Consistent maintenance of your glass pipe, water pipe, bubbler, bong, dab rig, or any other glass piece is the key for a more pleasurable smoking experience. With such a nice aesthetic, you’ll be excited to have this piece on your coffee table – rather than in your closet. Keep your piece clean to spark up more conversation: you wouldn’t give someone a dirty cup when they come to visit, why a bong or pipe?
The best part is, the easiest and most efficient bong cleaning method comes from household materials.
There are solutions for cleaning availability specifically for bongs, bubblers, water pipes, oil rigs, and glass pipes, which provide everything you might need in one bottle (and directions). For those who would rather a DIY, life hack method, there is an alternative with products you might already have.
- Rubbing alcohol (recommended 99% – the higher the better)
- Table salt
- Paper towels
- Q-Tips or cotton swabs, pipe cleaners, or a wire (a bent paperclip would do)
- Water
- Sealable plastic container
Steps
- Remove the bowl and downstem from your water pipe or bong.
- Put the pipe, bowl, and downstem, into a plastic container
- Pour salt directly into your bong, pipe, plastic container. Fill to about 1/2 to 1 inch high. Measurements do not need to be exact because the salt will act as an abrasive to remove residue (you can always add more).
- Pour about 1-2 inches of rubbing alcohol directly into your water pipe and plastic container.
- Take paper towels and plug all openings of your bong or water pipe. Put the lid on and seal up your plastic container. Be careful not to break the glass!
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Vigorously shake your pipe so the salt and alcohol mix reach all interior spots. Continue shaking until all residue is removed. The alcohol will weaken the residue in the walls of the pipe, bong, bowl, and downstem.
Remember: the longer you leave the alcohol on the surface, the more it will weaken. We often leave the salt and alcohol solution inside the bong and plastic container overnight and repeat the shaking process the following morning. Towards the end of the cycle, you can add hot water into the bong or plastic container to add volume and further weaken the residue.
- Pour out the salt and alcohol mixture (it is not going to smell very great). Use hot water to rinse out all residue left behind.
- Take your Q-tip, pipe cleaner, or wire and use this to loosen up the weakened residue. This is strongly recommended for bong bowls and pipes to create a good-as-new clean and shorten the frequency of cleanings.
- Put everything back together and enjoy a fresh smoking experience!
While intricate glass has benefits, they can be very fragile. They can also create a small opening that accumulates residence and become hard to clean. Always tale time to carefully clean your pipe in order to ensure a safe cleaning experience.