If you’ve spent some time researching CBD, you’ve almost certainly learned that vaping is one of the most popular ways to use it – and if you haven’t, you’re about to learn what the benefits of CBD vaping are. One bit of information that you probably haven’t seen in many places, though, is that vaping isn’t just for products like pre-filled vape cartridges. There are actually several ways of vaping CBD, and if you’re looking for a way to use CBD that’s going to give you faster acting and more powerful effects, you should strongly consider vaping pure CBD isolate.
If you’re confused and don’t know how to vape CBD isolate or why you’d want to – maybe you aren’t even sure what CBD isolate is – this article is for you. This is your complete guide to everything that you ever wanted to know about vaping CBD isolate but were afraid to ask.
What Is CBD Isolate?
CBD isolate is a white crystalline powder that’s extracted from industrial hemp. It contains nearly 100-percent pure CBD and does not contain any other cannabinoids in detectable amounts. The process of making CBD isolate is fairly complicated, but here is a simplified explanation of how it works.
- Industrial hemp biomass is processed with an extraction machine that uses pressurized carbon dioxide to strip the plant material of its essential oils. This results in a full-spectrum extract that contains all of the plant’s cannabinoids and terpenes along with some undesirable components such as chlorophyll and plant waxes.
- Chlorophyll and waxes are considered impurities in the CBD production process because they affect the product’s flavor in a negative way. Winterization – combining the full-spectrum extract with alcohol – encourages those impurities to form clumps, which are filtered out. The alcohol is then removed by evaporation.
- The various cannabinoids in hemp vaporize at different temperatures, so it’s possible to evaporate just the CBD from a full-spectrum hemp extract by heating the extract to a specific temperature in a process called fractional distillation. The CBD is collected in the condensed vapor.
- The liquid CBD extract is then mixed with a solvent that encourages crystallization of the CBD. After the solvent is removed by evaporation, only the pure CBD crystals remain.
- Lab testing is conducted to confirm that the CBD isolate contains no detectable constituents other than CBD.
What Are the Benefits of CBD Vaping?
Now that you have a better understanding of what CBD isolate is, let’s talk a bit about why CBD vaping is popular. In no particular order, the five most popular types of CBD products are:
- Sublingual tinctures, which are held under the tongue and then swallowed.
- Oral products such as gummies and capsules, which are eaten or swallowed.
- Topical products such as lotions, which are applied to specific areas of the skin.
- Vaping products such as whole flowers and pre-filled disposable cartridges.
- Pure CBD isolate, which can be used orally, topically, sublingually or by vaping.
There are benefits to all of the different methods of using CBD, and the main benefit of vaping CBD is that inhalation is the fastest-acting and most bioavailable way of using CBD. If you want to use CBD in the way that’s going to get the highest concentration of CBD into your bloodstream in the quickest manner possible, vaping is it.
How Does Vaping CBD Isolate Compare to Other Forms of CBD Vaping?
Next, let’s talk about why you’d want to vape CBD isolate rather than using a more common CBD vaping product such as whole flowers, pre-filled vaping cartridges or CBD e-liquid. The primary reason why you’d want to vape CBD isolate is because it’s the most potent form of CBD that exists. CBD isolate is over 99-percent pure, so one gram of CBD isolate has a CBD content of about 1,000 milligrams. In comparison, an entire bottle of CBD e-liquid may only contain 100 mg of CBD or less. You could vape half of the bottle and still end up with less CBD in your system than you’d get from a small amount of CBD isolate.
CBD isolate has a few other major benefits as a vaping medium.
- It has no odor. CBD hemp flowers, in comparison, have a fairly strong smell. Vaping CBD flowers in a multi-resident dwelling, for instance, wouldn’t really be practical.
- You know what’s in it because it’s tested by a laboratory to confirm that it has no contaminants. That should be true of all CBD products, but the potentially dangerous additive vitamin E acetate has been found in some CBD vape cartridges.
- Because the process of creating CBD isolate removes all other cannabinoids, there should be no chance of accidentally ingesting THC if you vape CBD isolate. Whole CBD hemp flowers, on the other hand, may contain trace levels of THC that could potentially show up in testing.
What Type of Vaping Device Do You Need for CBD Isolate?
The ideal vaping device for CBD isolate is a vaporizer that’s designed for oily or runny cannabis concentrates. Although CBD isolate is neither oily nor runny, it is very powdery and is therefore difficult to use with a vaporizer designed for waxy concentrates. A vaporizer designed for oily concentrates will have a cup-shaped chamber that’ll be easy to load with your CBD isolate. A wax vaporizer, on the other hand, will have a heating coil. You can use either type of vaporizer with CBD isolate, but if you use a coil-based vaporizer, the powder may fall off of the coil if you don’t hold the device very still.
How to Vape CBD Isolate in a Concentrate Vaporizer
To vape CBD isolate in a concentrate vaporizer, you’ll begin by loading the device. Usually, you’ll open the device’s chamber by lifting or twisting the mouthpiece. You can then load the device’s chamber by placing the CBD isolate in the chamber using the dab tool included with the vaporizer.
Next, you’ll turn the vaporizer on. If your device has multiple heat settings, start on the lowest setting and raise the temperature to increase the intensity of the experience if desired. CBD begins to vaporize at about 160-180 degrees Celsius, so there’s no reason to go significantly higher than that. You don’t want the CBD isolate to burn.
When your device reaches the target temperature, inhale gently, drawing the vapor directly into your lungs. Hold the vapor in your lungs for several seconds before exhaling it.
If you’re vaping CBD isolate for the first time, wait a while after taking your first puff. Remember – you’re vaping the most potent form of CBD that exists. Turn your vaporizer off and wait several minutes to gauge how you feel. If you decide after a while that you need more, go ahead and vape again. Just remember to pay attention to how much you’re using, and you can do that easily by weighing the CBD isolate when loading your vaporizer.
CBD isolate may darken and form a crust or film that sticks to your vaporizer’s chamber, so you’ll need to clean the chamber periodically. To do that, moisten a cotton swab with rubbing alcohol and use it to rub your device’s chamber. When the cotton swab is dirty, use a new swab. Repeat the process until your vaporizer is clean. Remember that a bit of discoloration inside a vaporizer’s oven is normal. Once a vaporizer has seen a lot of use, it’s no longer possible to return the oven to its original color.
