Kratom users are always looking for ways to make their dose more effective, enjoyable, and convenient. And in some pockets of the kratom community, pill presses (sometimes called “press molds”) are the talk of the town.
But what are these devices, and are they really all they’re cracked up to be?
Unfortunately, a pill press may not be the ideal solution for kratom users. Read on to find out why.
What Is a Pill Press? What is a Press Mold?
A pill press is a device used to shape powders, such as kratom powder, into a solid pill (or, more specifically, a tablet).
Pill presses are very simple devices that operate on the most straightforward of mechanics: pressure. They simply compact powder, literally pressing it into a small space until that powder sticks together in a more or less solid form.
A press mold is a similar concept, and many users use the terms interchangeably. There is a subtle distinction, however: a press mold refers to a container that the powder is pressed into. Square-shaped press mold? Square-shaped tablets. Round mold? Round tablets.
As such, the press mold determines the shape that the resulting tablets will have, while the pill press does the actual work of compressing the powder into the mold.
Using a Pill Press/Mold With Kratom: Recipe for Success?
So, can you use a pill press to make your own kratom tablets at home? It’d certainly open up a new, convenient avenue for regular kratom dosage!
Well… kind of. Sort of. Not really.
The good news? You can use a pill press with kratom powder.
The bad news? 100% kratom powder doesn’t adhere well, and the resulting tablets are going to be extremely frail. So frail, in fact, that they’ll likely crumble into powder as soon as virtually any pressure is applied.
That means that storing your kratom tablets is going to be tricky, as almost any motion will cause the tablets to revert back to their powdered form.
This, of course, completely defeats the point of using a pill press in the first place.
An Issue of Pressure: Industrial Presses Are Better, But Not Enough
The issue is that kratom powder just doesn’t adhere well to itself. But with higher pressures, this issue can be somewhat alleviated.
Some sources report that they are able to make reasonably durable kratom capsules through use of very high pressures. We’re talking upwards of 10,000lbs of force applied to the kratom.
That number is wildly in excess of what you’d be able to achieve with an at-home pill press, which might output pressure in the high double digits at best.
But even with the extreme force of these industrial presses, kratom simply doesn’t hold together well. It’ll still revert to powder when you jostle it sufficiently, and it will absolutely turn to powder when exposed to moisture (like, say, when you put it in your mouth).
At that point, you might as well be using the toss and wash method because you’ve just got a mouthful of raw kratom powder.
Still Want to Try a Kratom Pill Press/Mold? Binding Agents
Despite these very real difficulties, there is one thing you could do to improve the consistency of your kratom tablets.
Use a binding agent.
Virtually every commercially-available tablet is made with a binding agent of some kind. These are powdered additives that serve no purpose but to improve your base powder’s ability to stick together.
Of course, there’s no perfect solution, and binding agents have a major drawback of their own: they dilute your kratom dose while increasing the size of the resulting tablets.
Depending on the type of binding agent you use, it may also make it more difficult for the body to break the kratom tablet down. That means that it’ll take significantly longer to feel your dose’s effects than it would be with other methods.
Final Thoughts on Kratom Pill Press Tablets
Unfortunately, using a pill press/mold with kratom just isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.
- At-home pill presses don’t have nearly enough force to create solid tablets.
- Even professionally-crafted tablets will turn to powder in your mouth.
- Binding agents solve these issues, but they introduce new problems all their own.
It’s for these reasons that you simply don’t see kratom tablets being marketed much. Sure, some manufacturers advertise them, but these tablets will either suffer from the above issues or, despite whatever the manufacturer claims, simply aren’t made with pure kratom.
It’s for these reasons that we strongly stand by kratom capsules as the ideal choice for users looking for kratom pills.
We go in-depth on that comparison in our Kratom Capsules vs. Tablets blog, which is a great companion piece to this one.
And if you’re drawn to the idea of kratom pill press molds for the convenience of at-home DIY kratom pills? Well, we’ve got the better solution for you: a Kratom Capsule Filling Machine that’ll have you making perfect kratom capsules every time.