How to Clean a Dab Rig Without Alcohol

Your dab rig gets pretty nasty with regular use, even when you practice good hygiene by cleaning your banger after every hit. The water in your rig is like a stagnant puddle when it’s left alone for too long and can develop all kinds of bacteria and fungi that you don’t want to breathe into your lungs, or worse, get into your mouth. But how to clean a dab rig after every use without breaking out the rubbing alcohol and salt? Here’s everything you need to know about cleaning your dab rig without alcohol.

How to clean a dab rig with hot water

Since you don’t want to let that water stagnate, you’re going to want to rinse out your dab rig with hot water in between deep cleanings. Rinsing your rig with hot water makes your rig taste fresher, but it also helps to remove some of the nasty stuff that can build up in your rig. Aim to clean your dab rig with hot water after every session.

To do it, start by boiling some water. The temperature that comes out of your hot water tap isn’t enough to kill bacteria or remove any resinous buildup, so you have to boil it for best results. Once you’ve got your water boiling, use a metal sieve and lay your dab rig inside at an angle so that it can get a good steam going. Wait about 15 minutes, remove it from the sieve, and pour warm water into your rig. Plug the holes with your fingers, then give it a good shake to remove any leftover resin or scoobs. If you have anything super baked on, you can add rock salt at this point to help scratch some of that stuff off. But once you’re looking clean, just empty it out and run some clean water through it to get it looking spic and span.

To recap, you will need: 

1. Pan
2. Sieve
3. Water

And to clean your rig with hot water, follow these steps: 

1. Boil water in pan
2. Place metal sieve on top of pan
3. Place dab rig in sieve (angled so steam enters inside of rig),
4. Allow the rig to steam for 15 mins
5. Remove rig from sieve
6. Fill your rig with warm water and shake while covering the holes with your fingers to remove other loose bits. You can optionally add rock salt at this stage for stubborn stains.
7. Rinse again thoroughly with warm water.
8. Repeat as necessary

How to clean a dab rig with baking soda and vinegar

If you ever need to do a deep cleaning but don’t have any rubbing alcohol on hand, you can go for a more natural method. Think back to your school days and your baking soda volcano. The baking soda and vinegar combo is a powerful and effective way to clean a rig without alcohol and works extra hard against resin. The only downside is that you’ve gotta rinse it really well at the end so your rig doesn’t taste like vinegar. Unless you’re into that, of course.

To clean a dab rig with baking soda and vinegar, start by filling your dab rig with vinegar. You’re going to want to use more vinegar than the amount of water you use in your dab rig during use. Once you’ve got plenty of that in there, you can add about half a cup of baking soda into the rig. You can use a funnel to make sure you get it into the neck of your rig, too. When you’re situated, just let it soak for an hour or two and then cover the holes and give it a good long shake.

If you have any leftover buildup, you can use a cotton swab and a little baking soda to scrub difficult areas. After that, just rinse it thoroughly with water to remove the rest of the vinegar and baking soda. If you’re having trouble getting that vinegar flavor out, keep rinsing and add a little lemon juice to your final fill. The lemon juice will help with the flavor, but the acidity also makes it harder for bacteria to grow in your dab rig water, meaning you can go a little longer in between cleanings.

To recap, you will need:

1. 1/2 cup baking soda
2. Plenty of vinegar
3. Funnel
4. Water
5. Cotton swabs
6. Lemon juice (optional)

To clean your dab rig with baking soda and vinegar, follow these steps: 

1.  Fill dab rig with vinegar (use more than the amount of water you’d have in the rig)
2. Add half a cup of baking soda to the rig, using a funnel to make sure you get enough baking soda into the neck of your rig.
3. Let the mixture soak for an hour or more.
4. Cover holes with your fingers and shake rig rigorously
5. Use a cotton swab with baking soda to clean the extra stubborn areas
6. Rinse thoroughly with warm water to remove traces of vinegar and baking soda.
7. Add lemon juice if you struggle to get the flavor out or if you’d like to slow bacterial growth inside your rig.

If all else fails, use specialist glass cleaner

There are a lot of reasons to not want to use rubbing alcohol in your rig. While the rubbing alcohol and salt method is one of the most effective methods out there, it doesn’t leave behind a great taste. Whether you’re just out of alcohol or just don’t want to use it, you can try the methods above or opt for specialist glass cleaners like Formula 420. Formula 420 is an all-in-one cleaner designed for resin in your bong or rig. More importantly, it smells great and leaves behind a fresh citrusy flavor.

Related Content: Cleaning Your Dab Rig with Isopropyl and Rock Salt