Removing Water Stains / Mineral Build Up (Not Resin) From Glass

[BL4ZE]

Hey could anyone recommend some ways to get my glass clean? The first nice tube I bought is all foggy looking where the water level sits/bubbles. I've tried letting it soak in grunge off for a day but no luck
Just looking for some suggestions..

Modnote: The following 5 posts were split into their own thread.

 

[Nycdeisel]

Thats mineral build up(aka hard water stains). Is this the first time cleaning the piece since you got it? if so that could explain why. having water sit in it most of time will easily create these stains at your water line.

It can be removed using white distilled vinegar, BUT it must soak for a while and then get scrubbed off. shaking salt in it with the vinegar may work after its soaked for long enough(depends on how stained your glass is, but I suggest at least a full day, maybe two, of just soaking.

 

[BL4ZE]

Thanks for the reply Nyc. It's not the first time i've cleaned this piece, the problem was not cleaning it enough in the beginning. It was only after getting my EFS piece that I realized how dirty my Sgw really was.
I now soak my pieces after 1-2 days of use to hopefully keep this from happening.
Anyways i'll have to give the white vinegar a shot, hopefully it'll take care of the water stains.

 

[hereatlast]

Hey BL4ZE, I think Nycdeisel got you started!

Grunge Off is designed specifically for resin buildup, for this reason it provides a great cleaning solution for combustion and vapor alike (Having said that, for me Grunge Off is a little overkill for my vapor-bonging applications...its so easy to stop resin from building up when vaporizing that a long Grunge Off soak isn't always necessary IMO). So, Grunge Off is NOT designed for hardwater stains.

Like Nyc mentioned, it does sound like you've got some hard-water stains. These "deposits" might be calcium, lime etc. coming from your tap water (I would guess you're using tap water here?) If you're looking to get rid of them there are a couple consumer products available that should do the trick:

-CLR: Nasty, toxic stuff that is great for this application. Soak (according to the directions...probably add a little warm water to the solution) and make sure to do a post-soak ISO rinse to rid whatever is left behind from the CLR.
-Cascade: You want the OLD kind of Cascade that's no longer being produced AFAIK for the US market...the powdered kind with phosphates in it. The phosphates are what you're after! If you can find this then I think you'll be all set.
-TSP: If you can't find the older, discontinued Cascade dish-washing detergent then powdered TSP can achieve similar results. After all, the "P" in TSP stands for Phosphates!
-Oxy-Clean: A strong solution, some shaking, then a soak can do wonders.
-White vinegar

Hope that's helpful. Take a trip to the hardware store and at least something in the above list should be on the shelves. Let us know how it goes! And take pics/video of the glass once its clean (or not ).


Also, try distilled water from now on! A recent incident has pushed me to use distilled water when filling and (final) rinsing my pieces and I've certainly noticed a difference. Its so cheap and comes by the gallon its become a no-brainer for me.

 

[BL4ZE]

Very informative post hereatlast thanks for taking the time to type that out. I was thinking it was hard water stains but figured it could also be something else but Nyc and yourself cleared that up.
I'll look into the oxy clean and white vinegar since those should be the most common. They also sound a little safer then that CLR stuff haha.
Distilled water is certainly a good idea but I almost always use hot water from the sink so it'd be pain warming up the water everytime.
Also you can count on a vid being thrown up once she's all clean

 

[Pappy]

Per HAL, white wine vinegar and CLR.

 

[Sour Deez]

iso + salt gets my pieces looking brand spankin new. Takes 30 seconds.

 

[hereatlast]

Iso + salt is great for cleaning but probably won't help remove hard-water stains.

 

[weedemon]

another trick i liek to do is when the bong is dry inside i throw in a bunch of rice or pasta (i actually used steel cut oats) and shake it for an hour or 2 while i watch tv or w/e this did a great job, but was obviously time consuming.

 

[FLskwat]

Vinegar and Brita filtered water + salt should do the trick...

BTW:
http://www.fuckcombustion.com/viewtopic.php?pid=160807#p160807

 

[flotntoke]

Might want to consider using bottled water in your glass, too. I have very hard water and even with softener my glass gets foggy. Any bottled water will do. It won't have the iron, manganese and other hard minerals that fog the glass. Haven't had to try CLR yet, but powdered cascade is good for regular cleaning once you get it sparkly again. Vinegar and cascade took care of my scale/fog when I first noticed it and use bottled water ever since.

My method, FWIW..... A little powdered Cascade with ISO. Shake, shake, shake. The Cascade doesn't really dissolve much in ISO so you get a little abrasion from it (like salt). Add very hot (not boiling, but ouch on your finger) water. Shake, shake, shake. Cascade should dissolve into water. Splash a little around the outside, too. Rinse, rinse, rinse. Then rinse some more. You can taste the Cascade residue with a dry pull until it's all gone, so keep rinsing till that "too clean" chemically taste goes away. Then a good quick rinse with bottled water. Sounds like a lot of work, but not really. 5 minutes maybe, and definitely worth it!

 

[hereatlast]

FWIW, the distilled water I've been buying ranges from 99c to about $1.29 a gallon. At that price it is an easy choice for me.

Good info. re: your cleaning processes flotntoke.

 

[AGBeer]

If you are using glass as well (not plastic) go to your local homebrew store and pick up one of the carboy brushes. I guess this would only be pertinent to a straight tube. You also might be able to get some of those longer mini brushes too. Ive seen em somewhere.

 

[gvape]

I have tried CLR, but it didnt really do the trick for me. Gonna have to try some of the other ideas mentioned. I would love to get rid of those water stains. I guess I may have to start using filtered water, never thought about not using it.

 

[vbeazy]

Just because it hasn't been mentioned, bleach may be an option. I haven't tried it on mineral stains. It can remove nearly anything though.

Vinegar cleaned my hard water stains in minutes.

I use iso+kosher salt to clean, or Simple Green. I want to try Grunge Off. Hot water and kitchen spray hose are always used, sometimes dish soap.

 

[BL4ZE]

Thanks for all the responses everyone.

Agbeer- good point on picking up a brush, i'd be planning on going by the pet store to see what I can find.

Vbeazy- You say your hard water stains cleaned right up with vinegar, did you use anything else with it like salt? I let mine soak in vinegar for a day but no luck. Right now i'm trying vinegar with some salt and shaking it every now and then, gonna do this for a couple days and see if it clears up.

 

[Stu]

I just tried vinegar for the first time as I just cleaned my BW inline. I have always just used iso+salt, and while it works well, it doesn't touch the hard water stains that have developed over time, mostly at the water level area. The vinegar did an excellent job and has removed any remnants of the hard water stains. I did use a toothbrush as well.

Afterward I gave it the more traditional iso+salt treatment and it is looking as spotless as the day I got it.

 

[SD_haze]

So you dont have to clean the vinegar out at all if you do an iso wash right after?

 

[Stu]

I just dumped the vinegar and poured in the iso.

I took a picture as I was so pleased with the results.

 

[Nycdeisel]

I am glad the vinegar worked well for you. i still have a lot of stains to remove from my little straight tube ...
how did you use the toothbrush??

 

[Stu]

The stains that were most noticable were at the water level of the downstem, so I just stuck my toothbrush down the stem. I really don't know if this was necessary or not to be honest, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

 

[Lexusaurus]

i better start using bottled water lol good looks ppl!

 

[SD_haze]

you want distilled water dont you?

bottled water isnt distilled its chuck full 'o' minerals


my stem in my only bong has been stuck for number of days now, making me really want a stemless piece

 

[Mr. Smoke No More]

I work in an analytical laboratory. The principle behind removing the white build up in your water pipes is to redissolve the minerals deposited on the glass. These minerals built up from hard water, usually Ca Mg Na, require and acidic solution (or some other mineral solvent) to help them get back into solution. This is why the vinegar works, it is a 5% (usually) acetic acid solution. However, vinegar is a fairly weak acid, and so only works moderately well. A good soak or scrub with vinegar should do the trick, however heating the vinegar first with improve this method greatly.

I personally use an acid solution I can make at work, usually 5-20% hydrochloric or nitric acid. Literally dissolves the minerals in a second or 2. Those without access to such acids can buy pH down, which is usually nitric or phosphoric acid. Dilute to around 10% and just shake it in the pipe for a minute. WEAR GLOVES!!! Acid is corrosive to you as well. If Ure real lazy, just pour concentrated acid through it and it will dissolve minerals on contact. Rinse well afterwards with distilled water and your pipe should look good as new!!

 

[vtac]

Good info, MSNM. Thanks!

Most grocery stores carry a 7% vinegar sold for pickling as well. It's typically around the same price so might be worth a shot if you're going to go that route.

Also, try distilled water from now on! A recent incident has pushed me to use distilled water when filling and (final) rinsing my pieces and I've certainly noticed a difference. Its so cheap and comes by the gallon its become a no-brainer for me.