There are several reasons people might not want to wear gloves when trimming cannabis buds, such as a perception of having greater control over the bud without gloves, more tactile feedback, allergies to latex, and concerns about creating waste.
However, personal preference notwithstanding, it’s important to understand the potential problems that trimming without gloves can cause so you can make an informed choice. As well as explaining the pitfalls, we’ll describe our preferred trimming process to prevent problems when trimming cannabis flowers.
1. Contamination
When you trim cannabis buds without gloves on, dirt, oils, and sweat can transfer onto the buds from your hands and cause the trichomes to degrade faster. Any plant nutrients, potting mix, or soil that’s still on your hands from gardening can also transfer onto the buds and cause them to fail lab tests for safety.
Solution
Before you handle cannabis plants, always wash your hands thoroughly with warm water, soap, and a nail brush. We’d only recommend this when trimming cannabis plants you’re going to consume yourself as it’s still not hygienic enough for cannabis you plan to market to consumers.
2. Resin Build-Up
Trimming buds without gloves on leads to a build-up of sticky resin on your hands. This resin is from the trichomes—the resin glands in which the plant’s cannabinoids and terpenes are produced. Some trimmers like to collect the resin from their hands and trimming scissors/trimming shears to smoke directly or rub into finger hash. However, we would never recommend selling finger hash to consumers. This is something you would only consume yourself.
Solution
Wash your hands thoroughly and coat them with butter or coconut oil before you start trimming. Afterward, wash them thoroughly with water and dishwashing detergent to remove the cannabis residue. Rubbing alcohol can also help. Again, we’d only recommend this for buds you’re planning to consume yourself.
3. Skin Allergies and Irritation
Some people experience skin irritation and allergies after handling cannabis flowers without wearing gloves.
Solution
The only way to prevent skin irritation from cannabis (if you’re sensitive to it) is to wear gloves. Nitrile gloves, which are commonly used in the cannabis industry, don’t tend to irritate the skin or cause allergies.
4. Positive Drug Tests
Touching cannabis plant material with bare hands can cause you to fail a drug test. According to a German study, rolling a joint by hand on five consecutive days can lead to a buildup of THCA-A in your system that is detectable in a hair test up to a month later. This could make gloveless trimming problematic for anyone who may be subjected to a drug test.
Solution
Wear gloves! That’s the only way to prevent your hands from absorbing THCA when you harvest cannabis and trim the buds.
Which Gloves to Use
You’ll want to use non-stick, food-grade gloves for handling cannabis buds. Nitrile gloves are considered the industry standard and are also preferable because they don’t tend to stick to the trichomes or cause skin irritation.
If you’re concerned about the environment (which is one reason some people don’t want to wear gloves), keep your used gloves separate from the rest of your waste so that your cannabis waste management company can arrange for proper recycling. Disposable gloves can be used in 3-D concrete printing and to make things like plastic pellets, plastic planters, and lawn chairs.
The Best Way to Minimize Touch Time
Most of the issues associated with trimming without gloves can be minimized by using a CO2 cannabis trimming machine such as The Original Resinator to trim your buds. Using sub-zero temperatures and gentle rotation, this bladeless trimmer completes 85% to 100% of the trimming process (depending on the strain) for you with results that are almost indistinguishable from hand-trimmed buds. All you need to do is big-leaf the buds on the front end and perform a few touch-ups on the back end.
The Original Resinator offers benefits for grower-processors in addition to minimizing cannabis touch-time:
- It can be used for fresh-frozen trimming, wet trimming, and dry trimming.
- It doesn’t require oiling or blade changes like bladed cannabis trimming machines.
- The excess plant material and sugar leaves break off the buds cleanly, with trichome heads intact and minimal chlorophyll leakage. We refer to this as “full bodied trim.” Full bodied trim is especially valuable for making solventless extracts (see our article on What to Do With Your Wet Trim).
- The Original Resinator can also be used to reduce biomass, make dry sift, and wash cannabis for bubble hash. Contact us to learn about all the SKUs you can make with our all-in-one machine.
Note: When using The Original Resinator to process cannabis plant material for commercial or medicinal applications, it’s essential to wash your hands thoroughly and wear food-grade gloves. This will prevent contamination and help to ensure a clean product that meets safety standards.
Hygiene Always Comes First
Properly trimming cannabis buds is essential for marketability, shelf appeal, and a smooth smoke. When deciding whether or not to wear gloves, it’s critical to prioritize hygiene and avoid practices that could lead to contamination or trichome loss.
For growers with a sizable harvest, CO2 trimming machines like The Original Resinator cut down on trim time significantly without a noticeable change in the quality of the trimmed buds. You’ll still wear gloves, but the reduction in handling time means that you’ll use far fewer pairs.
