5 Steps on How to Clean a Glass Pipe | Weeday

Smokers today are showered with a multitude of smoking methods, and glass hand pipes are some of the most loved gear of use within the cannabis community. With its portability and ease of use, glass pipes have dominated with the more outgoing people within the community, enabling them to bring their cannabis anywhere without the hassle of packaging or preparation. But in order to maintain the fresh experience and their health, smoking pipes require thorough cleaning after each use.

We previously wrote about the consequences of a dirty bong, causing direct problems like health and poor experience, and indirect problems like the effect smoking from dirty pieces can have on the cannabis community. The consequences of a dirty smoking pipe doesn’t stray away much from the above point. After all, the two most important aspects about smoking are keeping your health in check and having the freshest experience. And to maintain and improve them, cleaning the gear is one of the most essential and important parts of owning a smoking pipe. Let’s see the step-by-step guide to find out how to clean a pipe.

WHERE DO WE START?

The question of how to clean a pipe can be answered differently depending on the cleaning methods and materials. In this blog, we're focusing on how to clean a glass pipe. So, you might not want to use these steps to clean pipes made from other materials. Just like cleaning bongs, people have tried various methods of cleaning their pipes. From using vinegar and baking soda, or even just pure boiling water, the users' attempts to reshine their dirtied smoking pipes have taken so many different creative steps. But of course, when creativity doesn’t work, it often has to go back to tradition: alcohol and salt.

PIPE CLEANING SUPPLIES: WHAT YOU'LL NEED 

Here are some things needed for cleaning a dirty pipe:

1. A dirty glass pipe
2. Isopropyl Alcohol (>90% recommended)
3. A sink
4. Pair of gloves (optional)
5. Q-tips
6. Coarse salt (if the pipe hasn’t been cleaned for awhile)
7. Plastic bag

Once you have these items ready, let’s delve into how to clean a glass bowl pipe.

1. Throw away any ashes and dirt inside the smoking pipe

Your once shiny glass pipe is now black, and it needs a thorough cleaning. And while a lot of users would easily think that the problem can be solved by just pouring a wave of alcohol with salt inside, the ashes you forgot to remove before cleaning can induce more mess, discouraging your will to reshine the gear. If you don’t take the time to throw away the ashes and clean it anyway, it will eventually be cleaned. But the process could take longer because the alcohol and salt would have to deal with additional ashes that would have otherwise been taken care of.

2. Rinse the smoking pipe with water

Once all leftover ash is taken out, rinse the smoking pipe with water. Rinsing the pipe removes additional stubborn ash that you couldn’t remove, as well as a little lubrication before the next step.

3. Soak the Q-tips with alcohol, and scrub the body through the mouthpiece

This step may not apply to all the smoking pipes, but if your pipe has a mouthpiece large enough to fit a Q-tip in, clean the inside of the body by scrubbing with the Q-tip. Cleaning the pipe purely by shaking is a daunting task. Cleaning manually with the Q-tips will make it easier for the next steps to work . Most glass pipes have mouthpieces large enough to fit Q-tips, but for those with a mouthpiece too small, skipping this part may be the ideal solution.

4. Pour alcohol and salt into the pipe, and shake

Now all that pre-cleaning is done, it is time to do the deep cleansing of the smoking pipe. Put the pipe inside the prepared plastic bag, and pour alcohol and salt into the pipe. The ratio for alcohol and salt is 2:1 for optimal cleaning. If you aren’t happy with the alcohol and salt touching your skin, the prepared gloves would be an ideal item to put on while cleaning. After all, touching isopropyl alcohol with bare hands may not be everyone’s favorite recreational activity. Once you’ve poured the ingredients into the bag, shake the pipe so that the salt and alcohol reacts to the resin and ash inside. Normally the pipe should be cleaned after about 5 minutes of shaking, but you may have to repeat this process if it is particularly dirty. This part is the most important and essential part of how to clean a pipe, so taking your time for thorough shaking will do the job better.

5. Rinse the pipe thoroughly

Once you see all the resin is taken off from the smoking pipe, it’s time to rinse the gear. Rinsing the pipe after the alcohol and salt shake allows any leftovers within the pipe to be completely washed off. The main purpose of cleaning the pipe is for better hygiene. Leaving such particles without rinsing the pipe is not the best idea. Once you've finished rinsing, you'll see your pipe has regained its original shine. And that wraps up the steps on how to clean a pipe.

THE PROBLEMS OF HOW TO CLEAN A PIPE

For people concerned about using alcohol, alternatives like vinegar, baking soda, or even just plain boiling water can replace it. However, these options often require more time and might not be as effective.

The main issue, though, is with the cleaning process itself. If you've followed the above steps of how to clean a pipe, you will realize that the process is extremely time-consuming and inefficient. It might not even work at all on pipes that haven’t been washed for a long time. Much of this struggle comes from the traditional, rigid design of most pipes, which make it tough to reach all the dirty spots, especially inside the bowl. These designs limit you from cleaning your gear thoroughly, due to the deeper areas within the pipe being blocked by limited access. The daunting process shows that modern smoking gear wasn't designed with hygiene as a priority.

INTRODUCING WEEDAY PIPE

Designed with hygiene in mind, Weeday’s new pipe solves the problem of how to clean a pipe directly with its detachable design. This allows users to clean their gear thoroughly without missing a spot. Its detachable bowl makes ash disposal a breeze, and the built-in poker clears any potential clog. Users can also personalize the pipe with different variations of premium silicone, allowing users to customize the gear to their preferences.

CONCLUSION

Oftentimes the cannabis community takes pride about weed being much safer than alcohol, cigarettes, and other hard drugs. However, negligence in gear maintenance will throw away all of these advantages, as using dirty gear is by no means healthy or safe. The process of how to clean a pipe can be daunting, but it’s a needed one, as your health and experience are the aspects that will be affected. Taking responsibility for your hygiene and smoking experience can go a long way not only in your physical health, but also your high and reputation as cleaned pipes will give you fresher hits, while the people encountering you with your clean gear will have a better impression about you. Now that we’ve provided you with a solution and a more effective product, let’s get smoking.