subject: How to Clean Glass Tobacco Pipes [print this page] It is in the 16th century when tobacco was brought back to Europe from North America. Since then smoking has been popular among the mass class of people. In past, the pipes were considered to be the most popular way of smoking. But today, cigarettes are the more common then pipes. But still, many people like to smoke with pipes. Tobacco pipes come in many types like wood, metal or glass. In past metal or wood pipes were common, but nowadays glass pipes are also there with improved quality. Unlike wood or metal pipes, glass pipes don't give any unwanted flavor like wood or metal.
Cleaning Solution
Many cleaning solutions are now available in the market to clean the tobacco pipes. Purple Power and Dr Greens are the two popular names that have designed some fluids to remove the tobacco residue off from the glass tobacco pipe. Isopropyl alcohol is the main ingredient of these solutions. You can purchase a 16oz. bottle at Walgreens for only $1.99. You can use this instead of cleaning solutions as effectively as solutions.
How to Use
You need a gallon sized Ziploc bag. Put isopropyl alcohol in it and then immerse your glass pipe into it. Close the seal of the Ziploc bag and turn it upside down to check for any leaks.
Cleaning-up
As soon as you put the glass tobacco pipe into the isopropyl alcohol, tobacco residues begin to loosen up. Soft and weak residue particles leave the surface by just dipping the glass pipe into the solution. But if tough tobacco residues you need to apply some force.
Hold the bag from top as you are holding it in fist. Now shake the bag up and down, back and forth with some force. Avoid hitting the bag to any sharp surface for it will tear the bag off. Shake it for a while so that the isopropyl alcohol reaches every corner of the pipe and allows the tobacco particles to loosen up at places where you cannot reach otherwise. This powerful shaking helps to remove the tough remainders of the tobacco from the surface of the glass pipe.
Protection
After cleaning your glass pipe with isopropyl alcohol, you need to properly remove the remaining of the isopropyl alcohol from the pipe. For this, take a large pot of water and placed it on the burning stove. Make sure that the pot is big enough to accommodate the pipe. You need to immerse the pipe into boiling water. Use tongs to place the pipe in boiling water. Be careful not to burn your hands. Leave the pipe into boiling water for about 15 minutes. Once the smell of alcohol has gone, remove the pipe from the water.
