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Many factors contribute to a successful session. Good tobacco, natural coconut coals and a decent bowl applied to your favorite pipe. What more could you want? First of all, a clean and odor-free Hookah. A water pipe that is not washed thoroughly or at all can ruin a session, and in the long run even lead to damage to the body parts themselves. Constant contact with water, the possibility of scale buildup and residual odors from the smoked tobacco make it extremely important to clean it properly for the desired results. The same applies to a new, freshly purchased pipe, which should be thoroughly rinsed before the first use. With the following guide, cleaning a Hookah will become a snap.
What to wash a water pipe with?
Water alone is not enough. While it will rinse out pieces of tobacco that may get from the cigarette to the bowl, it will not remove foreign odors and will not prevent scale buildup. An inexpensive solution can be food-grade citric acid powder or lemon juice. The acid solution will remove most unwanted odors from the vase. Just pour two teaspoons inside, pour in warm water and shake the vase a few times to flush out all the lingering aromas accumulated during smoking. This will also help get rid of limescale buildup, which is especially important if you have hard tap water.
Pipe cleaning products
For those who want to get rid of odor to zero, Schmand Weg cleaning powder is available. The German formulation gently cleans and removes odors and is used in the same way as food acid. One pack is enough for at least a dozen washes.
For users who want to take care of their hookah and be sure that despite frequent “baths” it will not succumb to accelerated wear, we recommend Hookah Cleaner. It is suitable for cleaning any material that is used in water pipes. In short, it is safe for both glass, wood and stainless steel, and we can also clean the pipe from the outside with it.
What about hard-to-reach areas?
It may seem problematic to clean the body of the pipe, especially its elongated parts. The tubes through which the smoke is flowing are very easy to clean with the pipe cleaner, which is used specifically for this purpose, so it is worth getting one, because its price is almost symbolic. Soak the cutter in the liquid with which you will clean the hookah and drag it several times in the washed element. Special brushes for the vase are also available on the market, thanks to which we can get into its nooks and crannies.
How to properly clean the bowl?
And finally, cleaning the bowl. Regardless of its type and the material it is made of, it is worth waiting for it to cool down after a session. Otherwise, it may suffer thermal shock on contact with cool water and break. This time an ordinary sponge will come to our aid, with which we should easily remove burnt tobacco fragments. It’s also a good idea to use a cigarette cutter to clean the channel by which the smoke enters down the hookah. After all, it is the bowl that is largely responsible for the taste of the smoke.
We can treat adhered, burnt tobacco fragments on glass bowls with oven cleaning foam, let it stand for a while and clean the whole thing with a sponge. In the case of unglazed clay bowls, the material will colloquially say “saw molasses”. Glycerin with flavor will penetrate deep into the bowl which will cause the taste of subsequent sessions to be altered by flavors from previous sessions. To prevent this, the bowl should be boiled every now and then. Put it in boiling water in a pot and leave it for about 15-30 minutes.
Hookah hose washing
Silicone hoses, which we particularly recommend, can also accumulate odor. This can get in the way when you smoke intense flavors, for example, two apples. In this case, it will be difficult to get rid of the aroma, but it is important to run a significant amount of water through the hose after the session is over. If you clean the hose before smoking, it is a good idea to thoroughly blow the water out of it, so that it does not interfere with the flow of smoke. However, even despite very careful cleaning, after about six months we will have to replace the hose with a new one.
Any washing should be completed by wiping the pipe and its components dry. Both aesthetic and practical reasons speak for this. Threaded parts left to dry collect scale on themselves, the action of which can end in rapid wear of the pipe. Stains left by hard water will, in turn, disfigure the pipe, which should, after all, please the eye during each session. Cleaning will be easier if you opt for a more expensive pipe. It can be taken apart, so it will be easier to clean each component individually. In addition, such hookahs use components made of higher quality materials, which together with the time of use will wear and tear much more slowly.