Let's face it. Vaping weed does smell. Whether using legal CBD strains online or normal THC bud: the powerful aroma of cannabis is hard to make disappear. By and large, it doesn’t smell as bad as smoking, but it isn’t odorless.
Most high-grade dry herb will give off a dank scent, even when it’s contained in your pocket. When you open the container, you’ll probably smell it even more. Then as you start breaking it up, you may even notice the aroma filling the air, and we haven’t even heated anything up yet!
Edibles and capsules are virtually odorless and can be made with your bud for those occasions. Keep in mind, your house will smell like cannabis during the process. Fortunately, there are weed vaporizers that won’t blow up your spot and there are ways you can reduce the smell. Dab and oil pens don’t produce as much of an odor while still providing high doses of THC. Here is how to vape weed while keeping the smell to a minimum.
Do dab pens smell?
Dabs tend to have a slight weed smell to them, but won’t stink up a room as much as dry herb if contained. Working with dabs can smell slightly, depending on the type of wax you have. Softer dabs like budder typically smell the most, whereas shatter and crumble doesn’t give off as much of an odor until they’re heated.
During your session, you will likely smell the coil heating up and the vapor you exhale. The odor isn’t typically as strong as the vapor from dry herb, but it is a little stronger than the smell from an oil pen, and generally lingers a bit longer.
Using a rig is another popular way to dab, but tends to smell more than a dab pen because of the bigger clouds being exhaled. With a traditional rig, the butane gas may also contribute to the smell, which is not the case with electric dab rigs and pen style vapes.
Do oil pens smell?
THC oil carts produce the least amount of odor possible. They still produce an odor, depending on how big of a puff you take. If you take small hits and blow them out the window, there will usually be a faint terpene scent before it dissipates. This can be concealed just by opening a bag of popcorn.
However, if you’re taking huge rips and aren’t near a window, it will be more noticeable. Fortunately, the smell of vaping concentrates usually goes away faster than dabs or bud. Note that some delta 8 carts and full spectrum CBD vapes produce a similar aroma, regardless of THC content. Isolate-based vapes and liquids, not so much.
Do vaporizers smell?
As soon as your dry herb vaporizer reaches temperature, the sweet aroma of herb will be obvious. Portable vaporizers generally run on conduction and can give off a strong smell. Most desktop vapes utilize convection heating which tends to smell less because the herb is not making direct contact with the heating element.
The best temperature for vaping weed and reducing the smell will typically be in the “lightly toasted" range (325-350 F). Exhale near a window to prevent the odor from lingering. After your session, the room will usually need at least 15-30 minutes to completely air out.
How to reduce the smell of weed
Vaporization of dry herb can actually produce a strong odor if not done properly. Here are some tips that will help you minimize the smell when you’re vaping.
- Keep your vaporizer relatively clean or it will start to smell, especially if it utilizes conduction heating like most portable devices.
- If you’re going to save your bud after vaping it, keep it in a jar because it can still give off a faint weed scent.
- Make a “spoofer" by stuffing a few fabric softener sheets into a paper towel roll. When you exhale your vapor, blow it through the spoofer and it will smell more like clean laundry than weed. Some vape shops might have them for sale (like the Smoke Buddy).
- Window fans are inexpensive and helpful for getting rid of odors. You can also put a few sheets of fabric softener on the vents to further diffuse the weed smell.
- Opening a bag of a popcorn is a great way to instantly mask the smell of cannabis instead of the obvious air fresheners and incense. The scent of popcorn tends to dominate the remaining scent of herb in the air.
- The jury is still out on whether the "towel under the door trick" actually works, but it is yet another precautionary measure that you can take. Place a moist towel under the door to reduce the smell during your session.
Closing
If you thought vaping was odorless, then you were misinformed. Vaporization still gives you an advantage versus smoking weed in terms of odor, but nothing is completely smell-proof. Different occasions may call for different methods of vaping. Oil is the stealthiest option for travel and desktop vapes are your best bet for solo sessions in your home. Finally, dabs are somewhat of a middle ground, they produce more of a scent than oil, but can be used in a stealthy fashion.
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