How to properly clean a bong and how often to do it

A bong is a water pipe often used to smoke cannabis. Filters smoke with water for a smooth, clean tasting and healthier smoke.

Bongs can be intimidating and confusing to use, especially for beginners. But it will get easier over time once you know what you’re doing.

However, this experience may be short-lived if you don’t know how to clean a bong.

If you want to try recreational smoking with a bong/hookah, you should also know how to clean it.

Read on to find out more.

Bong parts

Before we learn how a bong works, let’s familiarize ourselves with its parts. The parts of a regular glass bong consist of the following:

Bowl

This part of the bong stores the “fuel”. The size of the bowl is proportional to the amount of marijuana or dried herb it can hold.

The larger the diameter of the bowl, the more cannabis it can hold.

Lower core

The bottom of the bong lets smoke into the water chamber once the herbs in the bowl are lit.

Water Chamber

It is a piece of bong that needs to be filled with water. The water will filter, making the smoke cooler, cleaner and much softer.

Water bubblers resemble regular bong. However, it is more compact compared to bongs. The bubbler uses a percolation system that cleans the smoke and filters it using glass debris. Thanks to filtration, the stamp becomes silky smooth and free from resin and tar residues.

Many theories suggest that bubbles condition cannabis better due to the cleansing effect of the water used in the filtering process.

Stalk (Ice Catcher)

To make the smoke cooler to inhale, you can place ice in the stem. Please note that not all water pipes contain ice catchers.

Carbohydrates

This refers to a small opening that allows smokers to control the airflow inside the pipe. It is also used to clean the water chamber/stem.

Smoke chamber

This long piece connects the mouthpiece, shaft and water chamber.

Mouthpiece

The mouthpiece of the bowl allows smoke to enter the lungs.

Now that we know the parts of a bong, we can move on to a step-by-step guide on how to use the device.

How to use a water bong

Before using your bong, prepare a clean device, water, ice (in the case of a bong with an ice catcher), and cleaning solutions (e.g. baking soda or isopropyl alcohol).

If you are new to bong use, follow the steps below to use your bong.

Step 1: Filling the water chamber

Detach the lower part and fill the chamber with clean water. You can use cold water for a cooling effect.

Ideally, the chamber should be filled with water only until the bottom of the stem is submerged. Then it is worth checking whether the water reaches your mouth or not. If it doesn’t, you’re good to go.

Step 2: Packing herbs into a bowl

The first step is to break down the herbs. Either use your fingers or you can use scissors.

You can also use a grinder to cut the nuga into pieces of the same size.

For the best smoking experience, be sure to remove the stem and seeds of the herb.

Step 3: Light the Bong

Before lighting your bong, make sure you are sitting in an area free from flammable objects.

Hold the bong with your non-dominant hand and wrap it around the smoke chamber. Make sure you have a good grip and then light the bong.

Inhale the smoke using your diaphragm to avoid coughing too often.

Place your mouth over the mouthpiece and make sure there are no gaps where smoke can escape.

Light the lighter with your other hand. Instead of matches, use a regular pocket lighter. Hold the flame so that it only burns the edge of the hemp.

Step 4: Inhaling the smoke

Fill the smoking chamber halfway and slowly inhale the smoke. Don’t overwhelm yourself or you may end up coughing constantly.

Once you are satisfied with the amount of smoke, you can stop lighting the bowl. You can stop inhaling at this point, but do not remove your mouth from the mouthpiece or the smoke will start to escape.

Inhale the smoke in the chamber after removing the bowl from the stem. Breathe deeply to make sure the smoke enters your lungs.

Finally, hold the smoke in your lungs for 2-3 seconds before exhaling.

Then put the bowl back into the shaft and light it again when you want to take another hit.