Static hash: electrostatic sifting in 5 key points

A hash gathers the trichomes of a hemp flower, separated from the plant matter and then, most often, pressed. The processes differ by their separation agent: ice water for ice-o-lator and bubble hash, the sieve for dry sift, the electrostatic charge for static. The CBD resins and hash category page gathers 15 references from these three families, all solvent-free.

Static sift, or static hash, is described in the Phytogrammes glossary as a dry sift assisted by static electricity. A rubbed plate or card becomes charged by the triboelectric effect, the phenomenon that makes scraps of paper stick to a plastic ruler. Brought close to the sifted material, this surface attracts the light trichome heads and lets the heavier leaf fragments fall back. The sorting is therefore done by mass, where a conventional sieve sorts by diameter.

The yield is counted in grams per hour, not in kilos: static is a finishing step applied to small lots that have already been sifted, never a production line.

2.1 The sieve and the charge

The equipment comes down to three objects: a sieve, a glass support (plate or sheet) and a charge generator, a PVC roller or a simple rubber balloon. The starting material is a dry sift, that is, a powder passed over stacked sieves whose meshes run from 220u to 45u. Mature trichome heads measure roughly between 70 and 120 microns; the 73-120u window concentrates whole heads, the fractions below 45u contain immature heads and dust, and above 160u plant debris gets through.

The electrostatic charge does not refine the mesh: it separates what the mesh lets through together. Two particles of the same diameter, a trichome head and a leaf splinter, do not have the same mass. The first lifts off towards the charged plate, the second stays at the bottom of the sieve.

2.2 Temperature and humidity

The process requires dry, cold material and dry air. Cold makes the trichomes brittle, which makes them easier to detach, as with any dry sifting. Humidity, for its part, dissipates the charge: above a certain level of relative humidity, the plate no longer attracts anything and the sorting stops.

The glossary specifies a point that is often overlooked: a static is not pressed. Pressing changes the texture without improving purity; it strips the product of what sets it apart from an ordinary dry sift. A static is stored dry, cold and away from light, as it is.

Dry sift is the common base: dry material, sieve, steady motion. Quality there is judged by colour, from light blond to brown, and over-insistent sifting shows in the darkening of the powder. Static takes this sifted material and sorts it a second time by charge. Frozen, for its part, changes the raw material: the plant is frozen right after harvest, which preserves the volatile terpenes that drying loses; it can then be washed in ice water or dry sifted. When this second route is chosen, it is sometimes called frozen sift. The frozen, piatella, 120u, static comparison details the textures and non-food uses of each family.

Three clues can be checked by eye and by touch, only one can be checked on paper.

• Colour. A successful static ranges from golden to light blond, up to cream beige. A greenish powder signals incomplete sifting: leaf fragments went through with the heads.
• Texture. Fine and dry to the touch, it holds together under the fingers without having been pressed. A sticky or greasy static has been heated or dampened.
• Melt. When heated, a clean static melts without blackening abruptly; immediate blackening betrays residual plant matter.
• Certificate. Neither colour nor texture tells you anything about the cannabinoid content, the THC or the contaminants. Only the lot certificate does.

A point of vocabulary: the micron stated on a dry sift or a static (90u, 120u) refers to the mesh of the original sieve, not the fineness of the electrostatic sorting. The glossary entry for dry sift covers the mesh scale and how to read the colours.

Take the catalogue reference sifted at 90 µ, CBG 90µ, lot PG-26-83EF. The certificate from the third-party laboratory, accredited to ISO 17025, quantifies by HPLC: CBG 19.3%, CBD 4.2%, CBC 0.4%, CBN 0.4%, Δ⁹-THC 0.1% against a legal threshold of 0.30%. The terpene profile, measured by GC-MS, is dominated by limonene and myrcene. Heavy metals are checked by ICP-MS and pesticides by LC-MS/MS. The material is grown in France. The price per gram follows the site's tiers: €8.45/g for 2 g, €5.49/g for 10 g, €2.02/g for 100 g.

What this example shows is the difference between a nominal figure and a measured one. The certificate gives values for the lot on sale, to the decimal, with the date and the laboratory. The our laboratory page explains how to read the four blocks of a certificate: cannabinoids, terpenes, metals, pesticides.

The legal framework fits in two texts. The order of 30 December 2021 authorises only the varieties of Cannabis sativa L. listed in the common catalogue or the French catalogue, with a THC content not exceeding 0.30%, and applies the same threshold to extracts and to products containing them (Article 1, III). The Conseil d'État, on 29 December 2022 (No. 444887), annulled the ban on selling raw flowers and leaves; resins fall under the extracts regime, with the same 0.30% threshold. These products are for adults only and are not foodstuffs.

• Phytogrammes, glossary entry "Static sift" (accessed 16 September 2026)
• Phytogrammes, glossary entry "120u" (trichome head size, mesh scale)
• Phytogrammes, glossary entry "Dry sift"
• Phytogrammes, glossary entry "Frozen hash"
• Phytogrammes, CBG 90µ product page, lot PG-26-83EF (HPLC values, tiered prices)
• Phytogrammes, resins and hash category (15 references, Drysift 90u 15.1%)
• Phytogrammes, Frozen Hash product page, lot PG-26-AA10
• Wikipedia (fr), "Effet triboélectrique"
• La Plaquette, "Static hash, c'est quoi?" (equipment, shades)
• CBDissimo, "Static hash: définition" (colour, melt)
• Légifrance, order of 30 December 2021 (Article 1, I and III)
• Conseil d'État, decision of 29 December 2022, No. 444887
• ISO/IEC 17025, testing and calibration laboratories