The ideology of CBD extraction (or any liquid – solid extraction for that matter) is generally the same. A solvent is used to procure a particular compound/compounds from a solute. In regards to CBD Oil, the solvent would be CO2/Ethanol/Lipid and the solute would be the hemp plant material. There is however an enormous difference in extraction methods in terms of the quality and efficacy of the resulting CBD Oil that will go into a product. We’ll briefly describe the 4 used methods in the industry. Click here to read our blog post which goes into more detail about the extraction methods. The only extraction process we use is ethanol extraction – due to its safety and the only process to make a Full Spectrum Oil. 1.) CO2 (carbon dioxide) – greater than 95% of CBD products on the market use Oil from this method. This process utilizes extreme pressure and low temperature to maintain a liquid phase of CO2 which is used to “wash” hemp plant material. The resulting Oil contains only a fraction of the spectrum of plant compounds in the hemp plant material. This is due to CO2’s lack of molecular polarity, meaning that the wide diversity of all the different plant compounds that can adhere to it and be extracted is significantly limited. 2.) Ethanol (food grade alcohol) – the same alcohol that’s in beer, wine, and hard liquor. This process uses ethanol to “wash” the hemp plant material. The resulting oil contains a true Full Spectrum comprised of almost all the plant compounds found in the plant material. This is because the polarity of the ethanol molecule is stark, in which almost any compound will adhere to it. 3.) Lipid (oil) – such as MCT, Coconut, Sunflower, or Canola Oils. This process uses a common oil (generally the type of oil that will be used as the base oil in the final product, noted above) as the liquid used to “wash” or “soak” the hemp plant material in. The resulting oil is much like the results of CO2 extraction, limited in diversity of plant compounds as oil solvents are extremely non-polar and have negligible binding capacity. 4.) Butane (or other hydrocarbon) This process is essentially analogous to CO2 extraction, however the resulting oil is even less molecularity diverse in hemp plant compounds than that of CO2. Of the 4 extraction methods listed here, this one actually poses a potential danger of solvent contaminants in the resulting oil if not done correctly.