It’s important to learn how to clean & maintain your trimming machine if you want to achieve peak productivity and extend the life of your equipment. Trimming machine care is an essential duty you'll have as a grower.
Some growers will simply run the machine all day, working through hundreds of pounds of flower, and then spray the machine down with a pressure washer and call it a day.
Even worse, some growers will leave their bud trimmer all gunked up overnight! If you just follow the advice we’ll outline in this article, you can get your trimming machine clean and maintained to get the life out of it you should.
Why You Need To Clean Your Trimming Machine
If you’ve yet to use your trimming machine, you might not realize how gunked up it can get. The resinous, sticky buds you’re trimming will inevitably build up on the tumbler and blades over time.
This is even more true if you are trimming wet - the fresh plant matter you trim off (Sugar leaves and fan leaves) will collect on your blades and over the course of a day, decrease the efficiency and quality of your trim.
Furthermore, not cleaning a trimming machine will cut down on the lifespan of your equipment.
You’ll end up paying for it in the long run (literally) if you don’t take the 15-30 minutes it takes to properly clean your trimmer after a long day of work.
Each trimming machine should come with it’s own instructions or recommendations on how to clean and maintain it.
But, for the most part, the protocol is the same. We’ll cover the best practices for trimming machine care now - starting with cleaning.
How Do You Clean A Bud Trimmer?
Start by reading through your manufacturers recommendations before you do anything.
Some machines, such as the Twister T-Zero, are fully sealed and IP65 rated, making them suitable for full washdown environments.
Others are not, and attempting to spray them down with a pressure washer could destroy the electronics within the machine.
In general, though, you’ll want to disassemble the machine to get better access to the blades and tumbler.
You'll also need to clean the vacuum hoses that apply suction, and clean out the material from there. You should save the trim for producing extracts later on.
You'll probably need to use a special resin cleaning product, as your trim will be tough to get off with just water. The longer you wait to clean it, the tougher it will be.
Many of the commercial trimming machines we carry make cleaning the machine incredibly easy, and allow you to stay compliant as a GMP facility.
For example, the Mobius M108S Trimming Machine creates less mess than the competition, and doesn’t have any hoses that need to be cleaned.
For further automation and productivity, you can grab the Mobius Automatic Tumbler & Brush Washer, allowing you to cut your cleaning time from an hour down to 5 minutes without sacrificing effectiveness!
While the cleaner works, you can use the Hot Swap Kit, which allows you to swap out all the parts that need to be cleaned and keep trimming while your cleaning crew sanitizes the swap outs, preparing them for the next hot swap! This means no downtime.
Now, let’s cover some of the top trimming machine cleaning products.
Products You’ll Need To Clean Your Trimming Machine
Because of how sticky and resinous the sugar leaves are, you likely won’t be able to clean off your blades with just water and a cloth. You may need something a bit stronger.
If you want to make things easy on yourself, grab some specific cleaning products to get resin off your blades.
GreenBroz Resin Clear
GreenBroz Resin Clear is an all-natural, odor-free CLP oil-based cleaning solution. It was designed for use on the GreenBroz line, but can really clean just about any surface that gets coated with resin.
It’s derived from 100% renewable plant based oils, and is completely safe for use on rubber, silicone, glass, metal, and plastic. It’s tasteless and odorless, so you won’t have to worry about how it affects your next trim.
Simply apply a small amount of Resin Clear to the surface, or on a microfiber cloth, and start scrubbing your blades or tumbler.
GMP Solutions Step 1 Cleaner Concentrate
Step 1 Cleaner is safe and effective for cleaning virtually all food, and pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment. Our alkaline cleaners are effective on tough soils and buildups and easily integrated into any GMP cleaning validation protocol.
Concentrates can be diluted with up to 15 parts water to one part cleaning solution. This powerful detergent loosens stubborn resins, organics, greases, and oil accumulations while penetrating gums and dyes for a thorough clean.
Twister Foam Cannon
The Twister Foam Cannon is an attachment for your pressure washer, similar to the foam cannons you would use to wash your car.
It will combine the high-pressure hot water with whatever cleaning product you put inside it, and will blast your trimmer with a nice even coat of foam.
The idea is that the high pressure foam will agitate resin enough to remove it, without you really needed to scrub anything manually. Let the foam sit for 5 minutes to work, and then rinse it off.
You may need to repeat 2-3 times if you have an excess amount of resin built up on your trimmer.
Twister UltraClean Automated Ultrasonic Cleaning System
The Twister UltraClean system allows you to spend less time cleaning and more time trimming. Downtime cuts into your profit, so cut into your downtime!
Plus, this system provides a better clean than you ever could on your own. And its easier than ever, as the automated system does everything for you.
Simply add your equipment - whether its just a tumbler or an entire T4 machine! The UltraClean can fit an entire T4 system, or up to five T2 tumblers! Then, use the intuitive Siemens touch screen to start the cleaning cycle.
You can clean an entire trimmer in under 15 minutes without really moving a muscle after you place the machine in the system.
This system helps you with your QA process, keeping consumer health and safety top of mind. Head over to the product page to learn more about this innovative trimming machine cleaning solution!
Maintaining Your Trimming Machine For Longevity
Proper trimming machine care goes much further than just routine cleaning and sanitizing.
You also need to maintain the machine, which involves greasing bearings, replacing tumblers/brushes, and keeping the right tools on deck for when something goes wrong.
The last thing you want is to have an old belt snap, and have to wait 7 business days for a replacement.
There are some accessories that you should keep in your arsenal for when the time comes, allowing you to maintain productivity. These include:
For the most part, maintaining your trimmer is just about keeping everything clean and keeping the machine lubricated.
We recommend you mark the date for which you start running your trimmer, and log the hours and pounds you work through.
This will give you an idea of how much mileage you’re really putting on your trimming machine. No matter what you need, we have it here at Hydrobuilder.com!
Twister Trimmer Maintenance Kits
Here at Hydrobuilder, we carry Twister Trimmer maintenance kits for both the T2 and the T4. These include:
- 6” Hoses
- Trim Saver Filter Bag - 70 Micron
- Trim Saver 300 Mesh Filter Bag
- Trim Saver Vacuum Hose Cuff
- T2/T4 Vacuum Bypass Assembly
- T2/T4 Vacuum Hose Clamp
We also carry a T2 Gasket Kit and a T4 Gasket Kit, which include:
- Stainless Steel Trim Saver Bin Lid Gasket
- Trim Saver Filter Adapter Gasket
- Silicone Cyclone Gasket, Cs12, Cs18’’
If you own a Twister Trimmer, these are must have kits. Keep them in your warehouse or anywhere storage allows, and when your trimmer needs a common part replaced, you’ll have it at your disposal.
We should clarify that just because we have these kits, doesn’t mean the machine is prone to breaking or failing by any means. These are just the most common areas that need to be maintained over time.
CenturionPRO Trimmer & Bucker Parts Kits
We also carry the same style of parts kits for those with a CenturionPRO trimming machine or bucking machine!
These consist of similar parts to the Twister kits, which include:
- Parts assembly - every screw, nut, and bolt you'd ever need to work on your machines.
- Collection bag system - this will vary based on which machine you are buying a parts kit for, but allows you to keep a fresh bag on standby for separating kief from your trim.
- Drive belt - adjustable v-link belt for trimmers and buckers, again, will vary based on which machine you are purchasing for
- Brush assembly - including the brush, bar, and all necessary hardware
- 4 reel bearings
- 4 blade adjusters
- 6 cam followers
- And more, depending on your parts kit!
Be sure to double check the specific parts kit you're looking at, as we have a different one for each CenturionPRO machine - from the GC bucker to the Gladiator trimmer. Find all the CenturionPRO maintenance kits here.
