Bongs are a staple of cannabis culture. Knowing how to use a bong is important for anyone who wants to enjoy the full range of cannabis consumption methods. Here's a step-by-step guide for smoking a bong.
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Prep your bong
Before doing anything else, be sure your bong is ready to go. Insert the downstem while checking that your bowl slides smoothly in and is cleared of any ash.
Typically, the bong's water goes through the mouthpiece, which is the large opening at the top of the bong. Put enough water into the water chamber in the bong so that the bottom of the downstem is fully submerged—you don't need any more than that. Finally, if you are using any additional components such as an ice catch, be sure everything is in its proper place inside the bong.
Clean your bong
Bongs can quickly become dirty, smelly, and gunked up with resin. To keep your bong in pristine working condition, clean it after each session.
Begin by emptying out all the ash from the bowl. Then, remove the bowl and place it in a zipper-top plastic bag with some coarse salt and rubbing alcohol (or simply use a cleaning solution designed for bongs and other glass smoking pieces). For those hard-to-reach areas, grab our brush set to make cleaning stems and small parts easier.
Now that the downstem and bowl are clean, it's time to focus on the bong itself. Start by pouring out the water in the water chamber. Now pour in some rubbing alcohol and coarse salt. Alternatively, you can use a cleaning solution designed specifically for bongs. Either way, once you've added a cleaning mixture, use rubber stoppers to plug all holes. Give your bong a good shake. As with the bowl and downstem, the alcohol will help break apart the sticky resin and the salt will exfoliate away any residue. When the bong is clean, dump out the cleaning solution and rinse the entire thing with clean water.