If you want to have the best session with your bong, the trick is to keep it sparkling, shiny, and clean. A clean bong gives the best hit. Keeping it clean is very easy. It only takes between 5-10 minutes to maintain even the dirtiest pieces with simple supplies. We recommend cleaning your bong once per month.
Note that glass bongs have remained the most popular smoking accessories since they are easy to operate and clean. Though they are easy to clean, leaving them dirty for a long time might give you a hard time scraping out the amount of resin that has stuck on it.
To clean the bong, it's advisable to learn how it works. Otherwise, it won't be effortless for you to follow our comprehensive guide to maintain and clean it for smoke purity, optimal performance, visual appeal, and longevity. Let's delve into the cleaning process for smoke-lovers to have a great session, and get to know the apparatus that you will need for a sure quire before you start the process. Here are some of the materials and ingredients during the cleaning process.
- Towel or Dry Paper
- Coarse sea salt
- Huge zipper storage bags.
- 99 % isopropyl alcohol and rubbing alcohol
- Rubber stoppers or even bong plugs
Step 1. Seperate the downstem and bowl.
This is a step that most smoke lovers overlook. Carefully detach the downstem and bowl from your bong and insert them in separate storage bags. Place the bowl and the downstem in different bags and ensure they are safe enough not to break or get damaged.
In case the two are two pieces, it is advisable to detach them too. However, some glass bongs have more features attached to them. Guess what? You should disassemble them also. Make sure nothing is attached to it before you begin to clean it.
Note that a thorough cleaning will involve shaking and scrubbing; therefore, separating every delicate part of your bong will help protect it from damage. After this, you can now clean them separately.
Note: You may need to put on latex gloves; the resin smell is intense and might be hard for you to get rid of.
Step 2. Put them in sealable storage bags with 91% or 99% isopropyl alcohol.
Let's now focus on this time-honored tried and true cleaning method for most smoking apparatus. Using isopropyl alcohol leaves your glass bong in a great shape. You should use 70 % of the alcohol for light cleaning, but most smoke users will rely on either 91 % or 99 % isopropyl alcohol for heavy and true cleaning.
Pour your preferred amount of alcohol into every separate bag until they are fully submerged. Add a handful of the coarse sea salt. The salt knocks down the loose resin and debris on the side of your glass bong interior.
Keep in mind that alcohol is not safe if you are using an acrylic bong. It renders it useless. Therefore, any attempt to use it will dissolve all the adhesive that holds your bong, making it redundant.
And we are aware that this article is all about how to make glass bongs clean, but just in case you have an acrylic bong, you should keep in mind that you shouldn’t attempt to clean it with alcohol. The alcohol will alternatively dissolve any adhesive that holds the bong together, and it will render it unusable.
Alternatively, You Can Use The Guide to Salt Cleaning Method
Most bong users swear by the cleaning power of the salt. They say it's a quick-fire cleaning:
Step 1. Pour a few tablespoons of salt into your glass bong through the mouthpiece. Note that the coarser your salt is, the better.
Step 2. Fill the bong with lukewarm water until it gets beneath the bong shaft line.
Step 3. Cover the mouthpiece and shaft hole and begin shaking your glass piece. Do that for a few minutes.
Step 4. You can now drain the dirty water inside your bong.
Step 5. Continue rinsing the glass with warm water and salt until you feel it is thoroughly cleaned. At this point, rinse it until the taste of salt disappears.
Besides alcohol, salt, vinegar, etc., more bong cleaners in the market are used to clean your glass bong. Such as BIG CHIEF and FORMULA 420 bong cleaner, which is the original complete 1-minute cleaner. Simply shake and rinse!
However, any recommendable chemical cleaner that you use ensures to shake it properly. If combined with salt, they work best. With the chemical solution plus salt in your glass bong, shake it okay for a few minutes, and rinse thoroughly after cleaning.
Step 3. Shake the solution up!
Cover all the openings of your bong using either your hands or a stopper. The shaking part is fun. Do it as hard and as long as you can. The longer time you take, the better. As you shake, you will realize the resin buildup is starting to dissipate miraculously; however, some resin remains unshaken even after a thorough shake. Don't fret; the next step will be sure to dot the i's and cross the t's.
Step 4. Let them soak.
As mentioned earlier, use an adequate amount of cleaning solution that submerges the entire part. The right amount of alcohol and salt is determined by the form factor and size of your glass. For the rule of thumb, fill the glass up with the alcohol to a consistent level with the bong water line. You can also use some cotton balls, a stopper, or a cork to plug any available opening to avoid messing up in the next step.
You can leave the parts to soak to allow the solution to work magic. The longer it soaks, the better results you get. But if you are impatient, ten minutes are appropriate.
Remember that the longer you allow them to soak, the faster and easier the residue trickles down to simplify cleaning. If the glass bong is intensively dirty, a thirty-minute soak is effective. It softens the resin buildup for easier cleaning.
Pro Tip: adding a dash of vinegar to your solution increases the acidity, making the cleaning solution dissolve more and work faster. It removes even the hard water stains.
Step 5. Wipe them down.
After soaking and soaking the few pieces of your glass bong, kindly pour out the solution. Before rinsing with clean water, you can now use a rag to wipe out the potent cleaning agent. You get to capitalize on the solution since it's still powerful and can be reused.
You can pick a paper towel and stick your hands inside to wipe any remaining grime for the parts that have bigger openings. The more elongated openings call for a drumstick with a towel draped around it to go in and smudge all the buildups.
For those bongs with smaller openings, especially the smaller pieces such as pipes, you can use a pipe cleaner or any other tools that can get inside the bong and scoop every resin. Just improvise, don't overthink it.
After you are done clearing the grime out of your glass bong, you can pick up other detached pieces of your bong that have soaked. However, a tremendous amount of the grime will only be dissipated after a very long soak. For now, let's use a cotton swab or rag to clean it.
Before we get done with this stem, your bong is supposed to be clean and polished. Otherwise, it is advisable that rinsing will help pretty much before keeping the glass bong back to the shelf in case of some residue smears.
Step 6. Rinse out the pieces in hot water.
After soaking, get running hot water to wash off the cleaning solution. It helps dislodge some resin buildup before the cleaning process. Ensure the water is boiling and put on gloves to protect your hands.
Rinsing using hot water loosens up the buildups that might be clogged on your bong. Also, the tongs might be helpful to grip the bong parts securely. However, if you use hot water on a cold piece, it might shatter. It's safer to start with some lukewarm water if your piece is cold and gradually raise its temperatures.
If it's a smaller routine cleaning, rinse the glass bong very fast and hop into the next step. Use pipe cleaners or cotton swabs to knock off the large resin.
In case there are chunks of resin or tar that you can reach, you can use the cotton swabs to knock them off. If it resists, you shouldn't worry since you want to remove the bigger ones. You can quickly get rid of the smaller chunks by freezing the glass bong for about 30 minutes. Freezing loosens up the fragments. Make sure the bong is dry before freezing it.
After clearing the resin from the glass bong and other parts:
- Rinse off using warm water.
- Shake it lightly or gently to remove any remaining wax.
- Do not reassemble your bong without rinsing it thoroughly to ensure no smell is left.
It is advisable to learn how to get rid of resin from the glass bong. If it remains, its taste overpowers the flavors of the sweet terpene in your flavor. A considerable number of smokers understand how to clean and save some resin for the next session. These leftovers can give you a better experience, and since herbs have become so expensive nowadays, every little experience matters a lot.
Smoke!
Of course, We didn't have to add this last step, but the feeling and experience of using a clean bong are too fancy and magnificent not to include it. The reason we clean the bong is to smoke from a freshly cleaned device. It's time to take advantage of making use of your newly neat piece.
Time to fill your bong chamber with fresh cold water and put some terpenes to have a delightful hit that comes once every few weeks. With a clean bong, you'll not strain to have that specific flavor; it's time to tap your herbs, experience it at your purest.
The Cleaning Process a Silicone Bong
It's shocking how easy cleaning a silicone bong is. Unlike glassware that is delicate and you have to be extra cautious when cleaning it, silicone is remarkably effortless; you need a dishwasher to have it clean.
The silicone bongs are small, light, and are long-lasting. Here, you don't have to break the bank to purchase alcohol. You can easily dislodge the chunks of resin using a dishwasher. This is so because they are unbreakable.
You don't have a dishwasher. Don't worry; below are a few other methods that can guide you on how to clean your silicone bong:
- Freezing: Silicone bongs are resilient against cold and heat. Place the dirty piece in a freezer for several hours. After removing the bong out, crush it and get rid of the frozen bits. This will get rid of every solid material attached to it. However, the flower smokers might still feel the tar smell.
- Alcohol: This type of bong doesn't react to polar solvents such as alcohol. Fill your silicone bong with some warm or cold drinking. A warm drink works best here. You can immerse the silicone in the alcohol cleaning solution overnight. Rinse it thoroughly with water.
- Plant-Based Cleaners: Some cleaning solutions have Vitamin E and coconut oil. They work the same as alcohol.
Takeaways - The Best Ways to Clean a Glass Bong.
In this article, we have fed you with a self-explanatory process that will help you clean the bong to extend the life of both the silicone and glass bong. Note that the more cleaning you do, the easier the cleaning process gets. Therefore, get those bongs that are now on sale and follow this step. It maintains and gives the device a long-life span.
A clean and fresh glass hits differently. The smoking experience is more pleasurable, and nothing beats the first hit from a cleaned piece. You can as well apply this method to dabbers, nails, dab rigs, etc.
More Articles
1. Every Smoker Needs One of These for Your Glass Bongs
2. What is an Ash Catcher and Reclaim Catcher?
3. 8 Best Silicone Bongs For Stoners in 2021
*This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. All products are intended for legal usage. Before consuming cannabis in any form, please consult with a licensed health care provider, smoke at your own risk.
