How To Clean A Glass Or Clay Chillum

Chillums are one of the simplest smoking devices around. They consist of little more than a straight tube where herb can be packed into one end and smoke inhaled from the mouthpiece at the other end.

However, this simplicity can be both a blessing and a curse. If you’ve ever smoked from a dirty chillum, you’ve probably experienced first hand how foul tasting and harsh they can get without regular maintenance.

Fortunately, chillums are almost as easy to clean as they are to smoke from. With just a little bit of know how, you can keep your glass or clay chillum just as clean as the day it was made.

Start With Daily Maintenance

The most basic thing you can do for your chillum, whether it is glass or clay, is to give it a small daily cleaning. After using it, just run a Q-Tip or pipe cleaner through the length of the chillum to wipe away any resin, tar, and moisture buildup.

Because a chillum is typically a very simple straight tube, it’s easy to get a pipe cleaner through it. It’s not like trying to clean out a big bong or an intricate water pipe full of percolators and tricky corners. Just get yourself some pipe cleaners and work them through your chillum at least once a day.

This will go a long way towards preventing any nasty buildup. It might even be enough to keep your chillum clean enough to avoid any of the more heavy duty cleaning methods we’ll look at below.

Deep Cleaning Your Glass or Clay Chillum

If you aren’t much for keeping up with the daily preventative maintenance, or you just found yourself with a particularly dirty chillum one day, you’ll want to look into some more heavy duty cleaning methods which employ cleaning agents.

One of the most amazing cleaning agents you can come by is boiling water. Using some tongs and a lot of care, pour boiling water through your chillum. Watch before your eyes as all of that gunk is heated and washed away.

If boiling hot water isn’t doing the trick, you can move onto using a solvent. The one almost universally recommended for cleaning chillums and other smoking devices is isopropyl rubbing alcohol.

You can soak your chillum in a bath of rubbing alcohol for a few hours. This should loosen and remove the majority of the resin and gunk. If there are still some stuck on pieces, you may need to scrape them or remove them with a pipe cleaner.

To really ramp things up, you can add an agitant. Add enough isopropyl rubbing alcohol to cover your chillum in a ziploc bag. Then add a generous quantity of rock salt. Shake the bag vigorously.

The alcohol will help dissolve the resin, while the rock salt with act like tiny little scrubbers to knock the dirty mess loose from its bondage.

When working with isopropyl rubbing alcohol, always be very careful to allow your chillum time to properly dry. It can also help to force some hot air through the chillum with something like a hairdryer. This will ensure the alcohol evaporates completely and isn’t lurking around in your pipe waiting to ruin your next hit.

Stay Clean Out There

Regular cleaning and maintenance for your chillum is vital. Without a bit of TLC, your favorite smoking piece can become a dirty, disgusting, and nearly unsmokable mess.

But with just a few minutes a day devoted to keeping things clean and sparkling, that favorite chillum can last for years to come, with every hit as satisfying and tasty as the first.

Take the time! Your chillum will thank you.