I'm going on a month long t-break to get back in shape for basketball season, and I've been trying to get my bong sparkling good as new for awhile now. It took a 24 hour Simple Green soak to get all the resin stains off, and it looks GREAT now. But as soon as I let it dry after the soak and quick ISO+salt then warm water rinse (filtered water, as I always use), what appeared to be 2 separate mineral deposits just appeared out of nowhere on the tube, they weren't there before I soaked it the first time. One is a ring around the neck of the bong, about where it was filled to with SG maybe a half inch to an inch lower, and the other is just below the joint on my piece. I'll put some pictures below. I tried filling my tube up with vinegar, let it soak for ten hours then dumped it out and ran cleaning brushes through the neck and joint to scrub at them, it did literally NOTHING, they're just as bad as before... What can I possibly do to get these out? They're driving me insane because I go out of my way to make sure I use only distilled/filtered water to avoid this exact situation, I'm fucking confused as to how they even got there. Pics below. Neck: http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y449/sektr/IMG_0380_zpse6fde687.jpg Joint: http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y449/sektr/IMG_0381_zps9bce24e4.jpg The second picture isn't great, it's much more noticeable in person, but you can see where it goes from the straight part where the joint is to the top of the rounded ball that there's a white ring around it. Halp! D:
i use CLR or grunge off for hard water stains but at lest for the neck pic kinda looks like its on the outside of the glass like from dirty hands so give that part a good rub down also CLR and grunge off will remove labals use with extreme caution if you care about the labals personally i dont
THIS. But seriously though. Take the downstem out if there's a label. And do not get it on the outside of the tube. It will take the label right off. But it will get rid of the nasty calcium deposits from hard water.
BTW filtered water isn't as good as distilled, as the mineral content is still there, and that's what leaves these deposits. Distilled water is the best option, for the bong, plants and for you, (in my opinion).
The label is sandblasted so no worries as far as labels go. I actually have some CLR lying around the house, do I soak it or just rinse/shake? @BudButler I thought it might be on the outside of the neck too but I tried rubbing it down, even rubbing it off with a towel on the inside, and it does nothing. The marks fade when they get wet but as soon as the tube dries they reappear.
I'm telling you, for hard water stains OxiClean is the way to go. A good 12 hour soak took care of these stains: (^Said CLR soak didn't work for these, but OxiClean did the trick) Same with my Toro King bub, after a Simple Green soak and iso/salt rinses, I was left with a cloudy mouthpiece, but like I said, a 12 hour soak in water with a good scoop of OxiClean will take care of those no problem. Just thought I'd add a little more explanation to my earlier hit and run post.
Fair enough man, I'll give it a shot! I heard OxiClean had a similar effect to Simple Green which is why I dismissed it at first. Anyone have any idea why Simple Green soaks seem to be the cause of countless cloudy mouthpieces? Hahhaha
Can't believe no one has said it yet. Epsom salt and isoprophyl alcohol. The higher the better. I use 95% Put a pinch of salt in your piece and some alcohol . Cover the holes and shake violently. Repeats steps until it's clean. Rinse with water and let it dry. Takes 10-minutes and is 100% clean. No signs of use after this method. Welcome. Your search is over
Yea.... No... Clearly you didn't read my original post where I mentioned that one of the stains I'm trying to get out is actually a mineral deposit FROM salt+ISO. Just picked up some oxiclean this morning, soaking now I'll report back with results!
Did a 1 hour soak in SUPER concentrated water (took 15 minutes to rinse out because i put half a scoop in, up to 2nd fill line, and half of it ended up just sitting on the bottom and caking itself onto it), absolutely nothing happened. Then I tried premixing the solution, up to the first line on the scoop they give you with enough hot water to fill the bong. Immediately put it in after dumping the scoop in, it fizzed over the top a little but when I got it full and just passively fizzing up it was left to soak for 10 hours overnight. Went out and washed it out this morning, literally ZERO difference. I'm gonna lose my mind, how the fuck can I get these stains out...
You tried the CLR? Always did the trick for me honestly... just a quick wash I believe... haven't used it in years.
i used to have hard water stains in my tube as well. i clean it with ISO and salt every time. the only thing i have tried, which worked quite well, is white vinegar. i cleaned the tube as normal... Iso/salt shake. Drain out the mixture. then put in some white vinegar. let it soak for a minute or two. shake it and let it soak. repeat a few times then drain it. rinse it out with some water to remove the vinegar smell. worked like a charm for me, best of luck.
Nah tried Oxi, gonna pick up some CLR tonight if this last oxi soak doesn't do the job I heard the best strategy with CLR was soak for like 1-2 mins, throw in some salt, shake briefly and rinse?
Honestly to my memory, I had a nice RooR with the build up at the bottom (it was the coffee table bong), I just poured it in, swished around, and rinsed. Im sure the other steps couldnt hurt.