Marijuana.com

BongMan420

Sometimes you will see slides with huge chambers- these generally look really cool but trap stale smoke. Longer tubes on slides were invented to push smoke out of the slide when it’s put back into the bong, but these chambers still hold smoke. Here is an example of such a slide, and the carb I had custom-blown into it to solve the problem. The slide was worth doing this, most other slides are not.
Chameleon

 

BongMan420

There are several downtube gauges on the market today, and it's easy to get them mixed up. It's very important that you get the right downtube, slide, or grommet for your pipe. Without the right thing in just one of these areas and your pipe will not work. They seem insignificant, but the irony of it is that without any one them you won't be using your bong.

Also it is important to know that most headshops will not take returns, even with unused glass. It is very important to get the right thing the first time.

This is a list, from biggest to smallest, downtubes: downtubes

It is important to know that there are slightly bigger slides than 11mm, and they will not fit into a 11mm downtube: won't fit

Also there are mini tubes that won't take a normal slide like this one, but they are very rare: won't fit

If you always make sure that a new slide fits into your pipe you should be fine. Sometimes you have to clean the downtube and take it into the store to make sure the new slide will fit. matches

This is a comparison of slide gauges/types: slides

Grommets

These are very important and easy to lose down the drain. Be careful where you put one or you might be taking apart your sink.

This is a picture of all the grommets available: grommets

It is important to know the difference between certain grommets in order to get the correct fit. 12mm grommets generally will not work on a 11mm downtube pipe. 11mm grommets will generally not work on a 12mm pipe, although exceptions exist.

The hookah/ashcatcher grommets are needed for tubes the size of a 9mm slide, normally hookah or ashcatcher tubes.

There are stopper-style grommets but if you need one you'll know it.

BongMan420

Example: glass screens

There are two basic types of glass screens, there are other similar rare kinds though. A glass jack is a four-sided spiked piece of glass. It is normally colored on three spikes and clear on the shorter, fourth spike. The clear spike goes down into the bowl, and it keeps the hole from being clogged from big bowls of dro. They don't work in narrow bowls however, usually only very large, spoon shaped bowls need a screen like this: dro screen

The glass flowers are used for smaller bowls, or ones that are deep put narrow. Personally I call them kif screens, because that's what they work best with: kif screen

Example of a narrow, but deep bowl that needs a glass flower screen: before---after

Glass screens are very easy to lose, but are relatively cheap. Keep a bunch on hand and try to keep track of them.

BongMan420

Cleaning glass takes patience and a lot of care. Shaking a glass pipe around metal faucets is very dangerous and should be taken very seriously, as you could break the pipe and hurt yourself at the same time; so try to shake all glass away from the faucet. Also try to clean glass when you are not stoned for awhile before trying it really blazed.

These are the materials you will need, minus the optional gloves or soaking tray:cleaning materials

For a cheaper alternative, rubbing alcohol and salt will work just like 4:20, it's just not as concentrated. Just use about two parts alcohol to one part salt, the salt works as an abrasive to scrape the resin off and the alcohol dissolves the resin. 4:20 does the same thing, that's how it works. 91% alcohol or even stronger is best. Use 2 parts alcohol to 1 part salt.

Personally I use alcohol and salt now because 4:20 was getting too expensive. It really does work just as well. If your pipe is extremely dirty I would recommend 4:20 though.

When you use 4:20 make sure you shake the bottle and use a good, even mixture of crystals and 4:20. The crystals act as an abrasive, so just the liquid won’t work very well.

Always remember to clean glass at a kitchen sink. Porcelain sinks will break glass a lot easier than a stainless steel one.

Use a wire hanger to scrape out clogged slides or bubbler downtubes, and the pipe cleaners to finish the job.


12a. Shake Method
Basically all you do is remove the downtube and grommet of your bong, pour the alcohol and salt inside it and shake the bong until it's clean. Rinse the pipe, then repeat the process with clean alcohol to get the pipe to taste fresh. Missing this step can lead to the piece tasting like alcohol. Remember to rinse very thoroughly, many times. Your goal is to remove all the alcohol taste from the piece. Larger bongs need to be rinsed in the bathtub, be very careful around all the porcelain though.

Do the same thing with the downtube, rubbing the outside of it with a q-tip dipped in alcohol and getting the inside ring that the shaking didn't get. Rub the grommet with a clean q-tip dipped in alcohol or a paper towel dipped in alcohol. Then wash it off with soap and water and rub it in between your fingers a lot, to remove all the tar on it. The grommet will sometimes leave a slight rubber taste in the clean pipe, this is normal. The larger-gauge tube grommets don't do this, however.

Cleaning the Slide
Slides and handpipes, and the bowl/downtube part of bubblers can be more difficult to clean than bongs. First of all the way they resin up is very different because of all the heat.

First you need to shake alcohol in it and get it as clean as you can that way. All the other resin that isn’t coming off with the shaking you need to rub with a q-tip or pipe cleaner dipped in alcohol.

Pipe cleaners work really well for scraping parts you can't normally reach inside bubblers or handpipes, like under the carb or behind inside the bowl. They are best for slides and bubbler downtubes though, and you can twist them around and try different shapes to reach inside a bubbler and get all the spots and make it like new.

Sometimes you'll need to kinda curl the end of the pipe cleaner so you can scrape off the outside of a bubbler's downtube- the heat will make the resin stick to the outside of the tube and only rubbing it with a pipe cleaner will remove this type of resin.

12b. Soaking
Soaking a handpipe or slide in alcohol is also another cleaning option, but it only works for smaller pipes and ones that aren't clogged with resin already. Soaking a pipe overnight will basically dissolve all the resin inside it, but only if it isn’t extremely dirty. Soaking a dirty pipe could take days, and you might still need to use a pipe cleaner on it.

You can either soak in a piece of Tupper wear, or in a plastic zip-lock bag. Really dirty pieces need a zip lock bag so you can shake them.

Just when you use a zip-lock pour some salt in it- that will act as an abrasive to remove the deposits inside the slide when you shake it.

Some really dirty pieces need to be soaked for days and shaken at least once a day for a few days. This works best when you have other pipes to smoke out of.


Keeping them clean
Soaking slides/bowls everyday after using them will allow you to always smoke them when they are clean. This works best with slides that don’t have awesome color change, or if you just always want to smoke a clean pipe.

People think cleaning glass is a chore that could take an hour to do. But with this method you can clean a pipe with no effort- all you have to do is rinse the piece out before you use it.

Not all pipes need to be kept totally clean, some look good when they color in, and don’t taste bad when they aren’t that dirty. This just makes cleaning really easy, especially if you have more than one pipe to smoke out of.

Basically all you need is some Tupper wear, something like this: I call it a ‘pickle’.

Fill it enough to cover the pieces with 91% or stronger rubbing alcohol and a little bit of hydrogen peroxide. Sometimes if the piece isn’t really dirty it will come clean in only a few hours. Not sucking ash into the piece will make soaking work faster as well. Sometimes you might need to use a pipe cleaner but only if the piece is fairly dirty.

After soaking a slide just take it out and rinse it really well with hot water. Then just a little bit of alcohol and salt in the bong- give it a shake- and it’s clean and rinsed in five minutes.

I do this with my bong Magellan, and in the morning I just throw it in a mini fridge to chill the glass. The result is that it takes five minutes to smoke a totally clean bong every day.

12c. Boiling
Boiling can weaken glass if you change the temperature of the glass too quick. Boiling is harmless if done right, because if you can smoke a pipe and heat it up with a flame, the relatively low boiling-point of water is harmless to glass. You just can't drop the pipe into boiling water or take it directly out of boiling water. This will weaken the glass, and taking a pipe out of boiling water and placing it in ice water could shatter the piece!

Boiling however is an important part of cleaning glass. Some pipes have parts that you can't reach with pipe cleaners and the only option is boiling.

I do not recommend ever boiling a bubbler, the downtubes on them are fragile sometimes and it is not worth the risk. Handpipes and slides are best for this method.

12d. Removing Calcium Deposits From Ice
After using a pipe with ice over a long period of time, the tube may start to appear cloudy. This is calcium from tap water, and is very easy to remove.

All you need is the brush; you can get it from a headshop- CLR, and rubber gloves. You put the brush into the pipe, pour CLR over the brush into the pipe, and scrub the tube with the brush, trying to get the CLR into the area while scrubbing. BE VERY CAREFUL OF YOUR EYES. Afterwards it will be sparkling clean like new; but make sure the pipe is already clean when you do this. I don't know how harmful it is to mix CLR and alcohol. Rinse extremely well, CLR is poisonous!

The most important piece of advice I can give to any person who is new at cleaning glass, is be very careful with the downtube when you clean. Put it in a very safe place that it can't roll away from. If you break the downtube when cleaning your bong, the bong is useless. That small tube of glass is just as important (in a way) as the whole thing. Don't treat it like it's a cheap, replaceable part. Many downtubes are rare, and finding the correct length can be hard.

BongMan420

Marijuana smoke contains many carcinogenic substances, and is by nature very hot. Hot smoke can damage cilia and other delicate parts of your respiratory system and tar can blanket your lungs and make it harder to breath.

Water not only filters out tar; but many dangerous gases- and it cools smoke down so that it no longer damages your mucous membranes nearly as much.

Aside from those benefits water filtration also changes the way smoke tastes, usually producing a milder flavor from its cooling effect.

Another benefit of water filtration is that it allows for a smooth draw (inhale) and also allows for the user to take in more smoke than usual without coughing.

There are shortcomings to water filtration however. One of the most apparent ones is the fact that the water becomes dirty and must be changed. Looking at this nasty water can lead one to see how much crap that the water filters out- but can be a chore. Water also leads to spills, which can be annoying- even the bong owing veteran still spills water now and again.

Another annoying thing about water filtration is the fact when you smoke out of a clean pipe the tar that is filtered out begins clumping together; and forms this nasty glob of tar floating around in the pipe. This odd occurrence only happens if the pipe is totally clean, because the tar has trouble sticking to the glass at first.

You also have to be very careful when using a waterpipe because if you cough into one you will ruin the bowl. You can be stoned and try to blow into the pipe instead of inhale and blow water all over the carpet. You can try to blow stale smoke out of the pipe and end up sucking water into your mouth out of the downtube. I’ve seen this many times, even with experienced bong smokers- myself included.

You can also suck water into your mouth normally smoking some bongs if you hit them too hard. The best bongs don’t have this problem though- they are designed to prevent it. Taller bongs or ones with twists or kinks tend to prevent it the best. Changing the water often keeps you from throwing up if you do, though.

 

BongMan420

Cold water is the norm in waterpipes; however hot water in one can be very interesting. Hot water, (not boiling or scalding) will create steam which will open up your airways and make for a very smooth hit. Hot, dirty bong steam is nasty however; so usually hot water is best tried in a clean pipe, and only for a few bowls or so.

Cold water makes the smoke much fresher and crisper, but it will cause the smoke to concentrate if you are not careful. Smoke becomes denser when it is cold, so when it enters your lungs it can cause them to expand more than normal if you hold the hit in for a long time. Cold water can leave a pipe tasting fresh much longer than room-temperature water, ice can also add to this effect.

BongMan420

There are many different styles of pouches for glass pipes, my personal favorite being Vatra. example they have matching bag sets too. You can even make your own pipe case, which would be much cheaper.

Many see these cases as travel bags, and while they are great for travel they can still be used at home. It is a good habit to always put your pipe back in it's pouch.

Bags prevent you breaking your piece, plain and simple. You should always buy a bag for a nice glass piece.


Well that’s it guys- hope this helps people with any questions!


TheCollector