While cleaning may not be really high on any stoner’s list of fun activities, there comes a time when we must admit to ourselves that our vaporizer, pipe or bong need a thorough cleaning. Dirty smoking paraphernalia not only looks unappealing, but it can also alter your flavor and smoking experience. In order to make the cleaning process as painless as possible, we’ve made this simple guide on how to safely and easily clean your marijuana paraphernalia at home.
Why You Need To Clean Your Smoking Equipment
Not only does smoking out of dirty smoking equipment alter the taste and flavor of your herb, and your experience in general, but it can also lead to an array of health consequences.
Some of the main reasons why you should clean your equipment, include:
- Cleaner equipment offers better tasting rips.
- You can discover the real taste and flavor of the herb by using clean equipment each time.
- You can protect your smoking accessories better.
- If not cleaned regularly, resin can build up in your equipment and clog it up.
- Since many smoking tools and devices are often shared in groups, keeping them clean is important in getting rid of germs so you don’t get sick.
Here are a few simple cleaning tips that you can use, in order to avoid those unwanted risks, make sure your equipment lasts longer and that you enjoy your smoking experience better.
How to Clean Your Smoking Paraphernalia Properly
The following cleaning techniques don’t require a lot of time and effort, but can provide you with a better and healthier smoking experience.
Although most people have their own preferred method of cleaning that they swear by, the truth is that there are loads of different options available when it comes to cleaning your smoking equipment. Some of the most common ones include:
- A mixture of rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl alcohol), warm water and kosher salt
- Vodka with warm water and kosher salt, which is a bit more expensive
- White vinegar, water and kosher salt, which is one of the safest, healthiest cleaning options
- White vinegar and baking soda
- Formula 420
- Mile HIGH Cleaner and other cleaning products specifically designed to remove resin from your marijuana paraphernalia
All of the above mentioned methods work well in cleaning glass, pipes, rigs, hand pipes and other pieces of smoking equipment.
If you decide to use the most commonly used mixture of alcohol/vinegar, warm water and kosher salt, you’ll need to simply take out all the pieces you have that need cleaning, put them in a zip lock bag filled with equal parts rubbing alcohol/vodka or vinegar and warm water and a bit of salt, give the bag a nice shaking and let them sit in the mixture for an hour before you take each piece out. Once they’re done soaking, take them out of the bag, run them under water and let them dry out. You can also use Q-tips to get any leftover debris out.
You can also soak your paraphernalia in a bowl of vinegar and baking soda/denture tablets. First you’ll need to cover all pieces in baking soda and then pour vinegar over them in order to get that volcano-like effect. Leave the pieces to soak for 10-15 minutes, take them out, run them under hot water and leave them to dry.
