Smoking a bong has the potential to be better for your lungs than smoking joints and blunts; you don't have to ingest any other substances. Bongs are a great way to toke up, but they require maintenance.
Cleaning your bong is an essential task few people know how to do it correctly. Your bong has multiple chambers that must be cleaned regularly to prevent gunk and resin from building up. If you smoke frequently, you should clean your bong weekly.
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If you want to keep your bong resin-free and clean, there are a few best practices that go beyond the simple use of salt and alcohol. Because while those methods used to clean a bong might work well in the short term, they often can only get you so far.
So let's dive into everything you need to know to keep your bong clean so ensure you have the most pristine and smoothest-hitting experience when smoking out of a bong. By the end of this article, you will learn how to clean your bong, the best stuff to get the job done, and a few fast cleaning hacks that might make your bong look better than it has in years.
Before we dive into everything you need to know about cleaning your bong, follow our Fresh Cuts playlist for the dopest music for your next smoke sesh...
Before we can start working on getting you a clean bong, we need to ensure that we have all the right ingredients. After your next smoking session, you must confirm your bong is clean.
Disassemble Your Bong. Take out the bowl and stem. These are the bong parts where you would have placed your weed. Most bongs allow you to remove these parts to simplify the cleaning. Do your best not to get the bowl and stem piece wet as you extract the nasty bong water from the bong! This can make your next smoke session less than perfect as the water can dampen the flower.
Remove the nasty old water. Bongwater is full of resin and sticky, so it's not a good idea to pour it down the drain if you can avoid doing so. You can throw it away in a properly sealed trash bag or container. You can also get rid of your bong water outside - but don't use it to water any plants. The bacteria and mold that can hurt you will also damage your plants.
Put the bong inside of a zip-top bag. A gallon-size bag should be large enough to help contain the mess. If you don't have a zip-top bag around the house, you can do the following steps inside a conventional trash bag or over your kitchen sink.
Just be careful because the resin inside the bong may cling to the sides of your sink and can be a significant pain in the butt to clean up once the mess has been made.
Add isopropyl alcohol to the bong. Fill your bong about halfway with isopropyl alcohol. Depending on the size of your bong, you'll need to use about 16 ounces of isopropyl alcohol.
If you're using a cleaning solution made specifically for bongs, pour that into the bong instead. If you don't want to use alcohol, classic white vinegar and a small amount of baking soda will work as long as you have the extra time needed for this alternative.
Add the salt to the inside of the bong. You can use this salt to scrub the inside of the bong and remove any resin buildup. The alcohol will clean the bong somewhat, but the salt will remove any stubborn residue. Use a good amount of salt to make sure all the resin is removed.
Salt is incredibly delicate on the glass, so you can use a healthy amount of salt when cleaning and not worry about the inside of your bong being damaged. It's also incredibly water-soluble, so even if you get too much into the nooks and crannies of the bong, rinsing it out is super easy.
Shake It All Up. This section can get dirty, so ensure the gallon zip-lock bag you're using is sealed before shaking the mixing of alcohol and salt around the inside of the bong. If your bong has a lot of added chambers, ice catchers, and other parts, shake the bag enough to where the solution gets in all these crevasses.
This may require that you turn the bong upside down to ensure every section and area of the bong is being hit.
Let it soak for 30 minutes. Let the alcohol mixture sit with the bong for about 30 minutes. This isn't always necessary, depending on how dirty your bong gets, but letting the solution soak into the bong ensures that all the oily resin and ash are broken up and removed from the bong.
Remove the bong and dispose of the bag. The bag is critical because it allows you to dispose of dirty bong water without dealing with the gunky mess in the sink. Remember that nasty bong water can harm the drains and pipes in your house, so anything you can do to minimize the risk of damaging your plants, pipes, and more is an added benefit.
Use Water And Soap To Rinse Out The Bong: It's essential to clean your bong before using it to get rid of any alcohol or salt. Alcohol is flammable, so it's necessary to make sure there isn't any alcohol left in the bong.
While there is a minimal chance of anything catching fire cause of the amount of rinsing and evaporation that likely would have happened by now, you can't be too careful! Use dish soap and warm water to break down residual oil on the glass.
Many experts say you should clean your bong every few days to a week. To avoid mold, you must also replace your bong water often, ideally after every smoke session. Any water that stays in a water pipe is at risk of molding.
Remember that you breathe in air from your bong, and if resin and ash are allowed to sit in damp environments in the chambers of your bong, you could easily be breathing in that same mold directly into your lungs. If you freak out at the sight of a touch of mold in your shower, think about what you're breathing in when smoking out of a dirty bong!
Not to frighten you too much, but breathing in the bacteria and mold from dirty bong water can give you lung infections and pneumonia. Also, any resin that builds up inside the bong can create an environment for biofilm to grow. This can be dangerous because it can have harmful bacteria.
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The color of your bong water is the best way to tell if it's time for a deep clean. Even if it looks clean, water in a dirty bong can ruin the taste of your cannabis and make it less potent. So keep an eye on the water inside your bong when determining when it's ready to be cleaned.
Hacks For Cleaning Your Bong
To clean your bong effectively, you'll need a material that can provide adequate abrasion. Coarse sea salt is the perfect solution and is preferred much more than basic table salt.
While it might e more expensive at your local hipster grocery store, it will seriously be worth it. I love using Himalayan salt or large, chunky sea salt used in fancy cooking to get the job done here as it breaks up the resin clumps.
Add a few drops of lemon juice to the water to clean your bong and keep it smelling fresh. The enzymes in the lemon juice will help prevent buildup on the inside of the bong, and the lemon scent will help mask any lingering smells.
You can purchase add-ons for your bong to keep it clean. For example, you can use an ash catcher. Ashes, resin, and other debris fly straight to the bong each time you smoke—but you can prevent this by using an ash catcher. Ash catchers will also help prevent dirt build up inside your piece, thus making it more pristine and long-lasting.
Orange Chronic is one of the most popular bong cleaners you can find. Most weed smokers familiar with bong cleaner options will know about this for a good reason. Even though Orange Chronic has been around for a few decades, it still does an excellent job for most people.
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This material can find it at most bong shops, headshops, and dispensaries in Canada and the USA. It's quick, easy, and readily available at almost every head shop you can find.
Randy's is a great option that is widely available and has been a top seller for decades. Randy's is more prevalent in the USA, but many Canadian bong smokers may know it as the official liquid bong cleaner of Illadelph. With its Illadelph connection, Randy's has become one of the go-to cleaners for heady glass collectors.
My only complaint is that it's not the most eco-friendly option on the market, but when you need to get your bong squeaky clean, there is no better option.
Green Goddess Cleaner is an excellent alternative to bong cleaners using isopropyl alcohol. It works just as well as those cleaners and smells just as good. We love this product and use it when cleaning our customers' bongs.
Managing Editor at Magnetic Magazine - Former Marketing Manager at the Hyperbits Masterclass - Writer, Content Strategist, Music Producer, and Record Label Manager