New bong owner looking for advice!

Alright, so on one of the proudest days of my stoner career, I have just purchased my very first bong. Of course I got home and gave it a lengthy "breaking in" :jointsmile:. Now I am at a loss as for what to do with it. I have a few questions for any experienced bong owners, if you please :).

1. How often should I clean my bong? After two or three smoke sessions I've noticed that the stem is already quite dirty.

2. How would I go about cleaning it? Boiling seems impractical, because of the size of the thing. It (other than the stem) is one solid glass piece, so that's impossible as well. Considering what a neat freak I am concerning my bowls (and the fact that the bong is probably going to be a bigger smell issue than them), I can not see myself growing to love my bong if I can't clean it.

3. If I keep the water in it through 1-2 days (maybe 2-3 smokes) will it start to make the room smell? How strong would the smell of the water be? (Keeping in mind I usually take 3-5 rips when I'm smoking in my house, and I'll probably do that two or three times over two days) I don't want my room to smell like bong water.


I'm sure I had more questions to ask, but as I hit this bong I keep forgetting them. =]:hippy:

As for cleaning, your best bet is to remove the stem and bowl, and put that in boiling water. For the actual bong itself I'd say just scrub it real good with some sort of course material and some rubbing alcohol. If you use alcohol make sure you can smell NO trace of alcohol in the bong before smoking out of it, or you could take your lips off.

With bongs I usually change the water after every smoke. If it's a particularly large session then I will change the water half way through. I hate using dirty water.

I wouldn't be so worried about the bong water making a smell, but more-so the actual bong itself. If you use it and never clean it (though as you said, you are a bit of a clean-freak so that shouldn't be a problem) then there will be a smell issue. So long as you clean it after every 4 or 5 sessions (and change the water after every session, and not leaving water in it when it's not in use) you should be fine.

Congrats on the new bong btw - got a name for it yet?

clean it whenever you want and/or get bored. you can use rubbing alcohol and salt, both are pretty cheap. get rock salt or epsom salt, they have bigger crystals. depending on the size of your bong, use 1/2 bottle or so. and maybe a 1/3 cup of salt. and just swish it around. if you do this often (once a week or so) it should stay pretty clean.

your room won't smell like bong water unless you spill it, then you wanna clean that shit up quick as bong water is nasty. i try and change my water few smoke sessions, but sometimes you get high, forget and it'll stay in there for a few days, but its not a big issue.

enjoy your piece.

Thanks for the replies you two :) Your advice is much appreciated.

R.H - No, not yet. I was going to post some pictures of it up and ask for suggestions with this thread, but my camera's short on battery at the mo'. In a few hours I'm going to be asking for names for my new addition :)

I clean my bong out after every smoke sesh...my bong is nice to me so why not be nice back and give it a cleaning =).

The best way to clean it (IMO) is to get a cup of rubbing alcohol and a tablespoon of salt, put it in the bong and swish it around...easy to do and works GREAT.

I would suggest you put fresh water in your bong every time you smoke...it gives it a cleaner taste and is much more pleasant.