A Quick Guide for How to Clean a Glass Pipe
How Do You Smoke?
There’s no right or wrong way to consume marijuana if you ask us! Going with a glass pipe, bubbler, or bong is certainly an efficient route to your heavily anticipated high. You might be wondering how to clean a glass bowl after it gets gunked up, and we’ll get there don’t worry (without buying expensive bong cleaner). Now, investing in a glass pipe means not only are you choosing the healthier alternative medicine that is cannabis, but glass tends to be the cleanest way to get the smoke to your lungs. When you light up a blunt or joint, you’re also allowing whatever toxins live inside those papers – tobacco and otherwise – to enter your body. We won’t even go back to when our teenage selves smoked out of whatever tin can we found…
All Shapes and Sizes
We all know that every person is different. Naturally, everyone’s preferences differ when it comes to smoking weed, and this one’s for the glass lovers out there. With the endless possibilities that come alive into an apparatus for pot, you’ve probably heard endless ways your friends and neighbors learned to deal with the resin built up on their favorite pipes. From rubbing alcohol to denture tablets, there are plenty of cleaning rumors to be found on the internet. “How to clean a glass pipe” is probably in your search history too, if that’s your preferred smoking method.
The Healthy Choice
Going by your own standards, we recommend using products you’d be okay with going into your lungs. A proper rinse after cleaning is always suggested, but using chemicals like acetone can leave an unsafe residue and gives a small margin for error. Our preferred method of cleaning is the tried and true vinegar and baking soda option. Not only are the items required ones that you’d likely have in your home already, but if you have to go out and buy them, they are affordable and easily found in stores. To set yourself up a cleaning workstation, you’ll need the following:
- White Distilled Vinegar
- Baking Soda
- Solid Plastic Container / Baggie
- Cotton Swabs / Q-Tips
The Plan of Action
First Thing’s First: After acquiring all the necessary supplies, you’re ready to get started. The first step in a see-through clean is a good soak. Determine the size of the container or baggie needed and place the pipe inside and pour to cover the piece with baking soda. Once covered, fill the empty space with white vinegar (Disclaimer: this will cause a fizzing reaction but is harmless). Let that sit for approximately 30 minutes or more based on the build-up. We recommend a cleaning each week, depending on the extent of your use, for shorter soaking time and easier cleaning. Tip: for bong users, fill the base up to the resin line with baking soda, then add the vinegar all the way up to the joint.
Phase 2: You guessed it, this part is all depending on personal habits! After you give the container/bag a gentle shake, you get a good idea of where you’re at. If you’ve meticulously maintained your glass, just the 30-minute soak and little agitation will do the trick. For all our procrastinators out there, let’s get to work. You can use a Q-tip (or 50) to reach into those nooks and crannies and lift the resin manually. If you’re cleaning a bong, you can use a dish wand but may want to invest in a bong brush for dedicated use.
The Home Stretch: The last step is shared between all methods of cleaning your paraphernalia – RINSE! If you strayed from this guide along the way and added any chemicals like dish soap, this step is even more critical. A thorough rinse serves a couple of purposes; first to remove any leftover debris (i.e baking soda, resin, etc), and second to make it safe for use again. Whether you use chemicals or not, there’s nothing worse than the first bowl in a freshly cleaned piece and having vinegar burn your lungs. We prefer to cough because of a big hit, not a harsh one.
It’s Time to Enjoy the Payoff
If you’ve neglected the cleaning of your glass pipes for any amount of time and are a regular smoker, you probably just spent a good part of your day following this blog. The back-breaking work to remove the inevitable build-up of resin from your favorite piece is finally concluded. Dry off the excess water and pack the bowl up! The rewarding feeling that comes from a clean hit of weed and only weed is unmatched, soak it in and try to forget about having to do this again in a week.