How do I clean/maintain my grinder?

[quote name='"Mtw20"']What is the best way to clean your grinder to keep it working like new. A bunch and gunk gets caught in like the threads of my grinder and make it hard to twist. How do I avoid this? What's the best way to clean a grinder? I have heard rubbing alcohol but I feel like that would deteriorate the material of the grinder?[/quote]

Is it a cheapo painted 10$ grinder, or a decent one?

I have a decent one, and I run 99% iso through it, then let it evap then smoke it...

 

Quick google search... They make plastic ones, painted ones etc.

If its straight aluminum, no paint...

Get a jar
Put first piece in jar, cover with rubbing alcohol.
Swish for 10 seconds. Remove.
Add 2nd and repeat, then third. Only putting one piece in at a time. Don't put the crystal catcher in.

Lay on paper towel, and do finishing touches with q tips.

Empty rubbing alcohol only a plate. Or Pyrex dish. Let evaporate for at least a day. Smoke it.

 

I had a crappy small grinder that you could get about a gram and no more into, after using it faithfully for 6 years I finally gave it away. Before I did though I noticed that it had soo much old bud caked onto the inside of it which would slow it down when I was grinding with it and that made it very difficult to grind bud, so my friend suggested that I separate the grinder into three pieces and throw it in boiling water....sounds like it wouldn't work huh? Worked great! got all the old bud to loosen and I scrapped it off with a butter knife.

 

lol ANSWER THE QUESTION

is it plastic? metal? painted metal?

 

If you have a Santa Cruz Shredder, alcohol is the BEST thing to use along with some q-tips. Just make sure to rinse it out with hot water after the alcohol bath. The higher percentage of alcohol, the better. 95 to 99% is the way to go.

 

Be careful, I heard that can weaken the grinder and cause pieces to break off in your herb. One of the blades in my grinder broke completely off one time.