When it comes to smoking, one of the preferable choices among all useful materials are hand blown glass. Whether it is a sherlock pipe, a spoon pipe, a bubbler, or a bong, there is a high tendency of getting it dirty after some time of using it to smoke. This is due to the accumulation of smokes or burnt materials over time.
Not only that the airflow of these materials could be clogged, but the taste will not be as fresh as it could be. More so, the clogged airflow could promote the growth of unwanted materials such as molds and bacteria. Thus, making it extremely hazardous to health. This is why it is highly essential that you know how to clean your bubbler after use.
Cleaning a bubbler has a universal method, which includes soaking, scrubbing, and so forth. However, there are specific options in cases where you are unsure of what the bubbler is soaked in. Ultimately, the best approach to this is to accurately identify the contents of the bubbler.
Apart from that, cleaning these kinds of glass pipes depends on your needs, preferences, the materials you have access to, and your most preferred method. Here, we have prepared a quick step-by-step guide on how to clean a bubbler in order to ensure a fresh-out-of-the-box feeling in no distance time at all.
Step-by-Step Bubbler Cleaning Guide
Once you have concluded plans to give your bubbler a fresh out of the box feel, the next step is to get the supplies ready. All that is required is to get a high concentration of isopropyl alcohol. Other materials required include salts, either table or rock salt, something to penetrate the hard-to-reach parts, a Ziploc bag, and a towel or rag to dry it off once you are done with the cleaning. If you want to use a cleaning agent that’s already mixed together and ready to be used, check out our 420 cleaners.
Prepare Your Bubbler for a Deep Clean
During your bubbler cleaning session, one of your primary aims is to ensure that your bubbler is free of any form of loose debris or dry herbs trying to stick around. Pour out the dirty water from the bubbler and rinse both the inside and the outside with warm water. During this step, not all the resins will be eliminated. That is fine. This is an initial step to ensure a clean slate specifically for the deep cleaning you are about to undergo. Just make sure to rinse your bubbler as much as possible.
Create a Solution to Rinse Your Bubbler
After rinsing your bubbler, it is time to create a solution for cleaning. If you already own 420 cleaner, place the bubbler in a Ziploc bag and pour the 420 cleaner inside the bubbler so that you could conveniently shake the bubbler inside the bag.
When making the isopropyl alcohol-based cleaning agent, you will want to get something close to 2:1 of alcohol against the salt solution. If you get something not as precisely as that, do not fret. Ensure that the alcohol is circulated through the nooks and crannies of the bubbler.
The main reason for this step is to loosen up the already dried resins and prepare the bubbler against the next step.
Shake the Bubbler
Of course, this is the fun part of cleaning a bubbler. Shaking! This step requires that you grab your bubbler already filled with the solution in the Ziploc bag and shake vigorously. While you shake, both the isopropyl and the salt component will chip away at the residue and caked on the dry herbs present in the inner part of the bubbler. Apart from that, the inner part of the bubbler will be filled with chunks of debris coming off as the solution continues to get dirtier. Standard rock salt is incredibly larger than normal table salt. So, they tend to do a perfect job by eliminating the most complex of all the residues.
The next thing is to be consistent while shaking until the bubbler is entirely clean. If there are corners or hard to reach spots, you can make use of a pipe cleaner to clean those areas. If your glass is not entirely clean yet, keep it empty and apply the solution again and then shake vigorously. After all, there is no harm in ensuring that your bubbler is as clean as possible.
Bubbler Pipe Cleaners
Here is a list of pipe cleaners for bubblers:
- Rubbing alcohol
- Formula 420 cleaner
- Vinegar
- Salt
- Swap in vodka
- White vinegar plus Epsom salt
- Scraper and so forth
How to Clean a Bubbler with Vinegar
Of course, there is an endless list of options when it comes to methods to clean a bubbler. However, one of the ideal alternatives is water and vinegar. In this method, only about 2 cups of water is required with an equal amount of white vinegar. Apple cider vinegar also works. Other materials needed include a stove, towel, bottle brush, and a saucepan.
In this process, this first step is to add the white vinegar and water with a bubbler into the saucepan. Then, you boil and simmer for an hour. After this, you will discover that the water turns into a dark amber. Then, the next thing is to take the bubbler and swish it underwater. Afterward, you scrub with a bottle brush. Then, you place it under a running tap to wash. Then, dry it with a dry towel. That is all.
How to clean a bubbler with Boiling water- Caution
One of the most efficient and most comfortable ways to clean a bubbler is to use boiling water. As easy as this method is, one needs to take extreme caution about the risk of using boiling water to clean a bubbler. More importantly, this method is not recommended with expensive pieces. This is due to the fact that extreme heat could end up breaking the bubblers.
In order to reduce the risk of cracking, you can make use of hot water with low boiling points. More so, you should keep in mind that sudden switch from hot water to another temperature environment could end up, resulting in cracking of the bubbler. So, it is advised that you should not pull it off hot water and dip in a cold environment or somewhere else.
How to Clean a Glass Bubbler
As we have stated earlier, the steps we have highlighted remain one of the efficient ways to clean your bubbler. One of the most popular types of bubblers is the glass made bubbler. And many of these glass bubblers tend to break during cleaning. This is due to your choice of cleaning method. However, you should take extreme care while dealing with glass bubblers.
How to clean a Silicone Bubbler
Silicone bubblers have been faced with massive popularity in recent times. While these types of bubblers are not only nearly indestructible, they provide other excellent benefits compared to other kinds of bubblers. Silicone bubblers are also available in a wide variety of colors, and they are much easier when it comes to cleaning.
They are often a combination of both glass and silicone, meaning you will need to follow the cleaning appropriate cleaning steps for the glass parts. More so, silicone offers numerous options that allow for disassembling while being easier to clean.
How to Clean Resin out of a Bubbler
Whether you are a fan of bongs, spoon pipes, dab rigs, or bubblers, the chances of getting your piece dirty with frequent use can not be underestimated. Of course, you probably know that a dirty bubbler that harbors resins will restrict the smooth flow of air while also producing a less flavorful, harsher hit. Eventually, you may get this piece clogged completely. This is quite easy to fix as we have described a quick step by step guide earlier. Following those simple steps will eliminate those resins in no distant time at all.
Where to buy Bubbler and Bubbler Cleaner
Bubblers are an extremely popular piece of equipment that allows recreational users to get familiar with the modern way of enjoying their favorite dry herbs while also helping patients determine the perfect route that suits their needs, wants, and purpose.
Bubblers rose into the limelight by combining both portability and ease of use with a smooth and excellent smoking experience. Bubblers are available for purchase in an online vape store, local head shop, or even some random gas stations.
Written By: Dolapo A.
