TigoleBitties
Big and Bouncy
Have to agree here. You can reduce any risk to zero by only using water.
I hear you. I respect that people have their reasons.
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Is there a better, easier, safer way of cleaning glass? I don't think so.
- Thread starter Spy Car
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Spy Car
Well-Known Member
Have to agree here. You can reduce any risk to zero by only using water.
I hear you. I respect that people have their reasons.
You are a good egg.
Bill
RustyOldNail
SEARCH for the treasure...
Indeed!
My logic is, I have no difficulties keeping any of my glass rigs and accessories healthily clean, using a variety of products and techniques. So I don’t feel the need to add anything to my distilled water in my rigs. Cleaning more OFTEN is my “key”, as well is keeping things as simple as possible …..
CANtalk
Well-Known Member
Yes, PBW & hot water is a far better easier safer way of cleaning glass. I found it superior to using ISO and much cheaper as well.
Spy Car
Well-Known Member
Rodney
Well-Known Member
Yes, PBW & hot water is a far better easier safer way of cleaning glass. I found it superior to using ISO and much cheaper as well.
Me too for my main small bong. I wear rubber gloves and use the hot water tap and it gets steamy hot. It washes all the gunk off easy and the only problem is some stains end up on the sink but most of it goes right down. I then use a metal scouring pad to get rid of the stains and clean the sink. I do not put the plug in the sink and just keep running the hot hot water until it is all clean and most of the gunk just goes straight down the plug hole as the water is so hot but a little does get on the sink.
I make sure to plunge the sink every now and then and use some drain cleaner to make sure it is never getting blocked.
The thing is when you use ISO you need to rinse it with hot water anyways and not all of it comes off so you need to run more hot water on it and the ISO stinks and costs money and I just prefer the water way.
I only use iso for smaller parts and use a zip lock bag and squirt a tiny amount in.
With the stem for my TM2 I can position it so the water goes threw it and then goes direct down the plug hole without even going near the sink. This is my easiest part to clean without any mess at all just because of the shape of the stem.
Spy Car
Well-Known Member
I will say is that with the Sous Vide method all the gunk comes off, so no extra cleaning efforts are needed, and that's with 93% Iso.
And I am able to successfully reuse Iso. Makes it economical.
The PBW sounds interesting. I'll check my local brew shop.
Bill
My hose cleaning works on bongs I did not use anything but water in (before I picked up the cranny/lemon trick here on FC)...I just had to clean them every day instead of every second day now with the additives. I have PBW but have not had a need to use it...yet.
pop22
Well-Known Member
I picked up some PBW but I'm not sure how much to use.Yes, PBW & hot water is a far better easier safer way of cleaning glass. I found it superior to using ISO and much cheaper as well.
CANtalk
Well-Known Member
Enough to cover it in water, i use ~1.5 tsp per quart hot water, stirred in & mixed welI. Let sit for 10 minutes, drain, rinse & repeat. 1-2X more & it sparkles w/ zero residue.
If I can use an ultrasonic cleaner, it cuts that down to 2-3 cycles of 8 minutes with the same PBW ratio, just a second smaller scoop added for the 2nd cycle.
CANtalk
Well-Known Member
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ADULTSWIM
All Kids Outta The Pool!
My end game solution for cleaning is a little expensive at first but pays off over time. Get a sonic cleaner. A industrial sonic cleaner with a heating function will strip any and all imperfections off of your glass with just water. No soap or chemicals needed. It even brings back bangers that i have torched to death. The only complaint that i have is that the cleaner is noisy when in use. Obviously not all bongs will fit but so many more things will. If you mainly use glass stems to smoke then a sonic cleaner is perfect.
Spy Car
Well-Known Member
I also purchased some PBW to clean my stems. I need to do more experimentation, but thus far the results are far inferior to using the sous vide method with warm iso.
I was also informed by the brew shop that they have experienced glass becoming permanently etched and cloudy if the concentrations of PBW were too high or the soak time was too long.
These issues are evidently acknowledged by the manufacturers, who were contacted by the brew shop after they had glassware damaged after using PBW.
I'm open to more experimenting, but so far warm iso remains my preference for ease of use, being safe for glass, and pure effectiveness. Much cleaner results than PBW in preliminary testing.
Bill
I was also informed by the brew shop that they have experienced glass becoming permanently etched and cloudy if the concentrations of PBW were too high or the soak time was too long.
These issues are evidently acknowledged by the manufacturers, who were contacted by the brew shop after they had glassware damaged after using PBW.
I'm open to more experimenting, but so far warm iso remains my preference for ease of use, being safe for glass, and pure effectiveness. Much cleaner results than PBW in preliminary testing.
Bill
If using PBW shorter soak times are highly recommended as I have also heard of peeps etching glass with it. The heated ultrasonic cleaner should outperform a sous vide as it warms the same but also has ultrasonic waves to help.
I have also not had any success with ISO on scorched/charred bangers and find SimpleGreen works pretty well but I would use DC cleaner if it was available here in Oz (and was cheap enough) as many have said how good it is here on the forum.
I plug the bong outlet with a silicone plug, fill the bong with iso or SimpleGreen, and stand it upright in the bath, the waves will travel up out of the cleaner inside the bong to work its magic.
Spy Car
Well-Known Member
If using PBW shorter soak times are highly recommended as I have also heard of peeps etching glass with it. The heated ultrasonic cleaner should outperform a sous vide as it warms the same but also has ultrasonic waves to help.
I have also not had any success with ISO on scorched/charred bangers and find SimpleGreen works pretty well but I would use DC cleaner if it was available here in Oz (and was cheap enough) as many have said how good it is here on the forum.
I plug the bong outlet with a silicone plug, fill the bong with iso or SimpleGreen, and stand it upright in the bath, the waves will travel up out of the cleaner inside the bong to work its magic.
It is hard for me to imagine that the ultrasonic machine would "outperform" the sous vide method, as everything I've cleaned in the sous vide/iso method has been absolutely pristine afterward.
Assuming the results are equally good, I already own a sous vide circulator that I use for culinary purposes (to very excellent effect). Adding an ultrasonic cleaner would mean giving up precious space to store what--for me--would be a device with very limited utility otherwise.
I trust you that the ultrasonic cleaners work well, and if one has the storage space and/or other uses for such a device, it might make sense.
Otherwise, the sous vide method works exceptionally for me, while employing a device that I will always have in my arsenal.
Bill
That makes perfect sense...if you already own a device that works that well. My every other day routine means I rarely have to use the ultrasonic cleaner. I have a hose on my hot water tap in my laundry that I simply jam in the end of a bong to flush (so not even ISO is needed). I use cranny extract with citric acid in the bong water so very easy to blast clean...as long as I am not slack and flush every other day. I actually clean 1 bong per day, as I usually have 2 rigs on the go, one for concentrates and one for herb.
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pop22
Well-Known Member
Fortunately for me, I only use my bong with a vape. I clean it once a week with ISO. I fill it 1/2 full and give it a good shake and done. The UC I got is small, only holds maybe a cup and a half of water. It is perfect for vape parts and I have several vapes and the stems for the Arizer Air and Solo 2 are the hardest to clean unless you fuss with the every day and I'm just not interested in doing it that way. Once a week is plenty IMO. ISO bath for most vape parts works well enough. I'll be doing all the parts today in the UC with some hot water and a little PBW.
ADULTSWIM
All Kids Outta The Pool!
The sonic cleaner will outperform the sous in the that it doesn't need any chemicals to work. With just water, heat and abrasive waves it will clean anything. In fact its so good that it stripped a bong of the decals when i first got it and didn't know any better. You can use it with ISO/chemical and it will work faster. The sonic cleaner is not very large and doesn't take up a lot of space. I use my sonic cleaner to clean just about everything around the house. A SC also doesn't need to use heat to clean your items which could warp under high temps. I would say the only real upside of a sous over a SC is that you can change the container size and go for larger items.
If you already have a Sous then getting a sonic cleaner just for clean glass seems silly. But if you don't, then I would go with the product that has the function of cleaning in its name.
Spy Car
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure that I'd equate not using chemicals like alcohol with "outperforming," if we are talking about the end results.
Sous vide with Iso leaves glass pristeen.
I do get what you are saying about only needing water, and that is a fair point. If one has the space and/or other uses for an ultrasonic cleaner, I would not discourage anyone from using one. I don't love using Iso myself, truth told. If space wasn't an issue (it is) I might get one myself.
I think I'll always have a sous vide circulator for cooking purposes, so why not make my life easy? Warm iso works light-years better than room-temp iso.
These both seem like reasonable options. Folks can settle the advantages/disadvantages of the hardware for themselves.
I'd just suggest to those who have a sous vide circulator to see how well this method cleans residue off glass.
Bill
CurryLeafTreehugger
Well-Known Member
Why use isopropyl when you can use Everclear or cheap vodka even (I use Tuaca because I LIKE Tuaca). That stem reclaim is pretty awesome.
Assuming you've been keeping the ABV out of your stem. Is why I like superfine 100 mesh screens.
As for whether or not lemon water or citric acid will give you deadly bong water vapors, I guess if you're worried about that you'd best never burn a candle, or incense, or squirt some Febreeze around, or breathe around air fresheners or while cooking ... there are much more important things to worry about.
Assuming you've been keeping the ABV out of your stem. Is why I like superfine 100 mesh screens.
As for whether or not lemon water or citric acid will give you deadly bong water vapors, I guess if you're worried about that you'd best never burn a candle, or incense, or squirt some Febreeze around, or breathe around air fresheners or while cooking ... there are much more important things to worry about.
CANtalk
Well-Known Member
There are many reasonably good cleaning methods. Funny seeing PBW described as capable of pitting glass (it definitely can) but that it doesn't clean as well as ISO 
.
. Ultrasonic cleaners have been used a number of ways on FC, as noted earlier many go with PBW & hot water in it.
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Hippie
Well-Known Member
You can just use hot water in the ultrasonic .... and you can reclaim a blob of reclaim from there, if you like
I generally just use a little dish soap in the water tho and forget the reclaim (after I've watched some of it dance it's way out lol)
And soak the pieces I can't clean easily with my bendy brush collection with denture cleaning tablets and oxy clean to keep the bubbles going
I generally just use a little dish soap in the water tho and forget the reclaim (after I've watched some of it dance it's way out lol)
And soak the pieces I can't clean easily with my bendy brush collection with denture cleaning tablets and oxy clean to keep the bubbles going
Spy Car
Well-Known Member
Iso is far less expensive that heavily-taxed spirits. Especially the cheap 93 Iso, which absolutely fine for the sous vide method.
I'm not one to spray my home with Febreeze nor do I huff air fresheners. You do you. LOL
Bill