First Glass

[merickson]

I know its hard to believe, but I am old school and this is my first glass piece.

I have some questions about the care and feeding of a glass pipe. (Mostly "care" questions. I think I've figured out how to feed the pipe.)

For the photo, I wiped the bowl out with a paper towel. Is this a good practice?

How dark should the glass get before cleaning?
When the time comes, I plan to soak it overnite in luke warm water. Is this a mistake?

Thanks.

 

[kitkat420]

aww congrats on ur first piece =) ...if u need to clean it just put salt and run rubbing alcohol thru it give it a shake and ull be good

 

[Happy Kitty]

Looks nice. I have one very similar to it. The best way I have found to clean it is with Isopropyl Alcohol. Let it sit in a cup (overnight if you want), then all you really need to do is hold you fingers over the holes and shake. It should clean up nicely. I do use a pipe cleaner to get anything that didn't rinse out. Make sure you use a soft but sturdy pipe cleaner. I buy chenille pipe cleaner at the craft store, but you can find them @wal-mart, etc.

I found that lukewarm water just gums it up. They only way it ever worked for me was a little soap and water and zapped it in the microwave on low. Alcohol is much better.

After reading this site, I pulled out all my old pipes and bongs, before this, it was joints, joints, joints...

Have fun
Peace and happiness

 

[Carrie8300]

I like to use formula 420 to get it sparkley new.

 

[Carrie8300]

oh yah nice piece btw!

 

[SlimDog53185]

Just use salt and rubbing alcohol. Put it in a ziplock bag fill the pipe up with salt, pour in the alcohol. Then let it sit for a while. After about 20-30 min start shaking it up as hard as you can. It should clean very easy that way. Its a cheap way to clean it with easy to find items.

Very nice pipe though.

 

[420AM&PM]

Just use salt and rubbing alcohol. Put it in a ziplock bag fill the pipe up with salt, pour in the alcohol. Then let it sit for a while. After about 20-30 min start shaking it up as hard as you can. It should clean very easy that way. Its a cheap way to clean it with easy to find items.

Very nice pipe though.

Cheapest, and in my opinion the best way to clean ... alot cheaper and any " cleaners ". My buddys got the same pipe body, except where your is blue his is green ... it looks the same anyway, next time i see him ill get a pic ....

 

[Andrew86]

I like to use formula 420 to get it sparkley new.

That stuff is a waste of money. Listen to these people, rubbing alcohol and salt is all you need.

 

[Andrew86]

Exactly. A bottle of ISO would cost 1-2 bucks.

 

[J842P]

clean with orange chronic or 420 formula about once a week if u smoke a good bit.

Or you could not get ripped off for a solution consisting of mainly rubbing alcohol and salt and just buy those two ingredients seperately.

 

[Dunlap]

Nice one! Pipes are a great thing to have around

For cleaning, I've always soaked it in alcohol, then get your faucet water hot and rinse it, you might have to repeat a couple of times, but it always comes out looking new. I only use salt if there are places that is really caked on. Sometimes I'll grab a paperclip to help get rid of the stuff right under the bowl, seems to be the most stuborn.

 

[Stoner4Life]

I use alcohol only on my glass..... no salt as it is abrasive to glass over time.
If you have any hard water issues once in awhile use some 'Lime-Away' in the bong (just let it soak 10-20 mins) and you will return the lustre to the glass. Rinse well after cleaning w/ Lime-Away.

 

[Stoner4Life]

Just rinse your piece normally & you'll be pleased w/ the results....steam btw DOES NOT remove hard water stains.
Lime Away is recommended for coffee maker cleaning & other kitchen uses. It's safe w/ no worries.........

 

[One Three]

Hard water is very alkaline water containing soluble salts from calcium, magnesium, and iron.

Most houses have either hard or soft water. Very few have the sweet spot of 150-200ppm.

 

[Stoner4Life]

I have never heard of hard water, is that something you have?

my water taste just fine out of the tap.
I use bottled water for my coffee

if you got hard water, I feel sorry for you.


hard water stains, ON YOUR PIPE??

Yup....I have great well water. No smell, no rust but a bit hard. As 13 was saying.... My glass gets a very thin opaque look to it, almost like the glass is frosted. Nothing takes this out completely except the Lime Away. The calcium deposit is tasteless and not a threat in any way except it's nicer to have clean glass. My coffee pots over time get a cloudy look to them til I clean them w/ Lime Away. I worked in a restaurant here that had such hard water the dishwashing machine would spit out thin chunks of it the size of a cigarette packs all night long, end of night disassemble the dishwasher and soak ALL parts in Lime Away....that well water sucked.

 

[Stoner4Life]

Epsoms like little rocks though Kitty.....shake it hard enough & soon you'll see little etchings/scratches on the inside of your glass. Sort of like sand blasting on a smaller scales but surely eventually abrasive.
I used salt,tiny glass beads, and water to polish marble, salt is abrasive. As a soaking agent probably ok, but the reason epsom cleans it so darn well (& it does) is mainly cuz of the little rocks effect it has knocking the gunk off.

 

[qWERTY]

Congrats on the new pipe.

I use salt and rubbing alcohol to clean my pieces.

 

[merickson]

Have opened a can of worms about cleaning, I will risk a further observation.

It seems to me that smoking out of bare clean glass has a slight bite to it. It seems that a couple of bowls full of smoke are needed to mellow a raw (clean) glass pipe. Do others experience this?

 

[Big dog]

I've said it on this site before. Nobody knows more about Bongs then be incomparable Ms. Loaf!

 

[merickson]

Yeah, but I see a bong as a solitary device. "This is my hit. Now it is your turn"

Pipes and joints have a more social sharing feel to them. "Let's share a bowl."

Old fart question: A bubbler is a pocket sized water pipe. Right?