How to Clean a Bong or Waterpipe

Tar build-up on your bong can be very unhealthy. It can also be next to impossible to clean completely, and cleaning agents often leave you with a residue that can be just as hard to remove as the tar itself. This means you will be breathing the harsh vapour of potentially deadly chemicals (depending what product you used) instead of the fine flavour of your choice in tobacco.

There is one product that is in my opinion stand out above all others for effectiveness and non-lethality. Citro Clean! You will probably know of other “Citrus Cleaners” and may have used one before, but having used many (and in a wide variety of applications) I can safely say that none come close to the results provided by Citro Clean. Citro contains no petroleum based solvents, no bleaches, ammonia, salt or phosphates- leaving you with a spotless, sqeaky clean surface every time.

Simply dissasemble your waterpipe and spray Citro Clean directly onto the dirty areas. The pressure of the spray bottle is enough alone to remove the tar buildup- you watch it spray clean. After a quick swish with a brush and a rinse, you have a squeaky clean bong. For extreme cases, one reapplication after rinsing will do the trick without a doubt. It’s easy to tell if you’ve rinsed properly too, as the strong orange smell can’t go unnoticed.

Some people recommend soaking their bong for hours, using steel wool and all sorts of things that are just not necessary. Literally spray Citro on, agitate the area to dislodge any heavier parts then rinse and you have an item you could return as brand new. It should be noted that Citro will essentially remove 100% of oils from a surface in the process. For this reason it is awesome for glass and glazed ceramics, but should not be used on plastic as it will eat the shine right off it almost immediately! If in doubt, just email the good people at Citro Clean and they can advise you.

I hope you do yourself a favour and buy a bottle. There is nothing it can’t clean, given it can bring a filthy bong to shop-returnable status in moments!

Citro Clean.
Available in 500ml, 5L and 25L.
http://www.citroclean.com.au/ – No, am in no way affiliated.

run the hottest water in your house throgh your bong until all resin stanges come out

Empty the waterpipe, pour in a little epsom salts and rubbing alcohol and just swirl it around, up and over all the resin. The epsom salts don’t dissolve in the alcohol very quickly, but help break apart the resin while the alcohol dissolves it. Epsom salts is wicked cheap and can be found at CVS or Walgreens in the foot care section (it’s used to soak your feet). Quickest and cheapest way EVAR

EVAR!1

Fill the bong with as much water as possible. Plug the bowl hole if you want to clean to the top. Drop a tab of Polident ™, let it sit then rinse. Voila, clean pipe.

just tried the salt and alcohol method…. PERFECT!!!! thanks guys

Try using some acetone (it’s in most nail polish removers, if you don’t have any) … It works wonders … but obviously make sure to rinse it well afterwards

alcohol and epsom salt cheaaaap and easyyyy took me seconds to restore almost as new.

question tho…. how do u completely remove the resin from under the slide????? i can always restore the glass piece brand new, however the area under the slide in the middle is tuff any ideas???

Alcohol + Salt = Death of acrilyc pieces. If your unit is plastic, do this and you will be sorry. It’ll work just fine, you’ll love it for a while, but eventually the plastic will be weakened by the alcohol, and your piece will be a busted POS. Trust me, I’ve done it a few times myself. In Canada there’s a product called Orange TKO, might be in the states too, works just as well as the alcohol and salt method, without compromising the intergrity of the plastic. It’s expensive, but bloody worth it, cheaper than buying a new bong. You literally only need about a cap for most jobs, maybe even less if you dilute it like they recommend. But since it’s made from 100% natural orange junk, I don’t bother and it doesn’t hurt any of my units, and I’ve been using it for years. If your unit is glass or ceramic however, I think the cheaper alcohol and salt solution is just fine (I think – not sure on that really). A lot of the commercial cleaners ARE just alcohol with scent and color added, so don’t bother wasting your money on those. To clean the stem piece use the same cleaner as you use on the unit, just get bamboo skewers from the dollar store and scrape it off, cotton swaps are a good tool as well. If you don’t keep nasty water in your unit, as in, dump it and get clean water every session, it’ll be a billion times easier to clean too. Those are my tips – Good luck.

Ive tried the salt and alchol and it isnt working that well and a just got this bong the day before I just dont want to waste my money on all the rest of the junk knowing that it probably wont work. And does it make a difference that mine is an ice catcher Bong

The best method I found is to boil some water and squeeze about 2 and a half lemons into it. Leave it in your bong for about an hour and voilà! Good as new! It’s cheap and easy

I prefer acetone & dry rice. The acetone cuts through the resin better than rubbing alcohol and the rice serves as a much better abrasive than salt as it does not dissolve and can be reused throughout the cleaning.

Well, i don’t know about other ppl’s methods but i’ve learned that a little water (hot or cold) and some nail polish romover works great to clean your glass pipe. Let soak for about ten minutes and use something like a q-tip to get to the hard to reach spots. Rinse well and you’re ready to go.

Acetone is best for glass or metal, but not safe for acrylic.

JUST PUT YOUR FLAME TO IT AND BURN IT OFF–NEVER WASTE ANY RESIDUE !!!!

Use grunge off, bling, or formula 420

OKAY as many fine stoners have said

Alcohol, 70-90 percent, i like 90 but thats just me. it evaporates quickly so no long lasting smells, it doesnt stick into any crevices as it just wants to dissipate into the atmosphere.works great on metal ceramic glass. even wood, just let it sit longer than others.

KOSHER SALT. even the iodized salt will work, but kosher is bigger and heavier and actually holds resin itself.
Rice works well, but you gotta throw it in the trash, sinks/erators dont like them so much, so it stinks up the trash.

with this method you need some q tips and paper towels to wipe resin on. you should not try to be ultra concervative of the alcohol, it does have a limit on how many resin particals it can hold. replace it when its dark brown. the hard stuff may be really tricky, rinse all the crap out and put some alcohol directly on the tough spot (why i like 91%) and let it sit about 5 mins add more alcohol and salt and shake again. rinse out. i like to also use some dawn dish detergent afterward shake it real good rinse it and let it drip dry. bigger pieces may require a bottle brush or water pipe cleaner. every pipe that is glass, WILL come clean eventually, (unless theres all those damn perks) with bigger water pipes, try using alcohol and salt instead of water and put a vacuum on the mouth piece and turn it on, the bubbles will help clean it.
other methods,
citri-clean type stuff=
stronger ones that have lots of citric acid work well on glass. not so well on acrylic, and will dissolve metal.
Acitone-
works good on glass with no paint or other dissolvable stuff. it takes it right off. its fingernail polish remover. it cracks acrylic. pour a bottle in your crylic piece and see what happens. you wont like it. and metal absorbs the taste of it
Denture tabs –
havent tried it, but its logical.
Boiling water- WARNING if your pipe is not borosilicate or PYREX glass, it WILL stressfracture, if not completely shatter into hot ass shards of glass. but it works.
420beads
not sure if thats what its called, but they work amazing with alcohol, and there cleanable/reuable. they have a little dull blade like ridge around it, think saturn, and it scrapes em clean, only for water pipes tho