How to Clean Your Weed Pipe

Education, Marijuana

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Look, we’re not here to be your mother. But if you haven’t cleaned your weed pipe in a while…it’s time to get on that.

There are a lot of substances that go in and out of weed pipes, bubblers, and bongs. Obviously, there’s weed, before and after it’s been set ablaze. As you inhale, quite a bit of spit, ash, and a bunch of other microorganisms and bacteria might find themselves a cozy home in your piece.

Puff-puff-passing is all fun and games until someone’s spit and germs from the other day give you all a cold.

Ash tastes gross, and it’s super dangerous for your lungs.

All of the other microorganisms have the potential to grow and spread into even more dangerous microorganisms. This potential is even greater when they’re swimming around dirty bong water. That film that you see from yesterday’s bong rip? It’s called biofilm. If it’s not something you’d knock back in a shot glass, it’s not something you want to inhale.

Don’t be ashamed, guys. We’ve all forgotten to clean our pieces every now and again. But if you just bought a shiny new glass pipe, or you’re in the mood for some spring cleaning, it’s time to get in the habit of cleaning your weed pipes.

How Often Should You Clean Your Pipe?

The answer depends on how much you smoke. If you smoke regularly, you should clean your pipe regularly. We’re talking once a week, minimum.

People who fail to inhale every day don’t have to clean their pipes as frequently, but if you know you’re going to put it away for a few weeks, you might as well clean it out and prevent buildup while your pipe is sitting in your sock drawer.

No matter how much you smoke, if you start to see any black resin building up around your piece, clean that out immediately. Gross.

How Often Should You Replace the Water in Bong?

Replacing the water in your bong will reduce the need to clean it regularly. If you smoke out of a bong at least once a day, you should also replace the water in your bong at least once a day. (Okay, okay…once a day is definitely sufficient.)

You’ll notice a change in flavor faster than the weed will hit your brain. Clean water, free of bacteria, mold, and other microorganisms floating around in bong water will bring out the flavors of your strain. If you don’t mind spreading germs around, at least think about the quality of your weed!

What Can You Use to Clean Your Pipe?

There are a few different ways to clean your pieces – some with alcohol, and some without. Any of the household items will do:

Listerine
Salt and rubbing alcohol
Nail polish remover
Baking soda and vinegar
Denture tablets
Boiling water

(There are quite a few products on the market that are designed to clean out your pipe, but they’re no better or worse than classic salt and rubbing alcohol.)

If you just have a small piece, you should also grab a plastic sandwich bag. You might want to also have the following items around to push junk out of your piece and remove other solid impurities:

Q-Tips
Bobby pins
Thin wires
Pipe cleaners

Have these items lying around? Of course you do!

Let’s go over a few different ways to clean your pipe.

How To Clean Your Pipe With Boiling Water

Let’s keep things simple. If you just want to use water and heat to clean your pipe or a bong, you’ll be solid.

Grab a saucepan or a pot and fill it up with enough water to cover your pipe or the individual pieces of your bong. (If your pipe is exposed while in boiling water, it might crack.) Once the water’s boiling, pop in your piece and reduce the water to a simmer.

Leave it in for half an hour or so, checking on it every now and again to make sure the water is still covering the glass. Remove the pieces (carefully!) and poke out any excess ash with a pipe cleaner.

How to Clean Your Pipe with Listerine, Rubbing Alcohol, etc.

If you have Listerine, rubbing alcohol and salt, etc. you just need a plastic baggy to clean your pipe. Fill the baggie with your liquid and pop in your piece. Close the baggy and swish it around! Leave the pipe in the solution for a few hours if you’re particularly concerned about how long it’s been since you last cleaned it.

Remove the pipe and give it a quick rinse with cold water. As always, if you see any stubborn resin or little black bits in your piece, remove them with a pipe cleaner, Q-tip, toothpick, etc.

If you want to clean a bong with similar materials, just pour it straight into your piece! Close up all the holes and shake it for a minute. Pour out the liquid, give it a quick rinse with water, and you’re all ready to go!

How to Clean Your Pipe With Denture Tablets

Why you have denture tablets lying around is beyond us. But we’re not judging. They’re quite the popular way to clean out your pipes and bongs!

If you want to clean out your bong, empty out the bong water and replace the chamber with three or four denture tablets. Refill the chamber with warm water and watch the tablets sizzle. After about 25 minutes, the tablets should be dissolved and the gunk in your bong should have slid off the walls and into the solution. Yum.

Rinse your bong out with warm water and voila! Your bong is ready to power through another day of massive rips.

You can also use the “plastic bag” method with denture tablets and a pipe or the smaller pieces of your bong.