What is the best method of bud washing?
- Thread starter Gangamane
- Start date
What’s up?? Congrats on your impending harvest!!!
Here’s the bud washing thread….Bud washing
some use 1/2 cup baking soda & half cup lemon juice in first bucket…..
hydrogen peroxide added to the water is recommended for plants with heavy pest infestation
Many ways to skin a cat….. personally I do more of a “bud soakl using plain lukewarm water where the branches stay submerged under water for 5 minutes in each bucket before moving to next bucket.
Here’s the bud washing thread….Bud washing
some use 1/2 cup baking soda & half cup lemon juice in first bucket…..
hydrogen peroxide added to the water is recommended for plants with heavy pest infestation
Many ways to skin a cat….. personally I do more of a “bud soakl using plain lukewarm water where the branches stay submerged under water for 5 minutes in each bucket before moving to next bucket.
- Thread starter
- #3
IIRC plain water kills pm….but if I were gonna bud wash specially to eradicate pm then I would prolly do the baking soda & lemon juice on one pass then peroxide water on next pass just be sure to get at least 2 plain water rinses to finish up with
do you actually have pm or simply suspect / afraid it may be there??
Pics might help determine
do you actually have pm or simply suspect / afraid it may be there??
Pics might help determine
Peroxide for sure. Not too much either. Shake buds well and shake dry
Hiya 
I only use peroxide (diluted to 1.2%) as it sterilizes and leaves no residue
One gentle swish in a room temp bucket does the job, then hang
I only use peroxide (diluted to 1.2%) as it sterilizes and leaves no residue
One gentle swish in a room temp bucket does the job, then hang
Roy, i chop last night. Is it too late to wash them? Always wanted to try this.Hiya
I only use peroxide (diluted to 1.2%) as it sterilizes and leaves no residue
One gentle swish in a room temp bucket does the job, then hang
Thanks
Sure, that's fine as they will still be fresh/wet
Assume you are doing a trim before wash?
Yes, going to trim several branches, wash and hang dry. Is that sound ok?
NO. I recommend reading through the thread on Bud Washing and then following the new 4 step method.
Step 1--Hydrogen Peroxide mixed with water. A number of the msgs say that the best ratio is 1 part H2O2 to 3 parts water. Personally, that is the ratio I settled on after trying several others. The H2O2 kills molds, mildews, germs, and very small insects like mites. Swish around and let the buds or colas sit in there for several minutes. There might be some gentle foaming when the H202 reacts to the dirt, mildews, etc. I drain and let the buds sit in a sieve while prepping for the next step.
Keep in mind that H2O2 is recommended by oral surgeons and dentists as a mouth wash especially after surgery or most any procedure on the gums or other areas of the mouth so it is considered safe
Step 2--The recommendation in the thread for the second step (originally it was the first step until the introduction of the H2O2) is to mix the Baking Soda and Lemon Juice with water in the bucket. The ratio mentioned by @013 sounds good. Put water in the bucket, dump the sieve with the buds into the bucket, put in the Baking Soda and swish around. Then add the Lemon Juice. Watch the magic cleaning action before your eyes. The Baking Soda acts as an extremely mild abrasive and starts to remove insects, eggs, dirt and very tiny particles of dirt. When the Lemon Juice is added we see the foaming action between the Baking Soda and the mild acids in the juice. This will physically remove all those small particles of dirt and crud from the surface of the buds and keeps them in the water. Put the buds in the sieve and dump the bucket. Using just Baking Soda or just the Lemon Juice does not do much at all. It is a chemical reaction between the two that does the magic cleaning.
Baking Soda has been used as a basic type of toothpaste for decades so it is safe and Lemon Juice works great to make Lemonade.
Step 3 & 4 are plain water rinses. There are recommendations on the best temperatures for the water but room temp to body temp seem to be best.
If someone has extra buds laying around they can experiment with the temperatures of the rinse water. Warm water, up to 110-120 F will darken the green material in the buds. If the water is cold it does not seem to rinse as well and I have noticed little bits of trimmed leaves later on which are usually removed when the rinse water is warm.
Some people mix the Hydrogen Peroxide with the Lemon Juice. They probably did not look up the chemical reaction but the H2O2 and the acids in the juice will form a new chemical which is not recommended for living things. I figure that most of the time we are not using a strong enough H2O2 and/or Lemon Juice acid but who knows.
The basic information found on more than one web site about mixing the two: "Combining them creates peracetic acid, which is potentially toxic and can irritate the skin, eyes, and respiratory system." They should not be mixed together but they will not form the Peracetic Acid if used in succession. So, using the H2O2 in step 1 and then the lemon juice & baking soda mix in step 2 is OK.
My last harvest was a couple of clones I was not happy with so I did something like you are mentioning. The two plants were allowed to sit for several days. Some members mention letting the plant start to dry out before the harvest. Then I cut, trimmed and put the first plant into the paper bag. Finished up the next day with the other plant. Then left them in the paper bag for another day. Worked out, everything went as normal.
Not that I recommend doing this except as an experiment. If the buds start to get a bit too dry they do seem to take longer to dry out the water from all the washing.
But, it works.
I've never understood mixing baking soda and lemon juice, so they can neutralize each other...
makes no sense (to me, anyway)
When I do wash my buds, which isn't very often, I use this method from Spliff Seeds:
makes no sense (to me, anyway)
When I do wash my buds, which isn't very often, I use this method from Spliff Seeds:
- Thread starter
- #13
Should I trim my buds after because I generally dry trimI've never understood mixing baking soda and lemon juice, so they can neutralize each other...
makes no sense (to me, anyway)
When I do wash my buds, which isn't very often, I use this method from Spliff Seeds:
No need to trim them after- just wash 'em, then hang them to dry like you usually do.
Shake 'em out real good after the wash- with the leaves still on, they hold a lot of water...
Shake 'em out real good after the wash- with the leaves still on, they hold a lot of water...
- Thread starter
- #15
Well I usually hang the whole plant that's why I was asking
I only cut off any leaves with a stem, not sugar leaves
Final dry trim is a day or two before jar in a paper bag
I've never understood mixing baking soda and lemon juice, so they can neutralize each other...
makes no sense (to me, anyway)
When I do wash my buds, which isn't very often, I use this method from Spliff Seeds:
I've stated the same thing, and explained why. Seems like people were... like... "Hey, you're right," but acted like they intended to continue mixing three two substances together. I hope you have greater success, in that regard.
Although, when using hydrogen peroxide as a disinfectant / microbial killer, I'd probably use it by itself, simply because it breaks down so quickly/easily.
I used to work at a business that used both acidic and alkali cleaners (and also multiple strong acids), and we'd dilute them to various... er... dilutions, depending on the application. We never mixed one with another. Although I did once pour oil-based paint into a work bucket of latex, at another job lol (yes, I was extremely high). Or maybe it was the other way 'round. I don't remember. I recall the bud, though
.I ASSUME you are referring to 3% hydrogen peroxide, but you should probably always clearly state the concentration, instead of forcing people to make that assumption. Although this is the most common concentration (in the "consumer world," it certainly isn't the only one. Beauty shops, for example, sell... I forget
- but I think it's either 6% or 12%.Interestingly, 3% hydrogen peroxide will *not* kill norovirus. Neither, IIRC, will chlorine bleach.
The foaming is the hydrogen peroxide rapidly decomposing (into water and oxygen).
It's generally only recommended for short-term use for that purpose, or once or twice per month. But it's fine for most people (those who have sense enough to spit, lol), as long as it doesn't cause discomfort.
Are you thinking of vinegar (acetic acid) instead of lemon juice (citric acid)? That, when mixed with hydrogen peroxide, can form peracetic acid. Which is sold as a sanitizer, and kills germs (but is corrosive to some metals, such as iron). Two things, though: The most common concentrations of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide are, respectively, 5% and 3%, meaning the bottles are 95% (vinegar) and 97% (hydrogen peroxide) water, therefore, even discounting the amount of water already in the bucket, the amount of peracetic acid produced would be very, very small... and this requires sulfuric acid as a catalyst in order to occur.
It is the physical reaction to the mixing of the the soda and juice. As they neutralize each other they foam up and this is enough to slowly scrub the dirt and crud off of the surface of the buds.
I bring up about the use of the Hydrogen Peroxide as a way to let people know that the H2O2 is recognized as being safe as long as it is not overused. There have been comments made that the H2O2, even at 3%, is a hazardous chemical because they have not had any exposure to the information about it and do not know its safe uses in the home. But, you are right about mentioning the 3% part.
Gotta add that part to the list. Some people with no exposure to the use of the H2O2 might not know what is happening and think that something is drastically wrong.
Yes. That was at the back of my thoughts that there was more to the reaction. Using your info I was able to get a several results from web searches that went into the details of the acetic acid vs the citric. Now to read up on the common uses of the peracetic acid in everyday life.
It pretty much accomplishes the same thing, but with the spliff method, the foaming goes on in the second bucket- dip the baking soda soaked buds in the lemon juice and peroxide, and they foam up pretty good, which is supposed to foam all the nasties out of your buds...
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