Putting weed oil on your bits is a hot topic in the growing cannabis market. Companies like Lavinia and Quim Rock are providing cutting edge products in legal states like California. But what about those that have the urge to give it a whirl but don’t have access to a dispensary? DIY!

For the hobbyist, and especially those living in prohibition states or states with limited access, we need a method that is both simple and pragmatic! If you're spendy, do yourself a favor and invest in a LEVO II oil infuser. It does all of this work for you. But if you don't have an extra couple hundred dollars to spend on a fancy device, read on!

The idea of DIY cannabis topicals might seem like an undertaking too complicated to attempt. Honestly, I felt the same. I love to cook but I didn’t want my entire apartment to smell like cannabis, and while there are dozens of recipes online, they varied so much I didn’t know what to trust.

To find a method I could feel confident about, I reached out to my good friend Lauren Gibbs, founder and president of Rise Above Social Strategies. Lauren, lives in Colorado and has a small home grow where she has gained experience making DIY cannabis tinctures and topicals for her own personal use. Lauren’s two-ingredient cannabis oil recipe has endless uses. She puts in in her sleepytime tea, drizzles it over popcorn, puts it under her tongue as a tincture, and even rubs it on her sore neck.

Because of my (ahem, extensive) experience with coconut oil based lubes, I had another idea for where to rub it! After learning Lauren’s simple and clean recipe, I knew it would be perfect for DIY lube too! But, be warned: oil based lubes are not compatible with latex condoms, so always consider your backup protection methods carefully.

Two Ingredient Lube

Ingredients needed:

-       8oz fractionated (liquid) coconut oil or MCT oil

-       ¼ oz of high quality flower (free of pesticides, molds, etc. Make sure it's tested!)

Supplies needed:

-       Two 4oz Mason jars

-       Food scale

-       Grinder or food processor

-       Slow cooker with a “warm” setting

-       Unbleached cheese cloth

-       Large funnel

-       Smaller funnel

-       Tincture bottle with a 1 mL calibrated pipette

-       Boiling water (enough to cover the mason jars in the slow cooker)

Yields: Approximately 6mg of THC per 1mL of oil

NOTE: This recipe’s potency is based on cannabis that is approximately 10-15% THC. Potency can vary significantly based on the potency of the buds you choose. This estimate is based on the calculations in High Times’s test kitchen and tested by Steep Hill Labs.

Directions:

1. Gather supplies.
2. Grind up cannabis using a food processor (preferable) or a grinder.
3. Activate your THC with this standard decarboxylation method: Spreading the ground cannabis evenly on a cookie sheet and baking in a preheated 240 degree Fahrenheit oven to for one hour on the middle rack. Stir at 30 minutes.
4. Once the cannabis is decarboxylated, divide evenly into each 4oz mason jar.
5. In even proportions, add the oil to each jar.
6. Make sure the lid of the Mason jar is as tight as possible.
7. Place Mason jars in the slow cooker and cover with boiling water so that the jars are fully submerged.
8. Set slow cooker to “warm” setting for 4-5 hours.
9. Every 60 minutes, using a jar clamp or heavy oven mitts, pull out the jars and give them a good shake. Be careful not to burn yourself as the glass and metal will both be hot!
10. After 4-5 hours, remove jars from water and place them on a cloth until they’re cool (don’t put it on a cold/hard surface as the glass could crack).
11. Line a funnel with 4 layers of cheesecloth and place over a large glass measuring cup with a pour spout.
12. Slowly pour the cooled liquid through the cheesecloth.  Use the cheesecloth to squeeze out the plant matter that remains. Your strained oil will be slightly green.
13. Using a smaller funnel, pour the oil into a tincture bottle with a 1 mL graduated pipette.

Pro tips:

-       While the mason jar method is great for containing the smell, decarboxilating is highly fragrant. If you have nosy neighbors, try frying bacon or cooking something comparably fragrant at the same time to mask the scent.

-       If you see bits of weed floating in your oil, strain it again. You don’t want bits of weed on your bits!

-       Straining can be messy, but remember this therapeutic oil can be used anywhere. Got an excess dripping down your arm? Just rub it in!

-       Keep it simple! Don’t add essential oils or other additives to your oil. With this two ingredient method, your oil is endlessly versatile.

-       If possible, use lab-tested flower. This will ensure that your product is free of pesticides, mold and other contaminants. It also makes it slightly easier to calculate potency, but as this article by Brett Konen illustrates, it’s challenging to get completely accurate numbers with DIY products.

Have you tried making your own lube? How did it go? Tell us all about it in the comments!

This article was originally published on Leafly.com in March 2017. Read the original post here.