Sorry if this has already been asked. If I am just making CBD oil for salve must I winterize? I was thinking I would do a warm Ethos wash and then go directly to the Rotary Evap. Is this possible or am I just setting myself up for failure? Thanks in advance
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I like a warm nonpolar extraction for the addition of fats. Warm alcohol might look very green
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Any issues going straight into the Rotary Evap? I’m as green as the come and don’t want to have an Oh Sh*t moment if I can help it!
Nah, you will just need to clean the roto ball real good. Limonene and Ethanol is a great cleaning solution. Acetone for when nothing else works.
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The waxes you would be filtering out during winterization may actually be beneficial to have in your salve however since your not cleaning them up and really have no control over quality from batch to batch you may see some difference in final product over some time.
People use wax FROM winterization forsure in thier salves but I can’t imagine shelf life would be easy to pin down. shit just separating over time is an issue I’ve seen a lot on salves
The best salve products I’ve made personally were from very clean 2nd pass distillate and a premade formulation I just melted down and homogenized. Im also a shelf life snob and if things didn’t stay as they were made 12 months down the road it was no good to me.
The most benefits I’ve seen from salves from a medical stand point contained high amounts of unwinterized extract but looked like shit and we’re always gritty feeling
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Thanks KY!
Thanks Apothecary!
What is your salve base?
Extracting straight into that oil may be a valid option.
No evaporation step where you lose terpenes and other volatiles…
This will also improve the color of your salve. Warm ethanol is gonna be very green.
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Yes I was gonna say, coconut oil extraction is awesome, just did some myself with some hemp
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Although its also very green.
Maybe its green because I do water and coconut oil in a crockpot for a few hours, then seperate the water.
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But is it so green it’s black?!? Which is what warm ethanol traditionally brings to the table…
Is the water also green? I know that folks put water under their oil extractions to help remove the green, but I suspect it’s primary function is just to reduce oil/cannabinoid loss.
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The main ingredient in Salves is Beeswax. I dont know what it would hurt to have plant waxes in your salve. If the OP is not selling the salve, what difference does the color make. Of course there is the issue of smell 
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Use cold ethanol extraction instead of warm. Makes a heck of a difference. Then combined with the butters and beeswax your salve will be a nice off-white color if using well dried material or a light greenish tint. Use your essential oils for fragrance and you’ve got a great balm for yourself and others that won’t leave green chlorophyll stains on light colored fabrics. I’ve been doing this for years.
You then evaporate off your ethanol and use the resultant extract or use a solvent transfer to directly infuse your carrier oils with your ethanol solution to save time. 
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The water i drain off is brown
As for the function of the water, it allowed me to do a 2 lb extraction with only 80 oz of coconut oil. Oh and it also maintains the extraction temperature to less than 212 f 
@PSam is the resident apothecary master. He makes all kinds of cool things that I admire, so I’d take his advice!
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From what I’ve found, the grittiness is usually caused by shea butter in salves. The stearic acid tends to form a lattice network over time causing small lumps.
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It’s particularly noticeable when it gets cold as far as the Shea butter is concerned. The grittiness resolves if you let it warm on the fingers before applying. Because of that I don’t store it in the fridge. 