Dabbing cannabis concentrates is more popular than ever before with various types of dab rigs to choose from. For the most part, a dab rig is a type of water pipe for vaporizing cannabis concentrates and they’re often made from glass. These rigs function similarly to bongs, but they tend to be smaller. This helps the vapor hit your lungs quickly and retain potency.
Not only is it sanitary, cleaning your dab rig will help maintain peak purity and performance for your next session. Furthermore, the water dirty water inside your dab rig can quickly become a breeding ground for bad bacteria, and other things you definitely don’t want to inhale.
Continue reading for a complete guide to properly cleaning and sanitizing your dab rig and nail.
How Often Should You Clean Your Dab Rig?
There’s no single right answer to the question of how often you should clean your dab rig. It’s best to replace the water in your rig after every use. As mentioned before, if given just a little bit of time, a biofilm can form at the top of the water that could potentially house pathogens like Strep and E. coli or even mildew. If inhaled, these could lead to some nasty consequences.
One of the benefits of a dab rig is that the water filters out a bit of the nasty stuff you don’t want in your lungs. At the end of the day, regularly cleaning your dab rig will help reduce smell, resin buildup, and anything that may be creating a blockage in the stem.
Aside from simply replacing the water, you’ll need to give your rig a deeper clean every couple of uses or so. We’ll explain exactly what tools you need and how to do it below.
Helpful Dab Rig Cleaning Supplies
When it comes to freshening up your dab rig, there are a wide variety of household cleaning supplies and materials that can help you get the job done. Listed below are some of your best options for cleaning tools.
- 99% Isopropyl Alcohol (rubbing alcohol)
- Torch
- Coarse salt (sea salt works great)
- Plastic bag or any sealable container
- Q-tips
- Pipe cleaner
- Etc…
Step-By-Step Guide to Cleaning a Dab Rig
- Torch the Nail: The easiest way to do an initial clean of your dab rig is to use the torch on the nail to loosen up some of the residual buildups of gunk. Some of it will burn off on its own, but you can also use an alcohol-soaked q-tip to finish the job off.
- Take the banger nail out and soak it: After giving it a quick torch, you can take the nail out and soak it in its own bag full of rubbing alcohol for a few hours.
- Remove any water still in the rig: This is simple. Just pour out the rest of the water in your dab rig.
- Pour alcohol into the rig: The next step is to fill your dab rig up about a ⅓ of the way full with rubbing alcohol and some coarse sea salt.
- Give the rig a good shake: Once you have the alcohol and salt in the right, you’ll need to give it a shake to spread it around and loosen the leftover grime. You can either cover the opening with carb caps, your hands, or plastic wrap.
- Rinse everything Out: In the end, rinse everything out with water and wipe off the remaining residue with a paper towel or rag. Now your dab rig is clean and ready for your next great session.
How to Clean a Dab Nail
To keep your nail or quartz banger clean, it’s a good idea to wipe down the surface with a q-tips when it’s still warm after taking the dab. This way you won’t have to give it a deep clean as often. If you’re cleaning off any residual resin that’s stuck to the nail pretty solid, you’ll likely have to get the rubbing alcohol back out. Simply put a small amount directly 1the nail and rub some more with a clean q-tip. 11
If you still have some gunk left over after some manual cleaning, you may want to place the nail in a plastic bag with a bit of rubbing alcohol. Give it a good couple of shakes and leave it there to soak for a couple of hours or even overnight. From here, simply run the nail under warm water and rub off the rest with a rag. At this point, it should be fairly easy to clean off.
As mentioned above, you can also utilize your torch to loosen up and smoke off some additional resin material.
Additional Tips for Enhancing Your Dab Experience
Dabbing isn’t too complicated once you’re used to it, but even seasoned users make common mistakes. In order to get the full experience and benefits from your session, we suggest following the tips listed out below.
Dabbing Tips
- Get the temperature right
- Use a quality dab rig
- Don’t overdo it
- Consider a carb cap
- Clean the dab residue after each use
Where to Find Premium Dabbing Concentrates
If you spend the time to clean and take care of your dab rig, you should reward yourself with premium extracts. You can find the highest quality live resin, diamonds, and THCa. URSA Extracts creates only the best dab concentrates to elevate your experience and provide the latest and greatest in full-spectrum THC concentrates.
our live resin and diamonds dab concentrates specifically, lock in all of the goodness of the cannabis plant terpenes, cannabinoids, and additional beneficial plant material. When combined, these substances interact with each individual endocannabinoid system to produce the entourage effect.
You can learn more about URSA’s various strains and the high they produce by visiting our very own Terpene Vault. You can also find any URSA products for sale at a dispensary near you with the store locator.
