Glass pipes are popular smoking tools and come in varying shapes, colors, and sizes. While picking one that suits your personality is easy, it’s not as simple to clean once the bowl accumulates sticky resin and tar. Learn how to clean a glass bowl to remove buildup and ensure it performs as it should.
If smoking from your hand pipe seems harsher than usual or causes you to cough, it may be time to clean the glass bowl. These are telltale signs of a dirty pipe, indicating that the bowl is caked with light brown or black residue.
The longer you wait to clean your glass pipe, the worse it gets. You’ll get less smoke from the pipe as it gets clogged, and eventually, it becomes useless. Fortunately, you can restore glass hand pipes to their original glory. All you need is the correct tools and a bit of patience.
Ways to Clean a Glass Bowl
It’s essential to clean and maintain your smoking apparatus regularly to ensure it works properly, whether it’s a wooden pipe, ceramic pipe, or glass bong. There are several ways to clean antique glass bottles, pipes, or bong bowls and keep them clear of resin.
Cleaning Glass Bowls With Rubbing Alcohol and Salt
Use salt and alcohol to clean your glass pipes. Rubbing alcohol breaks down resin and tar, and it’s excellent for cleaning aquarium glass. Combining it with coarse salt helps scrub loosened gunk for simple cleaning.
Pour rubbing alcohol into a plastic bag – use a product that is 90 percent isopropyl alcohol for optimal results. Add a tablespoon of coarse salt and place the pipe in the bag.
Seal the bag shut and shake the pipe inside the bag to work the salt into the glass piece. Continue shaking the bag for a minute or two until the bowl is visibly clean. Finish by rinsing the pipe in warm water.
Add alcohol and salt to the interior to remove hard water stains from a ceramic bowl and wipe with a clean cloth. Rinse well.
Using Boiling Water to Clean Glass Bowls
If you don’t have any rubbing alcohol, try boiling water to clean glass bowls or as one of the ways to clean a glass baking dish. The hot water gets into the pipe or other glass container and removes any leftover resin.
Remove ash and loose bits of resin from the bowl with a cotton swab, and rinse the pipe in warm water. Do not use cold water since transitioning from cold to hot may crack the glass. Pour enough water to cover the entire pipe with three to four inches of water and bring it to a simmer. Place the bowl in the simmering water and soak it for half an hour.
Drain the water and use a clean swab to remove the remaining residue. Check the pipe for water stains, clean the surface with a lemon juice and water cleaning solution to remove them, and set the bowl on a paper towel to air dry.
This cleaning solution will also work as a great way to clean a cloudy glass vase or other glass smoking devices.
How to Clean a Glass Bowl With Vinegar and Baking Soda
Another way to clean a bong or pipe is to use baking soda and distilled white vinegar. Not only do these two ingredients dissolve grime, but they remove hard water stains, leaving the water pipe crystal clear.
To remove hard water stains and resin from a bong or water pipe, place it in a plastic container and cover it with baking soda. Pour enough white vinegar over the pipe to submerge it, and watch as the liquid foams and bubbles.
Let it be for 15 minutes, and rinse the piece with warm water until it runs clear. Run a cotton swab through the pipe and bowl, and dry the glass with a soft cloth.
You may find it easy to clean glass coffee pot the same way. Vinegar and baking soda are ideal cleaners.
Freezing a Glass Bowl to Remove Resin
If your bowl has hard buildup, try cleaning glass bowls by freezing them. As strange as it may sound, the freezer is effective at hardening sticky bits, making them easier to dislodge from the bowl.
Set the glass bowl in a container and place it in the freezer for half an hour. The freezing process hardens the resin for convenient cleaning. Remove the container from the freezer, and use a needle to knock the gunk from the bowl. Work as fast as possible since it doesn’t take long before the resin gets gummy again.
Tips for Maintaining Glass Bowls
While it’s important to deep clean glass bowls to ensure they work correctly, it’s equally important to maintain them after each use for the best results. Follow these maintenance tips to keep your glass bowl in tip-top shape.
Glass Pipe and Bowl Maintenance
Always remove loose grime from the pipe by holding it upside down and tapping it to remove particles. Use a swab or pipe cleaner to dislodge pieces you can reach, but avoid tough spots that may risk breaking the pipe.
Stains do not come out if they soak into the bowl’s glass, so it’s essential to clean the bowl regularly. Depending on how much you use the pipe, soak it in isopropyl alcohol weekly for five minutes and rinse it with warm water.
Avoid cleaning a glass pipe with dish soap or glass cleaner since they may leave residue in the bowl, which is dangerous if smoked. Additionally, they affect the taste of the smoking experience.
If you get little to no smoke while smoking a glass pipe, you’re dealing with a dirty bong, and it’s time to clean the bowl. Luckily, it’s simple to clean cloudy glass and remove stubborn stains and gunk using items you probably have lying around the house.
Now that you’ve learned how to clean a glass bowl and keep it working as it should, why not share our tips for cleaning glass pipes with your friends and family on Pinterest and Facebook?