Cleaning Glass Pipe and keeping the resin?

Discussion in 'Smoking Accessories Q&A' started by Mayotruck, Feb 25, 2007.

  1. Hi all,

    I put this in the "Seasoned Tokers area" because I think I need a Pro on this problem.

    I have read many, post on how to clean glass pipes with pipe cleaners, boiling, q tips, special "bong" cleaning solutions and even towelettes. All of these methods just remove resin, and I really want to smoke the resin. Anyways, I have also heard that you can use isopropyl rubbing alchohol to clean glass pipes.

    So my question are as follows:

    1)What supplies are needed to clean my glass pipe?(remeber I want to keep the resin)

    2) What are the EXACT steps to do to sucessfully, clean to a fairly overheated glass pipe?(some baked on stuff)

    3) How do I go about taking the isopropyl resin solution and making it smoke-able? Please a step by step guide or good URL would be apreciated.

    Just a personal question:
    Smoking the resin after it is recycled from the pipe be more unhealthy, or do you know?

    P.S.- Currently at home I have isopropyl rubbing alchohol 70%, I heard 99% or 91% is better..why? And can I use 70%?(please say yes!)


    Thanks in advance
     
  2. I'd just scrape it. You COULD put it in alcohol and theoretically the alcohol will evaporate, leaving the resin behind.

    Use a small computer/eyeglasses screwdriver to scrape it out, but be careful on the edges so that you don't chip it.

    Paper clips work too.
     
  3. I would scrape it but I don't want to chip it.My pipe unfortunatly is pretty thin blown colored glass (very nice pipe) and I really don't want to risk breaking it.

    Right, but a 70% mixture? How could I go about using it? I would I have to get the 99% stuff? Or could I boil it? I dunno I'm pretty new to this.
     
  4. well ive heard this weakens your glass, but this is what i do sometimes : get a cup, fill it up with hot water, not extremeeeeeely hot, but hot enough

    put your pipe in it for 15-20 seconds, take it out, paper clips, scrape the pipe cleaaaane, it will clean quick and you'll get all the resin. every last bit if you can reach it
     
  5. Boil it

    Get a pot of cold water from the sink, place your piece in it, then place it over a flame and wait till it boils. Then just move your piece around, getting the boiling water in there.

    Then strain the water using a coffee filter, roll all the collected resin into a ball and let dry.

    Then smoke.
     
  6. Ok i understand that you can do it these ways but with all that are mentioned it seems you still would be wasting a fair amount.

    Boiling in water then straining in coffee filter = wasted resin in water and wasted resin that you can't collect out of the filter.

    Boiling water then scraping = wasted resin in water, and scraping is not an option.


    So does anyone know how to use rubbing alchohal to do this? If so, how do I go about it and could I use 70% rubbing alchohol?(I know 99 might be better but COULD i use 70% if so how?)
     
  7. How bout figure out for yourself if it works? Whats the worst that could possibly happen if the 70% mixture doesnt work?
     
  8. wow okay you do not want to put your glass pipe in a pot and heat it over a flame, it will break!

    to answer your question.

    take a ziplock baggie, one with a good seal, a slide lock works great.
    Fill it with the alcohol.
    Drop your pipe in, leave it for a few hours.
    Shake the shit outta it.
    Leave it
    Shake
    Leave
    shake...

    you get the idea, then simply pour the alcohol in a cup or glass and allow it to evaporate. the resin will be left in the bottom of the glass.

    it might take a bit to get the resin all off. but just shake the shit outta it periodically.
     
  9. look if u use the 70% shit ur gonna have the other 30% left that is not alcohol.
    thats why u use 99% so u have not that much.
    heres how i do it
    1. plug all holes in piece
    2. fill 3/4 with 99% alc
    3. shake it until the liquid is black when u pour it out in step 4
    4. pour it onto a plate if theres still some left do it again the alc will still evaporate if theres a bit
    5. smoke whats left over

    ^the guy aboves might work or even b easier but w/e
     
  10. Thanks the last 2 answers was what I have been looking for. Really had no idea that it was only the rubbing alchohol and it was that simple, I thought it may have been some sort of mixture. Thanks guys, I will get some of the 99% stuff and try it out..

    Appreciate it!:D
     
  11. Rubbing alchohol and rock salt does wounders. As for the resin i scrap goes directly in the trash
     
  12. I would use a paperclip or something and scrape as much as possible, then alchy the baked on stuff.
     
  13. can't you just buy more weed?
     
  14. best way i have found is to scrape the pipe with the loop end of a bobby pin with your index finger. resin holds in the loop. defiantly the best way.
     
  15. I use a tea bag to strain my pipe after I boil it in 100% H2O. Empty it out first though, then just pour it into the tea bag slowly, you can get every piece of resin.
     
  16. OK here's the thing. You use isopropyl alc 91% or 99% (if you can get yoru hands on it), b/c the other 9% or 1% is made of water. Since thc is a non-polar and water is polar, and the alcohol is non-polar, it is allowing the THC to be soluble in the Alc. That's why a higher % is used, to yield better results and faster evaporation.

    Listen to the last 2 posts. Do not add salt btw, b/c when the water and alc evaporate there wil be salt crystals in the resin... you don't want that. The salt with alc method is used only b/c the salt acts as an abrasive and gets the really hard to gunked on spots. That's when your cleaning it and tossing it away. Not cleaning the piece and saving the resin.

    Just use the ziplock bag, shake and wait method as mentioned. I'd say wait 15 minutes or 20 minutes between shakes... do it 3 times. If can't wait that long, wait 5 minutes in between. Same result, just shake more. I personally shake the crap out of it at first, just to help loosen stuff up for later, and ot get rid of some resin as well. Your choice. than when done. Pour out into a big enough glass dish pr pan or soemthing, to have it evaporate. The bigger the better, (depending on amount of alc use). B/c it makes more surface area out of the alc + resin mixture, making it faster for it to be evaporated. Thus, that much sooner to use.

    When it dries and is done, use a razor blade, a spoon, soemthing to scrape it off. That leftover your now holding will be your pure from the pipe resin in your hands.

    Smoke and enjoy.

    Also, never put boiling water or near boiling water in, around, or the piece submerged within water of this temperature. Your glass will go into whats called thermal shock. ANd will crack, shatter, or possibly explode. Don't do it, if you treasure your piece. Use warm water if you prefer that method. Maybe a little hotter, but not by much. Alc or alc+salt, are the best methods for cleaning pieces.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  17. Thats disgusting, you know that smoke residue or "resin" is mostly tar(bad stuff you dont want), right?

    Clean your piece THOROUGHLY, then pack a fresh bowl of bud!
     
  18. I just run the bottom part of the bowl (so as not to get any water in it yet) under hot water to kind of loosen up the resin. Then I take a bobby pin and straighten it out and maneuver it in all the holes to scrape all of it out. I like using a bobby pin because the ends of it have that little spherical plastic covering so I dont have to worry as much about damaging the glass.
     
  19. You can use 70% alcohol bcuz the other 30% is water lol. I just checked, don't listen to those crazy people who assume the other 30% is something deadly, if it was it wouldn't make sense to use as an antiseptic. TOKE ON!
     
  20. #20 Through The Trees, Jul 18, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 18, 2015
    it's been 8 years, pretty sure OP has figured this out by now..




    seriously how to people find threads so old? Do they come up in google and people just don't bother checking the dates?


     

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