressure related blowouts.
An easy decision.
It’s not hard to see how vital a rosin press bag is in the rosin creation process. If you want to get a clean, high quality product that is. You wouldn’t make tea without a tea bag or coffee without a filter right? So why resign yourself to a low quality rosin when you can join the big leagues with rosin press bags.
