Easier way to clean bong bowls?

[feral]

I dropped this tip in a thread a little while back, but will mention it here too - the Barbicide jars that barbers use for scissors and stuff make a great device for soaking bowls and slides, as they have a cup at the bottom that pulls right up. 20 bucks at your local barber supply store or online

+1. We use those at 2 of the animal shelters I work at to soak our medical instruments in in the exam rooms. Drop em in, soak, pull em up and rinse. No fuss no hassle

 

[MoldyFrogToe]

Last time I boiled alcohol, it burst into flames!!

Be careful heating alcohol!

Just curious, did you do it on the stove or was this in a microwave? It certainly can happen in a microwave but never had it actually happen. Small amounts are safe far as I'm concerned! The stove would be another story though.

 

[MoldyFrogToe]

I always use the salt/alcohol combo. But my girl has recently started soaking everything in Simply Green. It's some cleaning product from the grocery store. She just soaks it in there for a day or two and rinses it. Swears on it... but I'm sticking with my salt/alcohol.

I love the feeling of a fresh, clean bowl. All my pieces hit so much smoother when they're clean.

This is by far the safest, cheapest, most reliable and environmentally friendly way to do it up. Bottled up bowl cleaning solution is a complete and total ripoff, marketing gimmicks. Might take a little longer but that's about it. Totally worth it.

 

[LolaGal]

I have not found better than 91%...where are you getting the 99% stuff?? I wanna know!!
Alcohol is the only way to go to clean pieces-- Cheapest and best--

Radio Shack!!

Plus they had it at my local farm store





MFT: It was on the stove, the minute the alcohol goes boiling, BOOM. Then you get a nice flame about 3 feet tall. Alcohol don't like boiling temps at all. don't know about microwave, but if it boils it will BLOW...

 

[Anita Bonghit]

the easiest way to clean glass ware is to put it in boiling water and rotate it

 

[clp]

This is by far the safest, cheapest, most reliable and environmentally friendly way to do it up. Bottled up bowl cleaning solution is a complete and total ripoff, marketing gimmicks. Might take a little longer but that's about it. Totally worth it.

That is complete crap..
I am a long time glass user and owner of very high end glass.
Grunge Off is the way to go - hands down.
It's true that rubbing alcohol works but if you want to clean as often or as well as I typically do it's just not effecient or cheaper than grunge off.

My bottle of GO will last 6 months to a year! In that time I'd use 50+ bottles of rubbing alcohol. WAY more expensive than the $15 bottle of GO.

Grunge off is FAR from a marketing gimmick.

 

[MaynardG_Krebs]

heat your glass with hot water + heat your iso alc in the microwave till it boils and use that. heat = much faster cleaning

I'm sure someone else beat me to this, but I gotta do it anyway! ARE YOU NUTS!?!?!?... Boiling alcohol is just insane.. burn your house down before you can blink an eye.. sheeeesh..

mgk <---(trying to put out alcohol fire)

 

[MaynardG_Krebs]

Ok.. I'm off my bandwagon..

The whole reason I searched this topic was because I was out of alcohol for cleaning my glass. I was looking for an alternative and spotted my bottle of Listerine mouthwash. It did not work as fast as alcohol, but it sure did work and it worked very well! Plus, it left my piece with very fresh breath! First couple hits have a bit of 'menthol' thing goin on, but it didn't last for more than a toke or two. Vodka works pretty well too, but that's kinda crazy (if you like vodka anyway).

mgk

 

[Guest50138]

hot water and washing powder ,soak for 10 minutes and flush well

 

[ZoSo]

The bong get's the alcohol/salt washing. The bowl gets a minor cleaning.

I just use a bobby pin to slide out the gooey stuff from the stem (pipe cleaner would probably work better). Then I flip the bowl upside down, heat it with a flame, and scrape the caked resin off with a small pocket knife.

I don't like to get my bowls looking like they were brand new because it just wastes weed. I need a little residual resin to keep the weed stuck in there. Even with a glass screen.

 

[Hammerhead]

these days you have to use a liquide cleaner to get all the spaces clean.

 

[Prof Sublime]

ISO 91%, kosher salt, and pipe cleaners. You dont need anything else, that is waste of money. The pipe cleaners are in the crafts section, normally with kiddy stuff.

 

[BPJR]

I have found the higher the % of alcohol the better. I use at least 91% if not he 99%. Makes all the difference.

Though you can typically buy about 3 bottles of the 91% for the price of the 99%. Also I have found Epson salt works better than table salt for an agitator.

 

[Magic Man]

Use Oxyclean myself, gets them clean as a whistle

 

[SuperHemp]

My bong and bowl is always crystal clean, i only use boiling water and dishwasher soap (powdered detergent with added oxidation agent). I do wash every day i use it though, if you have lots of gunk buildup inside a double glass bowl you'll need several washes or alcohol+agitator (i prefer vermiculite over salt, it doesn't dissolve).