Wax

Wax functions both as an umbrella term for opaque, soft-to-crumbly BHO concentrates and as a specific consistency — waxy, opaque, creamy-to-crumbly — within that family. Production follows the same closed-loop BHO extraction used for shatter and budder; the differentiator is whipping or agitation during the purge phase, which causes nucleation, traps air, and produces the opaque crystallized structure characteristic of the category. Purge typically runs in a vacuum oven at 120–135°F for 24–48 hours. Finished wax is opaque yellow to amber, tests at 60–85% THC, and has an earwax-like consistency that makes it easier to handle on a dab tool than brittle shatter. Common named variants include earwax (standard opacity and density), honeycomb wax (porous, crumbly — overlaps heavily with crumble), and sugar wax (grainy, crystalline — overlaps with sugar). The wax category has lost market share to live resin, rosin, and diamonds-and-sauce preparations through the 2020s as consumer preference has shifted toward higher-terpene products. → See also: Shatter, Crumble, Budder, Sugar, BHO