1. Line the inside of the bucket with the bags, starting with the 25 micron bag (purple). Continue with each bag, increasing size by number (yellow, then blue) until you have all the bags lining the bucket nested inside one another. The final bag to go in is the 220 micron work bag (orange).

2. Fill the bucket about half way full with cold water. Make sure that the water level covers the screen at the bottom of the upper bag, as this will allow the plant matter to float above the screen.

3. Pour your plant material into the bucket. We recommend that you use dried or frozen plant material for best results. In this example we are using mint leaves.

4. Add ice to the bucket and fill it almost to the top. It is important that there is always some ice chunks in the mixture, as the ice keeps the mix at a lower temperature and is integral to the process.

5. Use your electric hand mixer to agitate the water,plant,ice mixture for 15 to 20 minutes, at which point the mixture will have a nice frothy head on it. It is important to keep ice mixture at all times, because the ice keeps the mixture cool enough to cause the resinous glands to seperate from the plant and be collected.

6. Allow the mixture to settle for 30 minutes. After the mixture has settled, pull the bags out of the bucket one at a time, allowing the water to drain through the filtration material at the bottom of the bag into the remaining bags that line the bucket. To drain the bags, lift each bag out of the bucket and twist the top shut while pulling down towards the bottom of the bag while allowing the water to drain into the bucket and the bags remaining in the bucket. The first bag that you will pull is the 220u micron work bag which contains all the plant fibres. This bag contains waste matter, but you can run water through a second time to ensure that you have collected all of the resinous glands. The remaining bags will contain your extract in varying degrees of purity.

7. After the bag has drained of the water, turn the bag inside out over a bowl and collect the deposits on the filtration screen at the bottom of the bag. This should be collected using a tool with a clean edge, e.g. metal soup spoon, credit card, etc. You will have 3 grades of extract. The purest grades will come from the 75 and 25 micron bags, although the extract from the 120u micron bag is also usable despite the presence of some plant fibre contaminant.

8. Once you have collected the herbal extract, it needs to be pressed to remove any excess moisture. Lay down a tea towel and place the 25u micron pressing screen flat onto the towel..Scoop all 3 of your extracts onto one half of the pressing screen, taking care not to let each of the extracts mix with one another, fold the other half of the pressing screen over the extracts, creating a sandwich.Then fold the tea towel over the pressing screen and lightly press down onto the screen with a rolling pin or similar object to squeeze the remaining water out of your extracts, which will be absorbed by the towel.This will create a patty of herbal extract which can then be used immediately. If you wish to keep your extract for a long period of time, you should chop up each patty onto a clean piece of cardboard and place the cardboard into your freezer for 12 to 24 hours. The cardboard will act as a dessicant and draw out the remaining moisture, which eliminates the danger of mold forming during long term storage.