How to Clean a Glass Pipe

If you have bubblers, bongs or glass in your cannabis smoking, vaping or dabbing paraphernalia, at some point, you’ll have to bite the bullet and clean your stuff. Failing to keep up with your cleaning regime makes your smoking devices look unsightly and can also be hazardous to your health.

All that build-up of tar and other toxins is bad for your health. It doesn’t taste great, either. Neither is it particularly hygienic. While cannabis users have a reputation for not necessarily being friends of the vacuum cleaner and washing the dishes, they do generally take pride in their kit.

The good news is it’s pretty simple to learn how to clean a glass weed pipe. Even with just a few household items and a little hot water, your bong or pipe could be as good as new in next to no time. There is some etiquette here about what you should use to remove resin and grime, and cannabis connoisseurs can get a little hot under the collar when talking about it.

Top Five Reasons we don’t learn how to Clean a Glass Pipe

We’re lazy. That’s not just a cannabis users thing; many people look at their glass pipe and simply can’t be bothered to give it a good clean. At least not until it starts clogging with gunk.

We don’t want to damage it. All those washing liquids and other chemicals will make it bad for smoking, right? Wrong. You are likely to maintain your glass pipe better if you actually clean it once in a while.

We like a dirty glass pipe. Some people actually like how a build-up of tar and other toxins makes their pipe look and taste. Each to their own, but it’s still pretty unhealthy. And, if you’re in a social situation, it’s best not to hand your pipe around.

We don’t smoke cannabis socially, so we don’t have to worry about cleaning our glass pipes in the first place. If you’re not worried about your own health, fine. We can’t convince you. But what about the taste?

We’ve never learned how to clean a dirty glass pipe. This article is all about just that. Enjoy. We hope it will bring you a whole new smoking experience.

How most people Clean their Glass Pipe

We don’t 100% recommend this method as it uses rubbing alcohol which can be toxic if ingested. But it is the pipe-cleaning method that many people use, particularly cannabis connoisseurs. It’s the one that cannabis experts get hot under the collar about.

We advise you only use this if you have a very dirty pipe ingrained with resin build-up and lots of gunk. For all other cleaning, use a natural, green alternative on a regular basis, as outlined below.

You’ll need:

• A bottle of rubbing alcohol that has a high concentration of isopropyl.
• Sea salt, table salt, or any coarse salt to act as a scouring agent.
• A sealable plastic bag or Tupperware container you can soak your pipe in.
• Cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and some gloves.

Isopropyl alcohol works well as a cleaning solution because it has a similar structure to the resin in cannabis and acts on the basis that like usually dissolves like. It’s one of the main reasons why regular cannabis users like this method because it can get rid of that deeply ingrained gunk.

How to clean a Glass Pipe – Step by Step

First, get as much tar as possible by rinsing in warm water and using your pipe cleaner and cotton buds to dislodge any staining. Because this is a glass pipe, you need to be gentle. If you’re too vigorous, you can easily crack something, and your pipe will be completely useless.

Take your sealable bag and put in some rubbing alcohol and about a teaspoon of salt. Most types of salt will do for the salt method – sea salt, kosher salt, or table salt all offer some cleaning power. The salt is abrasive, so it should help remove the hardened gunk. Seal the bag with your pipe inside and give it a good shake. This cleaning process can take a little while, so don’t get impatient.

With the bits removed, you will find the liquid changing colour to a muddy brown. Continue shaking for about two minutes, and then empty the bag. Rinse the pipe under a tap to get rid of any more residue. Next, repeat the process all over again. Keep on doing this until the liquid remains clear or you can’t see any more gunk.

Give your pipe a final thorough rinse under the tap until you have removed all the rubbing alcohol. Don’t skimp on the rinsing unless you want the taste of rubbing alcohol in your mouth afterwards. Place your pipe on the side where it can drain and dry out. You can let your pipe air dry or use a paper towel to speed up the process.

Some Quick Dos and Don’ts of Cleaning a Glass Pipe

Yes, cleaning can be a bit of a chore, but it is necessary. You could throw your glass pipe out once it gets too dirty and buy a new one. But why waste that money when you could have a clean pipe in no time?

Ask around and you’ll find there are quite a lot of different methods out there. We all have our personal preferences. Tar and toxins can coat the inside of your pipe, and they can be pretty difficult to dislodge once you get a build-up.

So here’s our first ‘do’:

Do clean your glass pipe regularly. It’s easier that way. We recommend that you clean it after each use. It takes just a few days of regular use for tars to build up and problems like mold to start occurring. We appreciate you’re probably not going to do this but we thought we’d mention it. A quick rinse-through with hot water can make all the difference.

Do get yourself a good, environmentally friendly cleaner that you can use without damaging the world around you. You can also add a few drops to your bong water, which should help stop tars building up in the first place and hopefully won’t have any effect on you. This works best if you are regularly cleaning.

There are a lot of people who use isopropyl alcohol, as above. The trouble is that this is very toxic and not good for you long-term. Speak to a cannabis connoisseur, and they’ll tell you it’s perfectly safe if you rinse your pipe correctly.

We suggest that you DON’T use it at all if you’re a beginner. In fact, you shouldn’t be using anything that you wouldn’t be happy to ingest, including nail polish remover with an acetone base (another favourite with some cannabis users). If you have a very dirty pipe, it can be used to deep clean on rare occasions like this. Just make sure you rinse everything thoroughly afterwards.

If you are cleaning your bong or glass pipe after each use, as you should be, these products can end up being expensive anyway. Find something natural and less costly. You’ll find plenty in your kitchen cabinet that will work just as well.

Green Ways to Clean a Glass Pipe

There are a couple of solutions you can try. The first is simple salt and vinegar or baking soda and vinegar. All you need to do is soak your pipe in these for about half an hour and then rinse. You might even like to try vinegar and lemon juice. Another idea is to use denture tablets. Some say they work but we’re not entirely convinced. The idea here is to drop a tablet in warm water with your pipe and let the fizz take care of the gunk.

Another option is to boil your pipe. Fill up a pan with water, bring it to the boil, put your pipe in the boiling water and simmer for half an hour. If there are still residual bits left over, you can remove these using a pipe cleaner or a paper clip with tissue wrapped around it. The only problem is that this can damage if you have a delicate pipe.

Most of these methods work if you clean your glass pipe regularly. Again, that’s what we suggest you do. Get into the habit of soaking your pipe after you’ve used it, and you won’t have to worry about any build-up of residue in the future. Your smoke will be nice and clean and flavoursome each time too.

You can use similar methods to clean any glass paraphernalia, such as bongs or bubblers. Of course, some bongs can be pretty intricate and cleaning them is no easy thing. They can also be fragile, which is why you should never, for instance, stick them in the dishwasher.

Our advice at Seedsman.com is to put in place a regular cleaning regime to stop too much residue from building up. If that’s not your bag and you are just too lazy, there’s always rubbing alcohol, salt and a ziploc bag.