No one likes a dirty bong. It looks ugly and smells even worse, leaving a lingering smell everywhere it goes. Smoking out of a dirty bong leaves a bad taste in your mouth which feels like the tar is built up on your tongue. Yet even with these disadvantages, millions of bong smokers worldwide put up with a dirty bong.
Why do smokers keep using a dirty bong?
Wishing to have a clean bong is one thing, maintaining a crystal clear waterpipe is another story
Not enough time – Cleaning a bong can take several minutes depending upon how dirty it is. Cleaning of the bong bowls and downstems takes additional time, but is critical to the clean bong feeling.
Disposal – Using isopropyl or other cleaners generates waste cleaner that must be disposed of. Dumping the waste down a sink drain may not be reasonable to do on a regular basis depending upon one’s home.
Indifference – Some people may not be attuned to the awfulness of a dirty bong, or maybe they don’t care. Even these smokers say they apricate a clean bong when its available.
What is involved in cleaning a bong?
We’ve made it past the wishing stage and are now set to clean the dirty bong. Cleaning involves a few steps and several products.
Products needed to clean a bong
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Isopropyl alcohol (70% or up to 90% pure)
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Salt (regular table salt)
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Pipe cleaners (for those tough to reach areas)
- Water
- Hand soap
- Drain for disposal
- Sonic bath (for easy cleaning of bowl and downstem)
Once you have your products assembled it is time to get to work
Bong cleaning steps
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Disassemble the bong bowl and downstem from the bong. Drain the dirty water from the bong.
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Place bong slide and downstem into sonic bath with isopropyl, leave for 1-hour to soak. Alternatively, they can be put into a basic container isopropyl and alcohol to soak and clean later
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Dump some salt into the dirty bong, about a tablespoon will suffice for most bongs. More salt seems to be more effective, this is due to more abrasive surfaces scraping across the interior of the bong.
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Dump some isopropyl into the dirty waterpipe, one or two tablespoons will be sufficient. The alcohol is very aggressive and just needs to carry the salt around, while breaking the molecular bonds of the resin as it washes over the surface.
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Shake, shake, shake the bong, scrubbing the surfaces with the salt and isopropyl. Let the bong rest for a few minutes, this gives the isopropyl alcohol time to break the molecular bonds of the resin. Then shake again to get rid of the remaining dirt.
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Dispose of the salt and alcohol, then thoroughly rinse the bong with water.
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Use hand soap to suds the exterior of the bong and get some inside to flush away any remaining alcohol from the bong. Rinse the bong completely with water, then drip dry.
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If you are using the sonic bath, turn it on to clean the bong bowl and downstem. After sonication, rinse parts with water and perform final soap cleaning for maximum cleanliness.
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If you don’t have a sonic bath, shake the bong bowl and downstem in the container. Then use a pipe cleaner to scrub the internals of the parts, working your way in and around all the bores. Rinse parts with soap and water, then purchase a sonic cleaner to cut this step’s time by 80%.
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Reassemble cleaned bong parts and add water to the bong.
Reducing how often the bong needs cleaning
By reducing the rate at which the bong gets dirty, the cleaning frequency will go down. If we never smoked from the bong, it would stay clean forever, but since that’s not going to happen, here are a few methods to keep the bong clean.
Rinse the bong regularly – If you have access to a sink near your smoking rig, then dumping the dirty water and swishing around some new water can remove the large debris from the bong. Generally, dumping the water every third or fourth bowl will do the trick. Resin will still build up on the interior walls, but it will look better while this brown residue build up.
Use an ash-catching accessory – Ash-catchers are chambers that inert between the bong bowl and the downstem to collect the ash before it gets into the bong. They are usually made of glass and sometimes contain percolators for additional cleaning/cooling. The downside is that while the bong may stay cleaner longer, now a dirty gross ash-catcher is hanging off the rig.
Use an ash-catching bong bowl – By integrating an ash-catcher with a bong bowl, Invincibowl vastly extends the cleanliness of a bong. The Invincibowl blocks 99% of the ash from reaching the bong water, when combined with regular rinses a bong can stay mostly clean for days. Additionally, because the Invincibowl is an unbreakable metal bong bowl, you won’t have to look at the dirty bowl in between cleanings!
How to enhance the taste of bong smoke
In addition to keeping a bong clean, there are a few more things that can be done to enhance the flavor and reduce the harshness of bong smoke
Cold water – If the bong is left outside in the summer, the water can warm up and add a heaviness to the smoke. Replacing the water with clean cool water really helps.
Ice catcher – Standard on most bongs, the ice catcher allows you to drop a cube or two down the bong neck. When smoke passes around the ice it is cooled which freshens the taste.
Chill bong – Switching from a glass bong to an unbreakable metal bong has two advantages; water stays colder for longer in the vacuum insulated chamber, ice can be dropped right into the bong water giving a chilled smoke effect.
Filters – Adding a filter to the top of the bong will scrub the larger tar and resin particles from the smoke. The Mouthpeace excels at this and produces a smooth experience time and time again.
Clean bong FAQs
What is the fastest way to clean a bong?
Isopropyl and salt works as fast as anything out there. To rapidly speed up the cleaning of the bong slide and downstem, get a sonic cleaner.
Best way to keep a bong clean?
Use the ash-blocking Invincibowl to reduce 99% of particulate in the bong, and change water frequently.
Get the best taste out of a bong?
Chilled water reduces harshness and a filter smooths the taste. Combine these with a clean bong to maximize the session.
How do I keep the bong and accessories from breaking?
The only sure-fire way is to replace fragile glass with a metal bowl, metal downstem and metal bong. All of our products are covered with a lifetime warranty, something no glass bong can match.
