Keeping a sesh piece clean is required for healthy lungs and happy guests. Clean pieces lead to an all around great experience. Getting invited over for a dab is exciting unless a glass-on-glass piece filled with yellowing reclaim greets them upon arrival. Having a dirty rig is not just embarrassing, it’s unhealthy. Not to mention, most agree that after an extract piece passes the point of no return, it becomes almost impossible to clean thoroughly.
Learn the slightly nuanced process of how to clean a dab rig and get better hits without residue. There are a few ways to clean a piece of glass used for cannabis concentrates, and that gets more fine-tuned when cleaning up an e-rig like the Dr. Dabber or Puffco Peak. These tips and tricks will help keep any concentrate piece clean, but first, what is that stubborn, yellow substance on the inside of the glass?
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All about reclaim
Those who smoke flower may be familiar with resin, the black, sticky byproduct left in a pipe after smoking the kind herb. Reclaim is to dab rigs what resin is to flower pipes. It presents on a spectrum from yellow to brown and has staying power inside a glass piece.
This substance is the concentrated combination of heated extracts. It can leave behind goop in the bottom of the banger or chamber, that, if not removed, might dampen the smoking experience. This pesky byproduct seeps into the actual piece, too. Reclaim could coat the entirety of the inner dab rig without regular cleaning.
Some people collect and dab their reclaim or make other products from it like suppositories. While the safety of ingesting reclaim is yet to be discovered, some data shows reasons not to re-burn and inhale it.
First of all, it generally does not taste good. On top of that, all of the terpenes and cannabinoids may have burned off by the time an extract has been thoroughly dabbed. Not only could reclaim lack these important compounds, it may also have picked up some carbon byproducts.
Nobody should desire a reclaim-filled rig. Keep the piece clean by regularly swabbing it and following a basic regular cleaning schedule.
Cleaning a dab rig
Before launching into deep cleaning processes, it’s important to note that the best way to have a clean banger or chamber is to wipe it up after every use.
Reclaim is a term that refers to the goop left in the chamber after a hit. Some might refire this and hit it again, but that practice may lead to a dirty, blackened banger. Deep cleaning practices cannot tackle everything, and heavily refried reclaim chambers tend to stay dirty despite all the cleaning tricks.
Even those keeping their chambers squeaky clean need to thoroughly cleanse the rig on the regular. For them, the ritual is different for analog glass-on-glass dab rigs and electronic ones.
How to clean a glass dab rig
Cleaning a dab rig is like cleaning a bong–with a little heat. There are a few methods for a cleansed concentrate piece; the first just needs water.
Hot water method
Those with a regular cleaning routine who don’t need to banish aged reclaim could clean a dab rig with out rubbing alcohol. Heat water somewhere between a simmer and a rolling boil. Hold the piece over the pot to loosen the reclaim if that feels safe. Certain, less intricate glass may be able to go straight into a steamer basket for 15 minutes for a final loosening. Anyone working with highly artistic heady glass should take extra caution throughout these processes.
Once the water is heated to a manageable temperature, or boiling water is cooled down, pour it into the rig. Let the piece cool down before handling it if you steamed it. Plug the holes up while the hot water is inside, and give it a righteous shake. Pour the water out and repeat as needed. Clean up problem areas with cotton swabs or alcohol-dipped cleaning brushes. Local beer brewing shops often have variously sized brushes.
Isopropyl alcohol method
If water did not do the truck, it is time to call in the trusty bottle of 91 percent isopropyl alcohol. Lower percentages of alcohol could help loosen reclaim but do not work as effectively for this task. Like the bong cleaning process, start by running fresh, warm water through the piece before adding isopropyl alcohol to the chamber. Plug up all of the holes and shake the piece.
The option to hold the piece over steam is still applicable with this method and could make the job easier. If the alcohol is not enough solvent to break up the reclaim, empty it out and start again with a little help. Add coarse rock salt, then more alcohol, and shake it up again.
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Cleaning electronic dab rigs
Ridding glass-on-glass rigs of reclaim is a little less tedious than working on electronic options like the Puffco or Dr. Dabber devices. Despite a few more steps, anyone can master it.
Separate all the glass or silicone-only pieces from electronic components before anything is submerged or hit with alcohol. Once that is done, grab a plastic bag and place the glass piece inside.
Fill this with that handy-dandy 91 percent isopropyl alcohol until the piece is submerged, then add half a cup of coarse salt. Move it around a bit so each chamber fills with the cleaning solution, and then seal the bag. Next, shake it up enough that the salt has a chance to rub against reclaim, urging it to come off into the alcohol. Feel free to soak the piece for a minute before agitating it to loosen up the reclaim.
Repeat as needed, and then again with other glass pieces. Smaller tokens like carb caps and mouthpieces can be detailed with a cotton swab.
Never forget to clean a dab rig
Though the process is not much different from that of a pipe or bubbler, many feel confused about cleaning a dab rig. These methods cover the gamut of how to clean a dab rig, from electronic options to heady water pipes. Wipe down a nail banger after every hit, and get that rig cleaned once a week for the best available dabbing experience.
Cleaning a cannabis piece is self-care because nobody deserves dirty hits. Be good to yourself and lock in that dab device hygiene. Don’t sleep on that regular care, clean your rig.
