Back in your college days, a crusty bong with caked-on resin and brown bong water might have seemed fine (it wasn’t), but in the middle of a pandemic, cleaning your bong is actually really important, though you may want to switch to edibles for the time being so you’re less at risk of contracting Covid-19. But if you still plan on using your glass piece for your virtual smoke sesh later, please be sure to keep it clean an sanitary between uses, just in case.
Cleaning a bong can seem daunting, especially for more funky looking contraptions, but it’s actually pretty simple. If you’re in a hurry you can toss a mixture of coarse sea salts and 99% isopropyl alcohol into an empty bong, and let any stray parts soak in a bag filled with the same alcohol. Once filled, place rubber stoppers (I’ve used wine stoppers in the past) on both open ends of the bong, and shake. Once you’ve seen the resin come off, you can pour the mixture out, reattach the bowl and stem, and let it dry out before your next smoke sesh.
If you wanna hit every bit of grime and keep your piece squeaky clean, there’s a great bottle brush kit that will help you spots you otherwise couldn’t. Not only will this keep your bong more sanitary and less at risk of carrying nasty germs, it’ll also keep your piece looking pretty so it doesn’t have to be hidden shamefully at the back of your shelf. And while they’re pricey and just come with cleaning alcohol and packets of salt, you can ease the process by just ordering a bong cleaning kit rather than hunting down all the supplies individually.
It might seem silly, with everything else going on, to suggest taking the time to clean a tool that a lot of us often neglect because, hey, it still gets the job done, right? Even if you’re the only person who’s lighting up your pretty green bong, you’re still putting your mouth on it, and it’s just another place for the virus to hang out and spread itself.
So, while smoking does present some higher risks than usual right now, if you’re still keen on smoking to ease the stress or just enjoy a good movie, you can minimize those risks by thoroughly cleaning your bongs and pipes.