How do I get these hard water deposits off my pipe? I need a brush!

[Carbon]

Alcohol and salt hasn't worked. I think I posted about this in another thread. I let it soak in alcohol for days, but that doesn't make any difference (2nd cleaning too). From what I've read, white vinegar is the next thing to try out, but I feel as though that won't work either without some sort of friction to get rid of stuff. Are there any good "bong brushes" or something that works similarly? I was able to get some of the gunk off the beaker base area with a toothbrush that I stuck down the hole where the downstem goes in, but I can barely reach any of it as the toothbrush is straight and rigid, but I know that it works for that. How do I get something down in there to scrub this stuff off?

 

[OC513]

most head shops sell wire "bong" brushes in many different sizes. If the stains do not come out get yourself some CLR (calcium, lime, rust remover) and that will remove anything.......just keep it away from the label on your piece as it will remove that as well.

 

[OO]

the great thing about glass is that only things like hydrofluoric acid will etch it, so feel free to use anything without fluorine in it.

 

[SmokingElectricity]

boiling water, dawn dish soap and half a cup of bleach. let soak for and hour.

rinse REALLY REALLY WELL.

 

[Survivalism]

Only thing i was ever able to get hard water stains off with was white wine vinegar ( i believe.. not 100% been awhile ) and salt, clean just like with iso and salt and it cleans right up.

 

[Nycdeisel]

Get some white distilled vinegar, and fill up your piece, and let it soak for at least a few hours, overnight is best.

After the soak, dump that nasty ass vinegar and rinse WITH BOTTLED OR FILTERED WATER or the stains will show right up again once it dries. Be sure to still rinse thoroughly, though.

I have seen big long brushes in headshops for this purpose, but I never used one cause I dont want to scratch my glass.

I use Grunge Off Super Soaker for all my pieces. I just soak it for about 20 minutes, then rinse it and Im done, in that amount of time it did a decent job with the hard water stains, but longer soak would have done better.

 

[DaProfessor]

It is possible or mineral stains to permanently attach to the glass. It's happened to a couple of my pieces. Once that happens, the only things that will remove it will also start attacking the glass. There are a couple solutions that will only attack the calcium, but they are also carcinogenic.

The active ingredient in CLR is bleach. So if you have unscented bleach, you can also try that. I really feel that the best way to prevent any staining is to drop in a denture tablet into your piece every few uses. It contains multiple stain fighting and preventing agents. It also removes odors and sanitizes it. You also really want the final rinse of your glass to be with distilled water or something that will not leave any residue, usually some sort of alcohol.

 

[Carbon]

Thanks for the info. I need to go to the store and will get some distilled white vinegar. Most of the deposits seem to be from melting ice from the water back down in Los Angeles. The water up here in Portland is quite clean and I don't believe will leave much of any residue.