Alright, I've got 2 REALLY stubborn stains on my piece, a cloudy ring around the mouthpiece and a white thicker stain near the joint. They appeared a few weeks back after a Simple Green soak, and I've been trying to get them out ever since. I've tried 3 separate Oxiclean 24 hour soaks, another SG soak, a 12 hour vinegar soak followed by incessant scrubbing, and 2 VERY brief CLR soaks (around 2 mins each, probably a little less). Now I can't tell if ANY progress has been made, the vinegar was the only thing I really expected to help and the mouthpiece section is the only stain that can be reached with a brush, so after scrubbing I couldn't tell for sure but it appeared to have some very minor improvements. I'm at my last resort, CLR. The bottle says not to leave it on a surface for more than 2 minutes, but 2 minutes plus some minor toothbrush scrubbing (VERY brief scrubbing) didn't make any noticeable difference. Now to me, the 2 minute thing makes no sense in the case of glass. Glass is used as a storage method for MANY types of acid, including those in CLR. The only thing that would've concerned me was the phosphoric acid it USED to contain, but they don't even use it anymore so it's more environmentally friendly. I read a few recommendations online to try letting it soak for an hour or two, but I wanted some second opinions, would this be safe? I was thinking 1-2 hours soaking each individual stain (don't wanna just fill the tube up with acid), then try scrubbing them right after pouring it out before rinsing (would my bong brush or a toothbrush be more effective here?), then rinse with cold water. Would this be safe/possibly effective? Is there a better way to use CLR? ALSO! Is it possible these stains are already etched into the glass despite only having been there for a few weeks? If I run my finger up the inside of the neck of my tube without looking I can tell exactly where the stain is as it creates traction with my finger and slows it down, so it feels like it's something on the surface rather than a permanent etched in stain.
I too have issues with hard water stains every now and then. I have never used CLR before, but I can tell you that PBW does wonders. I'll tell you that if PBW doesn't work, then idk what will.
It's funny cause I took a run to the local homebrewer's store like 2 hours ago and mentioned to the guy that I heard PBW would work on hard water stains, and he said "Well I've never heard that one before I'm learning something new from you today, we always tell people to use CLR" And when he said that I refrained from buying that $10 tub of PBW...
just don't get the clr on the labels. I had it drip onto my roor label and it faded it right away. pissed me off. I really need to get a RO filter for my tap one of these days so I can just use that water for my glass but until then, I buy distilled water for a last rinse after washing to try to avoid hard water stains.
Hello, OP Did you end up trying the CLR? Did it have any results? I currently have some hard water stains on my piece and I am super curious about using CLR on it.. Thanks! C
@sektr Hello, OP \nDid you end up trying the CLR? Did it have any results? I currently have some hard water stains on my piece and I am super curious about using CLR on it.. \nThanks! C
It would be fine as long as you give a thorough rinse. I would probably try vinegar or lemon juice first. Personally I use hot tap water and iso, works fine for me. I have heard using distilled water will solve the water stain issue, but haven't tried myself though.
I have tried distilled white vinegar + lemon juice and no luck.. I have purchased some PBW as per this thread suggests: http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/pbw-the-chemistry-of-clean.7854/page-3 I will respond back with results once I try.
Try pbw. As said, if that doesn't work, idk what will. My roommate let his piece get so bad, that literally a puck of hard water formed on the bottom of the piece.. pbw got that bitch to come up. And use distilled water in the future.
Is pbw pretty rough on labels? I have some coming in the mail and I will be doing several rinses once it arrives.
I have heard that it CAN be... But I have personally used it on 8 brands of glass with no harm done to any labels.. Pbw is a soak and rinse style cleaner, so its hard to soak the labels that are on the outside of the tube, you see? Unless you use a bucket or something like that to fill up and then put your piece into... Ymmv but you should be good man.
Thanks for the response! Any clue on how I can plug the hole of the downstem? My PBW came in the mail today but I have no way of plugging the hole to keep the water from draining.
Wow, an old whiskey bottle had a cork in it the exact size as the bowl.. score. Anyways, I am doing the first soak of PBW as we speak. I will report back with results. Edit: after 2-3 PBW rinses, this stuff WORKS. brand new glass.
What luck eh? Idk how pbw will react with cork, but its worth a shot. Few tips Always warm up your piece. Never go straight to hot water. You don't need much pbw, like less than a tablespoon. After about 15mins, I dump out about half the water or more then fill it back up with hot water again, and add some more pbw if necessary. I think pbw finds a lot of its cleaning power in the energy found in hot water, so I do that a few times if its really dirty. You can let it soak over night if needed. Then I rinse the ever living shit out of it. With bowls, I have a stainless steel cup that I put the bowl in and then add pbw and water. Lmk what happens.