Sev Isayan, CEO of Clean Torch – Interview Series

Much like in other industries, the most innovative cannabis accessories and manufacturing inventions are often inspired by everyday appliances and ordinary routines. A prime example is the Clean Torch—a completely butane-free lighter heavily inspired by a feature once installed in nearly every automobile: the car lighter.

While Gen Z and Gen Alpha likely have as few memories of car lighters as they do of Blockbuster Video, these dashboard fixtures served as early pioneers of butane-free ignition, relying on heat-conducting coils rather than lighter fluid. Though many smokers of previous decades took them for granted, that coil-based design was genuinely groundbreaking and lasting in its influence.

To take a closer look at butane-free lighter designs and how they preserve both flower quality and the smoking experience, mycannabis.com sat down with Sev Isayan, CEO of Clean Torch.

Prior to starting Clean Torch, what entrepreneurial experiences did you have and what were the most valuable topics in the field of entrepreneurship that you learned during those years?

It all started for me at 19 years old. I was fresh out of high school when my dad and uncles decided to buy a car wash. They didn’t speak much English, so before I knew it, I was essentially running the family business, taking in $40k per month in revenue. Once we started reaching $150k monthly, we sold. I was talking to 200 or so people every day when running that car wash, so the biggest takeaway was mastering customer service.

After that, I created a credit repair company that helps people build their personal and/or business credit, and I opened a healthy restaurant in Glendale called Acai Grill. I also bought some FedEx routes in LA, where I had to learn everything about delivery service- from pickup to delivery, and everything in between.

What are some healthy habits and mindsets from your vast experience with jiu-jitsu and Taekwondo that you apply to your entrepreneurial career?

I’ve always loved competition. Jiu-jitsu and taekwondo are both single-man competitions, so if you lost, you had no one to blame but yourself. You are the one putting in the work and witnessing the results first-hand. That’s been the model I’ve followed throughout my career. Even today with Clean Torch, I’m running all of it myself, purposefully learning how to operate every entity of the business so that I can be the best teacher for my future staff.

When did you first envision the idea that would become Clean Torch? How has such a product not existed yet and what gaps in convenience did you hope to fill with this product?

Funny enough, I had just recently started smoking weed when I first came up with the idea about 25 years ago. I was sitting down in the car for a quick 15-minute smoke break at my department store job when I realized I didn’t have a lighter. I looked around, and the first thing I saw was the car lighter. At the time, car lighters could be exposed where the coil could be pushed out after it was hot. I did that and connected it to the top of my bowl of flower. I couldn’t believe how well it worked! Ever since then, the idea stayed with me. Then, 15 years later, I filed for a 17-pt. Utility Patent.

Devices like this exist in different forms because it’s a multi-purpose device. But the Clean Torch is the only portable vaporizer that can be used with your own glass piece, while simultaneously serving as an efficient and reliable electric lighter.

How did the design of a car lighter, something that isn’t in many vehicles anymore, serve as inspiration for the design and creation of Clean Torch? How did its mechanical layout inspire how the Clean Torch was produced?

The original car lighter had a circular design with an indented coil that you could push out. As I mentioned, this idea came to me a while back, when car lighters were still found in most vehicles. Ever since that moment of inspiration, I continued to brainstorm how it all would work, adding more features to my hypothetical design as time went by. I hadn’t necessarily put anything down on paper until later on when it was time to hire a Patent attorney.

From a design standpoint, what all went into the creation of Clean Torch? What type of consulting and collaboration with engineers and manufacturers did you have to have throughout the research and development process?

It took a lot of searching before I could find an engineer who could help me design a working product. Eventually, I found someone in San Francisco whom I’d fly out once every few months to go over things. He gave me the actual design, but never a fully functional product. Later, I was introduced to another gentleman who connected me to a factory in China that could help with R&D. Once we got started, it took about five years to complete.

How arduous was the patenting process? Did you receive any issues from the US Patent and Trademark Office due to the possible association with cannabis consumption?

The patent process took about five years. We were lucky enough to only receive one rebuttal, which isn’t bad considering I’ve heard some people get closer to three rebuttals at a time. We also didn’t encounter any issues with the USPTO in terms of submitting a cannabis associated product, so not a ton of speed bumps in that regard even though it did take a while to secure.

From the reviews you’ve received, why do consumers prefer butane-free lighters over more common traditional lighters?

Aside from the obvious difference in flavor that customers rave about, we’ve had multiple customers claim that their migraines have disappeared since switching to the Clean Torch. Current research lacks evidence to prove how much butane we are inhaling when using regular lighters, but based on several reviews like this from customers, we have reason to believe we’re inhaling enough to impact our health. I’m currently working with a medical cannabis physician to conduct a study that measures butane levels in inhaled smoke.

How do butane-free lighters preserve the flavor and terpenes of flower and concentrates better than other types of lighters could? How does a butane-free design provide a smoother and more consistent smoking experience?

Butane-free lighters provide a better taste and an enhanced high. You also burn through less flower, and since you have the option to vaporize, it’s a healthier method of consumption. If you don’t think the butane impacts the flavor of the inhaled smoke, I suggest giving an electric lighter like the Clean Torch a try for a full week. Then, when switching back to a butane lighter, the difference in taste is obvious.

That said, not all butane-free lighters are the same. One unique element of the Clean Torch is that there’s no direct connection to the flower. You’re using hot air to vaporize and/or ignite the flower without touching it, preserving the flavor of the terpenes instead of charring them with a direct flame. The difference shows in every hit, from the enhanced flavor to the quality of the high.

How do you envision that the Clean Torch and butane-free lighter technology as a whole will evolve over the years? Do you think butane-free lighters will become more commonplace?

The lighter has more or less stayed the same since it was invented over 200 years ago. It has always been a one-dimensional tool until we pushed to evolve something two-dimensional, merging a vaporizer with an electric lighter. From here, I aim to continuously improve the Clean Torch design to keep up with consumer needs and expectations.

I do foresee re-chargeable/electric lighters becoming more common as the general public learns more about how much regular butane lighters contribute to the overall plastic waste problem. (Today’s mass production of 1.5 million plastic lighters per year leads to over 6,000 tons of plastic and nearly 8,000 tons of butane entering the waste stream annually.) Eventually, who knows, maybe we’ll start to see plastic lighters slowly get phased out just like the plastic straw! The typical plastic lighter will never go away completely, though. All we can hope for is that consumers start opting for a more durable lighter that lasts a lifetime instead of something plastic and disposable that lasts for 1-2 months.

Thank you for joining us, Sev! For more information on Clean Torch, please visit its website.