Since salvinorin a is present on the surface of leaves, does anyone know if rinsing them after harvesting affects potency?

It's not water soluble so probably not. Any reason why you need to wash them? I would just use acetone and then filter out any dirt particles.

That's what I was thinking... i just want to wash any bugs or dirt off since they're outdoor plants.

a little bugs and dirts never hurt anyone

Salvinorin is only slightly soluable in water, so rinsing might be ok.

Haha. Yeah, maybe these bugs are loaded with salvinorin... If so, I'll just have to think of them as psychoactive sprinkles. Score!

thats the spirit

This is what I do. Even if you're not making extract a little dirt in the bowl wouldn't really matter much. I could see why you would want to clean the leaves up a bit if you were planning on quidding though