How to improve the moisture level of vapor and avoid throat irritation?

[organic weed]

Hello Folks
I have been reading quiete a few posts in this forum about dry throat and respiratory tract irritation because of dry vapor. There are people (like myself) who are prone to allergies and can easily get irritated from the dry vapor. This is a list of what I have found so far by reading your posts and trying some of these stuff on my own also:

1. Sip some warm water in between hits
2. Mix two table spoon of honey with half glass of water and sip it before vaporising and also in between hits
3. Use a bubbler or a water tool/bong together with your vape
4. Fill your mouth with water (pure water or water mixed with honey) and vape while keeping the water in the mouth. This will act as a second bubbler. After the hit, swallow the water.
5. After the session, do some gargling with water and decongestion natural medicine (i.e. honey, etc) and then swallow
6. Use warm steamy water in the bubbler/bong instead of ice (not hot boiling coz it can break the glass)

In theory throat irritation would decrease if ALL of these actions are used. I will try later this week and post my feedback later on here.

However, I still think there is one key aspect that the vaporisers are missing and that would greatly increase the moisture level: incorporate a ultrasound humidifier in the vaporization system.

Basically if the water tool or the vaporiser had a ultrasound humidifier attached to it that creates vapor while hitting the bong, I guess a lot of the dry throat issues would be resolved. I have a mini one and I'll try to develop a home made solution that links such tool to the vaporiser and see if this is possible. I'll post this experiment also during my next post.

Anu comments/additions are more than welcome

 

[MinnBobber]

#6, warm water in my bubbler works so well for me that I don't need the others.

You could also try (after your bud is vaped), get the water fairly hot again and just inhale the moisturized air. It conditions the throat and lungs---goes beyond gargling.

 

[Enchantre]

I'm starting to guess that it is THCA that irritates my throat/lungs, anyway.

As I've been using MMJ longer, and have had some opportunity to further cure flowers that I acquire, I've discovered that, if I pack my new meds away in a jar+boveda pack+dark for about 2 or 3 months, there is almost no harshness at all. Medication levels are just fabulous, too.

The better aged/cured flowers you can get, might help, along with all the other suggestions. I almost never use water anymore, except in my oil rig.

 

[Winegums]

I'd also avoid taking large hits and hits above 390* F. Once I turn my vape up to 430* F the vapour starts to tickle my throat and I don't think it's because it's still hot. It's because of the THCV And CBC.

 

[MinnBobber]

organic weed---are your buds thoroughly cured as that has a big impact on irritation? Chlorophyll in buds really irritates my throat.

Longer cured buds have less irritating chlorophyll. My 6 month+ cured buds (done properly with 62% humidity Boveda packs) vapes better/is less irritating than newer buds.
Note-- a well respected CO shop I used, said they cure their buds 10 days. IMO, that's only the starting point for a good cure.!!

From an article on curing:

Here’s what drying and curing properly does for you...

• Breaks down chlorophyll and dramatically improves taste of buds
  
  
• Gets rid of the unpleasant “fresh hay” or “cut grass” smell which is common on newly harvested buds
  
  
• Brings out the subtle flavors and unique smell of your cannabis strain
  
  
• Reduces “harshness” in buds; you’re less likely to start coughing or get a headache

 

[Tweak]

Anu comments/additions are more than welcome

IMO, humidifiers are a bad idea and would cause more harm than the potential off-set of good.

 

[Solomon]

I also have a sensitive throat, but I thoroughly despise vaping (or combusting) through water, so I've had to try other options to reduce harshness.

First thing I discovered - try a different vaping temperature. With some vapes, even a 5 degree change can be the difference between smooth or harsh vapor. Each batch of weed and each vaporizer is different when it comes to temp, so you need to find your sweet spot.

Second is vaping style. Some take huge hits, some little sips, but I think little sips are a lot easier on the throat. Spread out your session over 15 or more mins taking smaller hit of lighter vapor.

You might also consider trying a different vaporizer - some are a lot smoother than others, even at higher temps.

 

[flotntoke]

Depending on your setup, you could probably introduce vapor from an ultrasound humidifier into your mix. The tricky part would be catching the moisture from the humidifier. If you could get it into a hose, you could use a cloud buddy or other claisen and direct the vapor from humidifier in. Really not sure how much that may help or hinder the process, though. One thing I think would happen is more humidifier vapor will impede vaporizor vapor.

When my allergies are acting up (like now) I vape through a bubbler "half-filled" with warm water (120F or so from tap). Just put a little in the bubbler so it splashes a little, but the perc doesn't fully function. Your vapor doesn't really go through the water, but the warm water splashing around adds some moisture and tempers the hit a bit so it is easier on the throat.

Almost forgot... if your hot water heater or water supply is anything like mine, don't leave the water from hot tap in your bubbler. Mineral deposits and whatnot will cloud your glass up. Just dump and rinse after your sesh.

 

[MinnBobber]

Almost forgot... if your hot water heater or water supply is anything like mine, don't leave the water from hot tap in your bubbler. Mineral deposits and whatnot will cloud your glass up. Just dump and rinse after your sesh.

...........................................................................................

I avoid this by using distilled water. Heat it in the microwave for 25 or 30 seconds. I fill to normal level where vapor is going thru massive bank of bubbles to moisturize it.
Then you can be lazy and leave distilled water in the bubbler. Next time vape with water at room temp OR pour water into small glass, microwave, and pour back into bubbler.

 

[flotntoke]

I usually use distilled, too. But just go from the tap with warm then dump.

 

[Splatterpop Circus]

I've got throat issues too, and I've had zero luck with bubblers. Hot or cold, they just make me cough for about ten minutes, which is about eight minutes longer than dry. It's probably the larger hits they encourage, but for whatever reason it just destroys me. The only thing I've found that really helps me is hot herbal teas - chamomile and ginger both work okay for me, and I've heard licorice, marshmallow, and eucalyptus also do well for throat stuff. Lower temperatures help too, but for my needs that's not an option.

If I'm feeling allergic after a session, rinsing my sinuses can help.

 

[Nube Scrutator]

Hello Folks
I have been reading quiete a few posts in this forum about dry throat and respiratory tract irritation because of dry vapor....

4. Fill your mouth with water (pure water or water mixed with honey) and vape while keeping the water in the mouth. This will act as a second bubbler. After the hit, swallow the water.

I call Step 4 "The Human Bubbler" and is all thats necessary for me to keep throat irritation at bay. I started doing this about year ago with on-the go vapes. This human bubbler method takes a bit of practice. I use my lips as a valve of sorts with a generous mouthful of water. It works surprising well after you master the technique. At home I find a glass bubbler does the trick.

Good thread, thanks @organic weed.

 

[MinnBobber]

.....I've had zero luck with bubblers. Hot or cold, they just make me cough for about ten minutes, which is about eight minutes longer than dry. It's probably the larger hits they encourage, but for whatever reason it just destroys me.....

....................................................................

AHA, the answer lies within grasshopper.
If you use a bubbler and then crank up those monster hits, cause you can, then the irritation can be bad.
The trick is to use a bubbler and take moderate or small draws and it should be better on the throat.

It takes some practice/self control/ shifting gears because a small or moderate draw thru my bubbler feels like nothing in the throat and lungs... but...just do it and take a few more draws to make up for no monster draws.

 

[organic weed]

Huge contributions from all of you guys!!! Amazing work... and the list goes on. This is what you have suggested in addition to my preliminary effort:

7 After your bud is vaped, get the water fairly hot again and just inhale the moisturized air.
8. Further cure flowers (2 or 3 months)
9. Avoid taking large hits
10. Avoid taking hits above 390* F (195 °C)
11. Take smaller hits over a 15 min session
12. Use hot herbal teas - chamomile and ginger, licorice, marshmallow, and eucalyptus
13. Human bubbler method: use lips as a valve of sorts with a generous mouthful of water. It works surprising well after you master the technique.


About the curing process, I usually freeze big batches in the freezer for several months in between cycles and defreeze them when I need to avoid too much THC and cannabinoid decomposition. Somehow I feel the chlorophyll goes away and the smoke is smoother and not as pungent as in the beginning.

One question: are bubblers better than percolators bongs to smooth out the vapour and avoid throat irritation?

PS: @Nube Scrutator thanks! I guess that this post is connecting us somehow by same/similar issues :-)

 

[GetLeft]

As a kid and into adolescence I had some minor allergy/breathing issues that led to using an inhaler when my breathing got restricted. As an adult I developed some moderately healthy exercise habits that made the need to use an inhaler a rarity. Eventually I stopped my mj usage too, which probably helped things. Over the past couple of years I returned to my old habits, edging up the frequency of my usage ever so slightly since then, and I was starting to notice it having an adverse effect on my breathing. Not a terrible one, but a noticeable one, enough that I wanted to be sure I knew where that inhaler was. I'm around a month into vaping now, which for better of worse is again driving up my tendency to indulge, since vaping is so much more convenient and also because I can control dosage so effectively--I don't run the risk of going from 0 to blotto due to lack of ability to control the effects of combustion. That's beside the point though. What I want to say is that lung agitation brought on by combusting disappeared.

Such major enhancements.

If I were twenty or thirty years younger and had some start up money, I'll tell you what I'd do: invest in the mj vapor business. When a couple more states flip, it's gonna be golden times for people who are set up to capitalize.

 

[MinnBobber]

About the curing process, I usually freeze big batches in the freezer for several months in between cycles and defreeze them when I need to avoid too much THC and cannabinoid decomposition. Somehow I feel the chlorophyll goes away and the smoke is smoother and not as pungent as in the beginning.

...............................................................................................

Freezing buds:
I did this at one time until I found that it is NOT a good idea. The trichomes freeze, get super brittle, and get knocked off.
I also think it gets the buds super dry which also makes them harsher. Experiment---take a bud from the freezer and give a little squeeze. I bet it crumbles/falls apart. When properly stored, bud stays at the correct humidity and continues to cure . Such a bud, when squeezed is like a sponge --it goes in with the squeeze and then expands back to original size.

Mason jars, in the dark, in a cool place, with Boveda 62% humidity pack is the best.

 

[GetLeft]

I don't live in a cool state for bud and I'm too old to have to get all caught up in complicated purchases, usually from younger kids (I love you, younger kids!) who have far more important things to do with their time than to be stalked by a geezer like me. So when I purchase it's easiest to get an amount that I know will last me a long time. So my allotment stays put in a mason jar in a cabinet. Yesterday I ground the last bud from a supply I got around a year ago. It was not overly moist when I purchased it, nor was it overly dry yesterday when I ground it. And any difference in effects are undetectable at least to me. It was potent then and it's potent now. I vaped on a low setting last night and got really nice thc effects, so it's safe to say that there's not only cbd remaining in the bud after all this time in storage. All this simply to concur with @MinnBobber. Dry and dark should suffice; I don't even use the humidity pack.

 

[flotntoke]

Huge contributions from all of you guys!!! Amazing work... and the list goes on. This is what you have suggested in addition to my preliminary effort:

7 After your bud is vaped, get the water fairly hot again and just inhale the moisturized air.
8. Further cure flowers (2 or 3 months)
9. Avoid taking large hits
10. Avoid taking hits above 390* F (195 °C)
11. Take smaller hits over a 15 min session
12. Use hot herbal teas - chamomile and ginger, licorice, marshmallow, and eucalyptus
13. Human bubbler method: use lips as a valve of sorts with a generous mouthful of water. It works surprising well after you master the technique.


About the curing process, I usually freeze big batches in the freezer for several months in between cycles and defreeze them when I need to avoid too much THC and cannabinoid decomposition. Somehow I feel the chlorophyll goes away and the smoke is smoother and not as pungent as in the beginning.

One question: are bubblers better than percolators bongs to smooth out the vapour and avoid throat irritation?

PS: @Nube Scrutator thanks! I guess that this post is connecting us somehow by same/similar issues :-)

All of the above very good tips! Going to echo what @MinnBobber said about freezing buds. Don't do it!! Not unless you're trying to knock off the trichs - like when making bubble hash.

Airtight (mason jars good), dark, and burp (refresh air) every 3 weeks or so. I like using the boveda packs or will lightly vacuum seal with a simple pump vacuum thing. After about 6 months of curing like this you'll find your buds will really mellow out. But, will still have great effects.

 

[organic weed]

I don't live in a cool state for bud and I'm too old to have to get all caught up in complicated purchases, usually from younger kids (I love you, younger kids!) who have far more important things to do with their time than to be stalked by a geezer like me. So when I purchase it's easiest to get an amount that I know will last me a long time. So my allotment stays put in a mason jar in a cabinet. Yesterday I ground the last bud from a supply I got around a year ago. It was not overly moist when I purchased it, nor was it overly dry yesterday when I ground it. And any difference in effects are undetectable at least to me. It was potent then and it's potent now. I vaped on a low setting last night and got really nice thc effects, so it's safe to say that there's not only cbd remaining in the bud after all this time in storage. All this simply to concur with @MinnBobber. Dry and dark should suffice; I don't even use the humidity pack.

I am defrosting my weed very slowly and there is a technique to do it properly by simply keeping the air tight container filled with MJ closed until it has reached room temperature. The buds looks good but very dry after this. The trics do not fall off as argued before in a previous post but the vapor is somehow lighter although it's also smoother on throat... However....

@flotntoke and @GetLeft ...the problem is that I live in a VERY warm and VERY humid place. It never gets below 66 F/19 C and during summer it often goes above 100 F/35 C with humidity above 70-80%. 110F is not uncommon.

So is it still ok to keep weed in an airtight jar in situations like mine? Other people told me not really, that it was best to freeze it because under those conditions it can degrade rapidly and with hug humidity even mold. I do not have any fresh place like a garage or underground room where to store my batch. This is why I freeze it.

I know we are discussing an off-topic now but I would greatly appreciate your advise on such matter.

Any idea? What about vacuum storage instead? But my T and H would still be the same...

 

[lwien]

Yeah, freezing is not a good idea, but then, neither is excessive heat.

But if heat were a problem, I'd go into the refrigerator before the freezer but ya gotta be really careful with moisture condensation that occurs when opening and closing the jars.

 

[psycro]

Anybody tried water curing and vaporization? I did this once in my combustion days, the product was very smooth after 7 days in water and 3 more days for drying almost all the clorophyl was gone and the bud was dark brown/almost black. Smoke was very smooth though, effect was good like 3 month cured bud. Problem the smell was completely gone (maybe with that also some terpenes?)

 

[MinnBobber]

the problem is that I live in a VERY warm and VERY humid place. It never gets below 66 F/19 C and during summer it often goes above 100 F/35 C with humidity above 70-80%. 110F is not uncommon.

........................................................................................

High heat and high humidity (and light) are problems.
No air conditioning, just asking??
FYI, the Boveda humidity packs are "two way" which is amazing. If humidity is too low, they raise it to 62% BUT if too high humidity they lower it to 62% !!! That's what you need.

Refrig may be better than 100F + ??? Like lwien said. Condensation is then an issue. I'd do Boveda pack in tight glass jar in frig but when using, let it sit out at room temp for a couple hours before opening to avoid condensation as much as possible. Take a few days supply out and store that in a JyARZ airtight/smellproof container or similar.

Good luck

 

[sokesleezy]

I'm starting to guess that it is THCA that irritates my throat/lungs, anyway.

As I've been using MMJ longer, and have had some opportunity to further cure flowers that I acquire, I've discovered that, if I pack my new meds away in a jar+boveda pack+dark for about 2 or 3 months, there is almost no harshness at all. Medication levels are just fabulous, too.

The better aged/cured flowers you can get, might help, along with all the other suggestions. I almost never use water anymore, except in my oil rig.

Interesting. What humidity do you keep it at?

 

[Detonator]

Use a Bong,,,, I like dry hits..... NOW here is something that will increase moisture but still give me a dry hit... hmm

 

[sundaddy]

I found that certain Vapes will dry you out, like the Iolite. I would try different Vapes and use hot water in your bubbler, that way you will get a little steam as well.