There are lots of different ways to make hash oil, but today, we’re going to cover making a quick wash hash oil.

QWISO (Quick Wash in Isopropyl alcohol) and QWET (Quick Wash in Ethyl alcohol) are the most common types of hash oil, simply because they are relatively easy to do at home.

In this tutorial, we’re going to use the QWET method. We’ll be using 95% food grade ethanol.

How to Make QWISO Hash Oil

Before you can start this QWISO method you’re going to need a few items:

• Isopropyl Alcohol – At least 91%
• Cannabis Buds, Stems, or Leaves
• Mesh Screen
• Mason Jar
• Small Pyrex Dish
• Medium Pyrex Dish

The first step is to put the isopropyl alcohol and cannabis in the freezer overnight, the colder the better. Freezing will make for a purer end product allowing for less chlorophyll and more resin extraction but is not necessary.

Before extracting QWISO with stems, leaves, or buds, we need a container to do the wash in. I like to use a mason jar because it’s glass which means I can scrape dabs off and I can use the lid to hold the filter.

Breaking up the cannabis beforehand will allow for more surface area to come into contact with the iso but you don’t want to grind it too fine or you may end up with little pieces in your end product. If making QWISO with stems, I typically won’t grind or break them up.

The next step is to pour the alcohol into the mason jar with the cannabis. The amount of time the alcohol is in contact with the cannabis is essential. The more time it’s in the jar the less potent your end product will be but the more you will get. Keep in mind that you can do this process multiple times with the same cannabis.

I like to do 4 washes of 20 seconds each. The first batch will be the best and lightest in color and close to being a “QWISO Wax”.  As you do more washes it will get darker and taste harsher.

After each wash, pour the alcohol solution from the jar into the small pyrex dish while straining out the cannabis with the mesh screen. To further refine it, you can filter it with an unbleached coffee filter or cheesecloth but you will lose some product into it.

What You’ll Need

• 95% or higher grain alcohol
• ground cannabis (we’re using about 3.5 grams, but you can use as much as you want)
• 2 glass mason jars – big enough to fit all of your ground herb
• a Stainless Steel mesh strainer – about the size of a coffee filter
• a container that your strainer fits into
• Something to stir with (I used a spoon)
• unbleached coffee filters
• Reynolds nonstick aluminum foil
• parchment paper
• A clock or a timer

1) Get your cannabis ready. If you’re using flower, grind it to a course grind. If you’re using trim or shake, you can skip grinding.

2) Put the cannabis in one of the mason jars. Don’t fill it more than 1/2 full.

3) Take the second mason jar and fill it with ethanol. Just about to the top.

4) Close both jars and put them in the freezer for at least 2 hours (long enough for a cup of water to freeze). You want both to be as cold as possible. This will help extract more cannabinoids as well as prevent junk from getting into the alcohol.

5) After your alcohol and cannabis are sufficiently chilled/ frozen, set up your container with your strainer and get 2 coffee filters ready (you’ll want 2 filters stuck together).

6) Get your timer ready.

7) Get both jars from the freezer and open them.

8) Start the timer for 1 minute.

9) Pour about 1/2 the alcohol into the jar with the frozen cannabis. The alcohol should just cover the cannabis.

10) For no more than 1 minute, swirl very gently. Just keep the alcohol moving around the herb. Stir very gently a couple of times (the key here is gentle! It doesn’t take much to get the cannabinoids out, and you want as little non cannabinoids as possible)

11) After the minute is up, pour the contents of the jar into the strainer. Some small particles will come through, but the goal here is to get the separate the alcohol from the herb.

The color should be yellow to very light green.

12) Put the cannabis back into the jar and put it back into the freezer (there’s still some cannabinoids in there. We’ll get back to that)

13) Clean your strainer and place 2 coffee filters inside of it.

14) Now strain the ethanol again, but this time, strain it thru the coffee filters.

15) Evaporate the alcohol
The easiest way to do this is to just leave it in a well ventilated area. The alcohol will eventually evaporate, leaving hash oil.

To speed up evaporation, you can:
– Add a fan
– add heat (no more than 200 degrees F)
– spread the alcohol over a large area, like a smooth bottomed glass cooking pan

For this step, we use a sheet of non stick aluminum foil with the edges folded up so the liquid is contained.

The sheet of foil is over a heat source with a fan blowing, and only takes about 20 minutes to evaporate. Leaving only the cannabis oil.

16) Once the oil becomes viscous and sticky, remove it from the heat. Let it cool some, then put the foil it in the freezer for about 30 seconds.

17) Use a dab tool to collect all the oil. With the cold oil should come right off of the foil (just like parchment paper).

18) Collect all the oil and transfer it to a piece of parchment paper for temporary storage, or to a glass oil container for long term storage.

That’s it! Enjoy your QWISO / QWET hash!

If you have any questions or improvements to the process, please post a comment below!