Ever find yourself looking at your bowl and wondering if you should clean it out? Chances are—if you have to ask—the answer is “yes.” But how do you clean a pipe without breaking it? Do you really need those special solutions, or will some old-fashioned soap and water do the trick?
Don’t worry—we’ve got you covered. Learn why it’s so important to keep your pipe bowls clean, different methods of cleaning, and more. Soon, your piece will look as spotless as the day you brought it home from the smoke shop. Note: Our tips are best used for cleaning glass bowl pipes, but most methods can also be used on metal or ceramic bowls.
Why Clean Your Pipe?
Heavy clogging might be the thing that prompts us to clean out a bowl, but that’s usually a sign a good cleaning has been needed for quite a while. Though you might not think about it often, smoking from a dirty bowl will affect the overall taste of your buds. For those who use flavor as a qualifying factor when choosing a strain, having a clean bowl is essential to making an accurate decision and getting the most from your tasty and fragrant buds.
Additionally, if you’re smoking from a dirty pipe, that built-up ash and plant matter, or “resin,” is being burnt to the inside of the pipe and will absolutely impact the flavor of your smoke. While it may not be directly harmful, resin build-up can also make your smoke harsher, adding to the likelihood of coughing and getting a sore throat from smoking.
How Often Should You Clean Your Weed Pipe?
How often you should clean your weed pipe will vary from one person to the next and will be influenced by various factors, such as how much you smoke, whether you smoke out of one pipe consistently, use multiple pipes, or switch between pipes and joints or blunts.
However, you should generally do a quick clearing of the bowl before you pack it each time. Getting rid of all the previously burnt plant material will give you a better flavor and smoother smoke per session. As for a deeper cleaning of the inside of your pipe, you may need to clean it as often as every couple of weeks to as rarely as a couple of times per year, depending on your frequency of use.
Basically, if your pipe was see-through when you bought it and now you can’t see through it, you should clean it.
How to Clean a Pipe: Step-by-Step Guide
There are many different commercial cleaners designed to get stubborn resin out of your glass weed pipes, but they aren’t really necessary. They may make the job a little easier, but most long-time consumers will tell you that some isopropyl alcohol and coarse salt will do just as good of a job of cleaning—if not better—than most of these products.
Depending on if you want to clean your pipe quickly so that you can use it right away or if you’re looking for a deeper clean to restore it to an almost new condition, there are multiple ways to clean a pipe.
Materials
- Isopropyl alcohol (70% or higher is recommended)
- Coarse salt (or Epsom salts)
- Plastic bag or container
- Warm water
- Q-Tips or pipe cleaners (optional for deep cleaning)
Instructions
Once you’ve got your supplies together, follow these simple steps to clean your bowl:
- Place your pipe in the plastic bag or container and pour in the isopropyl alcohol and salt, half covering the pipe with the alcohol. Without the bag, you can pour the salt directly down the bowl with 1 – 2 tablespoons of the alcohol.
- Seal your container or plastic bag. If you’re not using a plastic bag, hold your fingers over the holes in your pipe to prevent the alcohol and salt from pouring everywhere.
- Shake up the bag vigorously, or hold your pipe and give it a good shake, allowing the alcohol and salts to rub the sticky resin off the inside of your pipe.
- Remove your pipe from the bag and rinse it with warm water. Repeat if necessary until you’ve hit your desired “clean” look.
- Allow to air dry completely before the next use.
For an even deeper clean, you may need to soak your pipe in the alcohol and salt solution overnight (up to 12 hours). If you plan to let it sit, make sure to tightly seal your baggie or container so that the alcohol doesn’t evaporate.
How to Clean a Gunky Pipe Bowl
If your pipe is really gunked up with resin, it may take more than a long soak to get everything off inside. This is especially true if the bowl has rarely been cleaned or if it’s used frequently.
If you’ve already cleaned it out once or twice the “quick way” without much of a noticeable result, then soaking the pipe and scraping the inside with a Q-tip or pipe cleaner is likely going to be necessary. Once everything is scraped off with the extra tools, you can give it another once over with the alcohol and salt solution before rinsing it with warm water and allowing it to dry.
How to Clean a Pipe Without Alcohol
Outside of using alcohol and salt, which is the most common and often preferred method of cleaning a glass pipe, there are many other methods to cleaning a pipe. These include:
- Commercial cleaners designed for pipes and other weed accessories
- Using a more health-conscious option like vinegar (½ white vinegar, ½ water)
- Boiling your pipe in water on the stove or heating it in a bowl of water in the microwave
Some consumers swear by even simpler methods, like using a paperclip to scrap the inside of the glass bowl. While these options will work, they aren’t going to be as easy as using alcohol and salt, but they’ll still get your pipe clean without the use of alcohol.
Find Unique Pipes and Premium Cannabis at Mission
At Mission, we always stock unique pipes and other cannabis accessories. Once you’ve found your perfect piece, load it up with high-grade cannabis from any of our great dispensaries and check out our rotating menus full of your favorite brands and products. You can even save more money with our daily and weekly discounts and generous loyalty program.
Shop in person and say hello to our friendly budtenders, or order online for pick up. Depending on your location, you can even get your cannabis goods delivered right to your door!
Have more questions about cleaning a pipe or other cannabis-related topics? Ask our staff or check out our blog for expert tips and information on all things cannabis—we’re always here to help.
