Deep Cleaning "Grey Matter" in Second Perk

[ThaHolocaugh]

Hey guys,

This is my first post (hooray!), I've never been a member of anything like this site but I'm optimistic... Let's see if I can get an answer to a question that's puzzled me forever about resin build up in double-perking bongs.

Over time, "Chip Tha Ripper" (my beloved double-perking bong) has built up an ashy grey matter in his second perc. In living in a frat for four years, I've seen how nasty bongs can get so I'm proud to say that throughout his entire two-year lifespan, I have stuck to a strict cleaning regiment of once every four to five days with 92% rubbing alcohol & salt. Despite relentless efforts on two separate occasions this light amount of resin has built up in the second perculation chamber (the downstem-neck broke when someone knocked him over once and after I got a new joint put on by a local bong-fixer, he was immaculately clean as well as FIXED!). I just can't get it out no matter what I try!

Side note: I also have a single-perking HBG bong that had this same phenomenon occur- grey matter build-up just below the ice-catcher but with a soft brush and light bristle (hookah cleaning tool) it came off rather easily with hot water. I've also tried this method with several of my friends' single-perking bongs with identical successes. But seeing as there is no way to get a brush through the five little holes in Chip's dome-perk, I'm struggling to come up with a solution to my problem. I've used Formula-420 to no avail as well as Orange Chronic; though they leave the bong smelling with less of isopropyl alcohol, they cannot get this grime out- even with repeated soakings (I don't typically SOAK the bongs)

SOOOO does anybody have a solution, I'm wondering if I should try GrungeOff... I've included pictures of exactly what I'm talking about. Thanks guys!

 

[J.R.R.Tokin']

Try soaking with washing powder and water over night. Just make sure you pour in a little water first and mix it up before pouring in more. Give it 12 hours and then do your usual ISO soak after.

I do this on my 10-arm tree perc when they get gunked from me using oils. It works a treat ime.

 

[beEasy]

Ah, the damn splash guard.. I hate cleaning mine too. This is how I clean mine.. Take some Simple Green/Grudge Off and pour it in to your bong. Now grab a bucket or something because you need to flip your bong upside-down. This will cause the SG/GO to fill up the splash guard and the rest will drain out of your bong into the bucket. Once your splash guards full, let it sit for a while and come back give it a quick shaking and dump it out. This usually does the trick for me but mines not as built-up as yours. Welcome to FC by the way.

 

[Nycdeisel]

Vinegar.

Let it soak on the affected area overnight. shake several times.

Unless its resin, then youll need some Grunge Off.

Thats a dome perc btw, not a splash guard.

 

[beEasy]

Vinegar.

Let it soak on the affected area overnight. shake several times.

Unless its resin, then youll need some Grunge Off.

Thats a dome perc btw, not a splash guard.

You're right, it looks like the splash guard on my bong. I should have read through the OP's post.

 

[ThaHolocaugh]

Try soaking with washing powder and water over night. Just make sure you pour in a little water first and mix it up before pouring in more. Give it 12 hours and then do your usual ISO soak after.

I do this on my 10-arm tree perc when they get gunked from me using oils. It works a treat ime.

washing powder? what do you mean

 

[Nycdeisel]

Could also be some buildup from all the salt. if the salt just gets caked into the resin, kinda looks like that.

Grunge Off will get it off, IF its just resin stuffs. But if its a mineral buildup/hard water stain then youll need vinegar and with the vinegar it MUST BE SOAKED and for quite a while in order for it to dissolve this buildup. I suggest giving it a 24 hour soak, shaking occasionally. DO NOT USE salt since it wont help and may just contribute to the problem.

Use a good quality, clean filtered water when you use it. Use the same water as a final rinse after youre done rinsing with the tap , dump that out and refill with the good water for use.

 

[Nycdeisel]

Washing powder is basically powdered laundry detergent. I dont see how that would work. You need to either
A) clean the resin off
B) dissolve and remove the mineral buildup(aka hard water stains)
depending which it is. it could be both of those things in which case youll need to dissolve the hard layer of buildup before you can reach the resin which youll clean off with ISO or Grunge off(aka GO)

 

[ThaHolocaugh]

just making sure- vinegar is not bad for glass right?

 

[Nycdeisel]

 

[Nycdeisel]

That means yes^

 

[J.R.R.Tokin']

NYCD knows her stuff so it's super sound advice. If it's a mineral build-up caused by water the vinegar is defo the best and as D said - the longer the better, especially with a tough stain and yours looks like a brute.

I use the detergent to eat away at stubborn resin patches if an ISO rinse isn't enough. I find it works - I guess in much the same way it removes crap from your clothes. Probably not the best thing for your glass but each to their own

 

[beEasy]

Could also be some buildup from all the salt. if the salt just gets caked into the resin, kinda looks like that.

Grunge Off will get it off, IF its just resin stuffs. But if its a mineral buildup/hard water stain then youll need vinegar and with the vinegar it MUST BE SOAKED and for quite a while in order for it to dissolve this buildup. I suggest giving it a 24 hour soak, shaking occasionally. DO NOT USE salt since it wont help and may just contribute to the problem.

Use a good quality, clean filtered water when you use it. Use the same water as a final rinse after youre done rinsing with the tap , dump that out and refill with the good water for use.

JRR's right, you really know your stuff NYCD Do you think a vinegar soak can remove a label? My labels already chipping off and I don't want it to come off entirely just yet.. but I do have some nasty hard water stains I've been wanting to get rid of.

 

[ThaHolocaugh]

Thanks for your help NYCD and everyone else too! I'm totally paranoid about this bong its my baby so I'm just making sure. Considering trying it right now its pretty late though haha

 

[beEasy]

Thanks for your help NYCD and everyone else too! I'm totally paranoid about this bong its my baby so I'm just making sure. Considering trying it right now its pretty late though haha

Make sure you post pics of it when your done cleaning

 

[Nycdeisel]

^definitely! Pics will be required upon returning to this thread

You are welcome it is no problem. I have had to deal with a lot of buildup issues in my glass, since the tap water here is very hard. I have found a way to actually completely PREVENT hard water stains, using an organic liquid castile soap as a post wash after using GO or iso to clean the herbal residue away. You can also give it several sprays of vinegar from a spray bottle and just shake/swirl that around for a moment, and rinse it out, before or after the soap postwash. gives it a great clear sprakle!

I have had GO eat away labels on downstems before, but its little by little, over time and it takes a while. kind of discovered this on accident, haha

 

[beEasy]

I have had GO eat away labels on downstems before, but its little by little, over time and it takes a while. kind of discovered this on accident, haha

Yeah, tell me about it :/

 

[ThaHolocaugh]

Okay so got some Vinegar (diluted down to 4%/ 40 grains if that makes any difference...) and Chip is soaking. Attached are some pics; the second perk is filled up to just below the ice-catcher with said vinegar if you can't quite see it in pic. The reason he's not upside down is because of the red rubber plug I bought online for cleaning (it's better than a glass one because it's not liable to fly out and smash into something important while cleaning). The entire dome is submerged in vinegar (and the downstem has obviously been removed) so I hope this works- I'll definitely post an update with more pics regardless of the outcome
-j

 

[ThaHolocaugh]

Sooooo I know it hasn't been 24 hours but I can tell that the resin isn't being eaten off. I'm currently calling my local head shops trying to see who has the cheapest GrungeOff so I can go buy it here in a bit (luckily they're all within walking distance); I'll post pics of Chip once I try the GrungeOff. I would like to say that on the bright side, I'm very pleased with how superbly the vinegar removes water stains!! VERY cool NYCD. As you can see in the pics below, the resin is still there but just below the ice-catcher there's a line where my bong is remarkably clean and sparkly!

BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON!

 

[ThaHolocaugh]

p.s.s. Right below the words "2nd perk" it looks like there's still foggy stuff below the ice-catcher but that's actually stuff on the outside from my hands that needs to be Windexed off.

 

[Nycdeisel]

Ew windex is fucking disgusting. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK all those nasty toxic commercial cleaners. use things like vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, castile soap, and hydrogen peroxide to CLEAN AND SANITIZE your whole house.

the outside of it should have been cleaned long ago.

Are you positive that isnt just colored glass???


Cool. and theres only that line cause you didnt fill the whole entire tube.
use castile soap to PREVENt all hard water stains in the future.

My routine is;
soak in GO like normal, for less then a half hour usually.
Dump that back in the bottle, rinse ALL GO out of the glass.
Pour in several drops of soap, or enough for suds to cover ALL of the inside of the tube.
Put in alittle water and shake , making sure the suds cover and moe all over every part of the inside surface. Rinse it out. DONE. Then you just do a final rinse with a good filtered water , and if you have a huge stain problem. Just spary and cover the inside with vinegar either before or after using the soap, and rinse it all out before the final rinse.
The water here is really fucking hard and since I have been doing all of this for each cleaning, I have ELIMINATED any problems i had had with mineral buildup.

I didnt even use the vinegar regularly for a while with the spray before or after the soap, so just the soap prevents it. Love it.

 

[jackmormon]

nycdeisel,

When you mention castile soap is this something like Dr. Bronners?

 

[Nycdeisel]

It is exactly Dr Bronners. I love that stuff, I use it for everything haha

I just know there are other brands of castile soap, but organic is best obviously, such as is the case with Dr Bs
I have not tried any other kind of it, so use this type for best results, and the scent doesnt make a difference, the plain unscented one will work the same as the others that are scented with essential oils.

Its so great that these stains can be completely prevented because once they take hold and build up they are some stubborn motherfuckers.

 

[ThaHolocaugh]

the dirty stuff I was referring too is "sticky nasties" from my dirty hands on the outside of the bong (yes they've already been washed off). I never put windex in my bong- ESPECIALLY Chip Tha Ripper (he's my all-time favorite). I've tried this lemon-based resin/glue remover used for getting arts & crafts off tables in preschools (it's non-toxic and can be swallowed by silly little 3-6 year olds) but only in someone else's bong haha. The grunge off has been in since 4pm before work today; it'll remain until noon or so (after class tomorrow) when I'll iso/salt it and then wash it out with hot (now filtered) water; the resin stains are a lot better in the perk but as of this wee hour of 3:00 they are still there though they are markedly less prominent/visible. In the future, I'll be filling up a gallon jug once or so a week to fill my bong(s) with filtered water that won't leave hard/soft water stains in my glass. As far as cleaning in the future goes, luckily my house (a frat) has a filtered-water machine that has a button for hot AND cold water (convenient right!?)- too bad I'm moving out soon... When I get my own place and no longer have to clean my glass at strange hours of the night in the name of 'discretion' I will definitely be using that soap method so thanks NYCD.

On a separate note, is (nice/quality) glass really really expensive in NY like the trees are? I've actually never been and have been meaning to for quite some time....

 

[Nycdeisel]

No problem. I tried the soap myself not knowing how it would work but I was thinking it might since I knew it softens water. And now after several months of using that method, hard water stain/mineral buildup is a thing of the past!
Just cleaned my glass in fact

Well I do buy some of my glass online, which is how i got my last few pieces. Theres really only one really good high end headshop in the city which I do go to but its difficult for me to find a piece that fits my style and size. The prices are not crazy or anything. Obviously you can usually find better deals online as with everything...

I dont actually rinse with filtered water. I do all rinsing with the tap UNTIL I am done and everything has been thoroughly rinsed out. Then I just do one final rinse with filtered water and shake that up in the glass for a minute or two. Then I dump that and pour in more filtered water for using it. Then its ready for action

P.s: You made it sound like you would add iso to the piece that has the GO residue in it, which hopefully you wont be doing, just read a little weird. so just checking

have a nice day man


edit: oh yea and I always give the entire outside of the piece a quick wash with the soap