How to Clean a Glass Bong

How to Clean a Glass Bong

Bongs and water pipes are often the crowning jewels in a weed smoker's collection of marijuana paraphernalia. Knowing how to clean a bong is the key to making sure you get the most from your water pipe. For weed enthusiasts, bongs and water pipes offer a smooth, clean way to enjoy their herb. However, they do need looking after and care, to maintain that high standard of the smoking experience. 

The reason for that is that when marijuana combustion takes place, a waxy residue and tar are created. As this gets pulled through the pipe, some of it will get left behind, slowly accumulating over time. This gunk will impair the function of the bong and can negatively impact the flavor of future hits. 

But all is not lost, as you can efficiently clean most bongs with a little effort. Glass bongs are perhaps the easiest to clean as the non-porous glass doesn't collect the dirt as much as some metal, wooden, or even silicon bongs do.

There are several commercially available bong cleaners. Formula 420, Grunge Off, Dr. Greens, and Orange Chronic are just a few of the ones that will do a great job cleaning glass water pipes. If you have silicon, metal, or wooden pipe, these may not be suitable. You should check for another appropriate cleaner that won't damage your bong.

These commercial bong cleaners can be a little expensive or may not be available in your smoke shop. If that's the case, you can easily make your own. 

Credit for photo: slant33.com

Homemade Bong Cleaner

You can easily make a DIY bong cleaner. Mix four parts very hot (but not boiling) water with one part washing-up detergent. Boiling water may cause uneven thermal expansion in cheaper glass bongs not made from borosilicate glass, which could break your glass water pipe.

You can submerge your water pipe in this homemade cleaner overnight and then rinse thoroughly with warm water. This should remove the majority of residue from your pipe. 

If stubborn spots need cleaning, you can try the following bong cleaning method. 

If you have a particularly dirty bong that hasn't been cleaned for some time, you may have to repeat this process a few times. 

 　
Why You Should Clean Your Bong

 5 Reasons to Clean your bong

1. Smell
If you leave dirty water in your pipe it will go stale and start to stink out your home. That's often really off-putting when you want to smoke and a real turn off. But it is easy to rectify and you can ditch that stink by replacing the old water with new every day. 

2. Bacteria

Blow, blow, pass. Pipe sharing is part of the smoking experience. There's nothing wrong with sharing a pipe as long as you keep it clean. This has been the long, smoky history of the bongs. But when you use a water pipe bacteria from your breath will pass into the pipe, this will inevitably accumulate and then start to grow.

It happens surprisingly quickly and in just 22hours the water in your bong can start growing into a petri dish of bacteria colonies and potential viruses and pathogens like streptococcus, E. coli, and black mildew. 
You can eliminate the chance of catching or spreading diseases, such as the common cold, or even worse: cold sores, by cleaning regularly. In extreme cases, the dirty bong water when vaporized with your smoke can cause lung infections such as pneumonia or bronchitis.
So you should clean out the water daily, and don't leave dirty bong water sitting in your bong for days or weeks on end, that is just nasty. 

Imagine if you caught a case of pesky herpes and could have avoided it by simply cleaning up? You'll be angry with yourself. If that's not a compelling enough reason to stay clean, what is?

3. Taste

In addition to preventing infectious diseases, cleaning pipes can also eliminate carcinogens. You won't have dirty ash and bits of a partly burnt flower floating around. The removal of ash and dirt will greatly improve the taste of your hits. You'll be able to enjoy a fuller flavor and enjoy the terpenes much more. If you can afford to buy a bong then you owe it to yourself and your weed to clean it.  Keeping your pipe clean is a must for those concerned with taste.

4. Less residue means better smoking

It's that simple. When there is less dirt, resin, and gunk in your glass pipe, the smoke will spread in a smoother manner. A clean pipe will provide better performance than a blocked pipe. and thus improve your smoking experience. If you spend a few minutes every day or two cleaning your pipe then it's really easy to manage and the resin will not have time to build up and cause you to curse when you have to spend the better part of an hour cleaning out a rank pipe. 

5. Appearance

We fully understand (and cherish!) Smokers develop a relationship with their pipes. For many, it was love at first sight. For others, it's love after a few good puffs of smoke. Cleaning your pipes regularly will help you appreciate the sculptural art of glass pipes. Finding the right bong isn't just about performance it's about the aesthetics of the piece. Why not wash it regularly to give it a fresh look and enjoy the beauty of your pipe. 

How Often Should I Clean My Bong

Heavy users (defined as daily users of marijuana) should actually replace old water with new water for every new user, or at least replace the water daily. If you smoke daily, then you should also clean the pipe thoroughly every few days. 

For those who smoke less frequently, maybe a few times a week, you can get away with cleaning the pipe on a less frequent basis providing you don't leave dirty bong water sitting in the pipe for more than a day. You should also empty and clean the bowl between uses. 

As a connoisseur, you will notice the difference when you spend some time looking after your water pipes.