For someone looking to enhance their smoking experience, bong pipes are essential. They are utensils for weed, so the general rules of utensils cleaning apply to bong pipes, and what you would do with any other fork or spoon or knife you use to consume anything you should do with your bong pipe for keeping it clean when not in use. You never like to eat from a dirty plate or drink from filthy glass, so why would you smoke from a grime-laden bong pipe? You are at just as much risk of microbial infection from smoking from a dirty bong pipe as you are from eating from an unclean plate.
Bong pipes provide the ideal environment for microbes
An unclean bong pipe is a breeding ground for microbes. This is because bong pipes are damp. A cool, wet climate is optimum for most microbes’ growth.
Cleaning your bong pipe regularly prevents most of these germs from growing. If the bong pipe is kept unclean for a long time, however, the microbial cells divide and colonize the inner surface of the bong pipe.
While some of these microbes may be harmless, there is a strong chance that a good deal of these uninvited microscopic guests could infect you. This could lead to a health crisis. While everyone should be vigilant and avoid diseases, a smoker especially wouldn’t want to get a lung infection! Not only will the lung infection be challenging to deal with, but it would also damage your lungs for some time, even after recovery, making weed-smoking difficult for you in the future. If not for your health, you should clean your bong to ensure you can get high for as long as you want.
Fungal growth could be a real threat in unclean bong pipes
Fungus is a very resilient microbe that can grow almost everywhere and is difficult to eradicate. Ever notice why fungal infections took forever to heal? Now you know.
The fungus also loves damp places – such as the inner walls of a bong pipe. If you do not clean your bong pipe regularly, you must have noticed that some black, round spots start to appear on the walls of your bong. That could be fungal growth.
Mold refers to microscopic fungi that can grow in damp, moist areas and cause a stinky smell. You might have seen mold growing on bread – now imagine that mold growing on your weed. Would you smoke that weed?
Mold can grow on the residual weed resins left in the bong from earlier smoke sessions. So when you use that bong again without properly cleaning it, that is what you are doing. Sounds disgusting, is not it? Cleaning your bong regularly is an excellent idea to ensure this does not happen.
Unclean bong pipes can deteriorate the quality of your smoking sessions
While cleaning your bong pipe is necessary to prevent infection and diseases, it has some benefits for your time with the tube as well:
- Fresh-tasting Weed: A dirty bong has resins of weed from your previous smoking sessions. That old, rotting weed ferments in the presence of microbes. Not only can it causes health issues, but it can also lower the quality of your inhaled smoke. You smoke the fresh weed you put in the pipe in a clean bong pipe, with zero traces of the old weed resins that taste disgusting and unsavory.
- Smoother Smoking Sessions: Unclean bongs can cause a lot of coughing and uneasy sensations in your thoracic region. This is not likely to make your high very enjoyable. However, this problem has a straightforward fix: cleaning your bong pipes regularly! If you are smoking clean weed, you are less likely to have your session interrupted by a round of coughing.
- Stronger High: A clean bong pipe would get you high far quicker and more substantial than a filthy bong pipe. The reason for this is simple: some tetrahydrocannabinol – the active ingredient in weed responsible for getting you high – is absorbed by the grime inside your bong pipe. In a clean bong, the grunge does not obstruct the path of tetrahydrocannabinol, giving it direct access to your lungs.
How often should a bong pipe be cleaned?
There are no fixed rules regarding when and how to clean bong pipes. The right time to clean your bong pipe would depend on how often you use your pipe and how clean you want it to be. For example, a frequent smoker might want to clean their bong pipe every second day, while an infrequent smoker might not need to do their cleaning for a week or so.
In general, if you notice some of these signs, you should clean your bong pipe:
- Any signs of mold mean you should clean your bong immediately. Molds appear as rough and filamentous spots on the walls of the bong pipe and are extremely dangerous to health. In general, if you notice any black or white spots on the wall of the bong, you should get it cleaned as it could be a mold of one kind or another.
- If you observe a thin film of slime over the bong, that could be a biofilm. The biofilm may contain hundreds of dangerous microbes, so cleaning the bong when the film develops is a good idea.
- Notice the look and smell of the water. If it is stinky or looks discolored, you should not smoke from that bong pipe until you replace the bong water and clean the pipe.
- If there is an accumulation of resin from previous smoking sessions, cleaning the bong before your next smoke would be a good idea.
So even if your arsenal has filled after bulk bong buying, following these tips will significantly increase the lifespan and smoking experience.