Nydex wrote:Can you share some tips on how to clean it? I have an ice bong and it's very difficult to reach some of the spots on its parts, and I can clearly see some yellowish residue on them. Should I soak it in something? I have acetone, but it seems wasteful since I have to dispose of it after I'm done cleaning...
Any tricks you got in your sleeve?
To dissolve freebase residues off of glass try using acids (not bases) as these will convert the residue into salt form, also making them water soluble. It’s nothing too fancy, just a simple yet logical process.
In order to save and recycle the residues, which might still be active, fill the glass piece with some isopropyl alcohol, shake it a couple of times, collect solvent in a jar and finally evap it or enhance some leaf when there are enough “pulls” collected.
If recycling is not desired then add some table salt in the piece (unground preferred or not too powdered) together with the ipa and shake thoroughly a couple of times. The salt will grind nicely on the glass walls and get stubborn stains out quite well. To finish it up and clean remaining residues (like alkaline stains and w.e) add some white distilled vinegar to the piece and give it another couple of shakes. This should bring it back to a clear clean state. Extremely stubborn stains should come off with a bit of hot water in the ipa-salt mix, that would greatly increase solubility.
After the initial solvent/acid treatment make sure to rinse the piece properly a couple of times. At this stage you could use some dish detergent and give it a light wash to ensure all traces of the used chems are gone.
Hope this helps you get your piece back to being fresh. As morpheus says, it makes a huge difference clean vs dirty whatever you plan on using it for..
My advice would be to clean it after every use. While some might find this a bit OCD-ish, I made a discipline out of it and there are only benefits to be harvested from practicing it.