How to Clean Your Bong with Household Items

Plus, how to keep your bong clean and avoid stains

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: August 24, 2024 Approved

Nothing ruins the taste of a good smoke like a dirty bong. Fortunately, there are some pretty easy and reliable ways to clean your bong both generally and extensively. To make and keep your bong clean, do a basic cleaning, get those tough areas and stains, and take good care of your bong.

Best Way to Clean Bongs

Empty your bong and take the pieces apart, then give them all a rinse in warm water. Add some coarse salt and rubbing alcohol (90% or stronger) into the base of the bong and plug up all the holes. Shake the bong for 5 minutes for the best results, then rinse and repeat until fully clean (if needed).

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Doing a Basic Cleaning

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1
Gather supplies. Before cleaning your bong, you'll need to round up some supplies, including: a sink or basin; coarse salt, rice, or baking soda; rubbing alcohol, vinegar, or another cleaner; clean water; and latex gloves.^{[1]
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- Glass cleaners work great as well. You could use Aqua Glass Works Cleaner or Wellcann Glass Cleaner.
- You can also buy cleaning solutions specifically made for bongs from Headshop. Options include Pink Formula.
While wearing your latex gloves, empty out your bong as well as you can. Pour out old bong water and remove any spent herb. Then give it a good rinse with warm water to remove any remaining solid particles. Finally, fill the bong part way with some of the warm water you're using.

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Take it apart so that the individual pieces can be cleaned. Remove all movable parts, including the pipe and mouthpiece. As you take your bong apart, check for any damage such as chips or cracks. You'll need to replace any damaged pieces before using your bong again.^{[2]
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Add coarse salt and rubbing alcohol to your bong. Next, you'll need to add an abrasive and a cleaner into the base of the bong so that they can work together to clean the inside. Coarse salt and isopropyl alcohol typically work best for this, but you can also use vinegar and rice or baking soda. The stronger the rubbing alcohol, the better. Ideally, you would use one over 90%.
- Alternatively, you can use something like Formula 420, in which case skip the salt. Pour it in and proceed as normal.
Use your hands, fingers, and thumbs to plug or block the open holes of the bong so that your abrasive and cleaner don't cause a big mess. Shake it for about five minutes to get the best possible result.
Empty the cleaning solution into a sink and rinse it out completely with clean water. Repeat the cleaning process as many times as you need to, but once is usually enough.^{[3]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Cleaning Tough Areas and Stains

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Presoak your bong in warm water and dish soap. If your bong is especially dirty, it might be best to soak it in a sink, basin, or bathtub full of warm water and just a squirt of dish soap. Let your bong soak for about an hour or two before you start the cleaning process.^{[4]
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- Be very conservative with the dish soap. If you use too much, your bong might produce an unpleasant soapy aftertaste the next several times you smoke.
Soak small pieces in plastic bags. Put all of the small pieces of your bong into resealable bags with about a tablespoon of coarse salt. Fill the resealable bag with enough rubbing alcohol to completely submerge the pieces. Shake the bags for a few seconds and then let the pieces soak for several minutes. Then, rinse them off with clean water.^{[5]
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Use either plastic cotton swabs or pipe cleaners to scrub around the nooks and crannies of your bong, where resin and water stains are harder to reach and remove. Dip them in a little bit of rubbing alcohol before scrubbing.^{[6]
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To easily remove water stains in your bong, put some warm water and lemon juice in the base and swish it around. Then, rinse your bong out with cold water.^{[7]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Taking Care of Your Bong

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Use filtered water in your bong. The minerals in tap water and unfiltered spring water can cause water stains to form in your bong. To prevent this, always use filtered water when you smoke. It's also a good idea to use filtered water when cleaning your bong, or at least rinse it with filtered water after cleaning.
If you change out your bong water each day, your bong will stay much cleaner. When old water sits in your bong, mold can form. This is pretty gross on its own, but mold also means mold stains, which can make cleaning your bong a more extensive process.^{[8]
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This is another way to keep mold from forming and ultimately avoid getting mold stains. Try to do at least a brief cleaning weekly to keep your bong squeaky clean.^{[9]
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Since your bong is made of glass, it's susceptible to cracking and breaking if you aren't careful. When storing and traveling with your bong, consider keeping it in a protective bag or case to keep anything from happening to it.

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Tips

Also try using baby bottle brushes, nipple brushes, or cotton swabs to get resin out of hard-to-reach places.

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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

Best way to clean a downstem is with a fairly sturdy straw, like a McDonald's straw. Scrape the straw off the insides of the downstem and push all the resin out the bottom, then just toss the straw because you can get another one as they are highly accessible.
Old toothbrushes are fantastic for this and amazingly resistant to alcohol and many other solvents.
Don't use salt on glass as it scratches it (I learned from personal experience).

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Warnings

Be careful if you're cleaning it in a sink. The resin can coat the sink and it can be hard to clean.

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Most cleaners are flammable, so never use them when you're smoking.

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