Here’s How To Properly Clean Your Bowl Before You Smoke Weed

When you smoke out of a bowl for the very first time, it's a completely clean vessel that makes smoking as enjoyable as possible. However, with continued use over time, it becomes clogged and dirtied by resin, aka the sticky byproduct that forms in the pipe after you smoke. Resin is made up of marjuana as well as ash and tar, which can be harmful for you to breathe in given it can be a home to bacteria. Gross. As well, it can alter the taste of your weed, which takes away from the overall experience. Chances are you’re wondering how to clean your bowl in order to remove the resin.

While you probably know you can boil your glassware to disinfect it, this isn't always the most effective strategy, not to mention that it can also be difficult to do given its tedious nature. For example, you may have to repeat the steps quite a few times in order to fully clean your bowl. As well, you risk burning yourself or even breaking your pipe.

Luckily, the boiling method isn’t your only option. You can achieve better results by using a couple household products you probably already have on hand. To find out more, Elite Daily talked to Spencer Ekl, an Operations Manager at Gage Cannabis in Harrison, Michigan to get the details on everything you’ll need to know about getting your bowl as clean as possible, as easily as possible.

How Often Should You Clean Your Bowl?

If you’re wondering how often you should be cleaning your bowl, Ekl says it comes down to the individual.

“I think it is really just preference on how often you clean your bowl. The longer it is in between cleanings, the more resin that will build up inside,” Ekl says. “This can affect the taste of the weed and also sometimes cause the bowl to clog if it gets really built up in there. I would say that once a month is a sufficient time period to clean your bowl.”

What You Need to Clean Your Bowl:

To clean your bowl, you'll need to gather three main items:

• One sealable plastic bag
• Sea salt or table salt
• Isopropyl alcohol (70 to 99%)

Keep in mind, It’s important that the isopropyl alcohol is above 70% as the higher percentages can help you clean the bowl more efficiently.

“70-90% Isopropyl alcohol is superior to lower levels of isopropyl because it does a better, faster job of breaking down and washing out the resin from the bowl,” Ekl says.

In addition, the more salt you use, the quicker your bowl will become clean. Ekl usually uses around a spoonful to do so. However, you can use more as necessary, depending on the job at hand.

Step 1: Let It Soak

To start, place your bowl inside of the plastic bag, and put it down on a flat surface. Fill the bag with the isopropyl alcohol until the entire bowl is submerged in the liquid. Add around a spoonful of your salt of choice to act as an abrasive, and then let the pipe sit for about two hours.

After a few hours, the resin in the pipe will have been weakened. This is where step 2 comes into play.

Step 2: Shake It Up

Next, it’s time to shake things up. Literally. Pick up the bowl inside the bag and shake it vigorously for about five minutes. This will further loosen the resin so it is forced out of the pipe and into the bag instead.

“This does a great job at getting all of the resin out of there and leaves it looking as good as new,” Ekl says.

Step 3: Remove, Rinse, And Dry

If your pipe is clean enough for use, simply remove it from the bag and wash it in warm, soapy water. Dispose of the alcohol carefully, as the resin it has removed will stain anything it touches. Wipe the bowl with a towel, and let it sit until fully dry.

If you feel your bowl isn’t clean enough to use, Ekl says simply repeating the aforementioned steps will do the trick. Once you’re done, go forth and enjoy your clean bowl.

Expert Cited:

Spencer Ekl, Operations Manager at Gage Cannabis USA