How to Clean a Pipe with Alcohol and Salt

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: March 30, 2022 Tested

You can use alcohol and salt to clean glass and metal smoking pipes. For pipes made out of porous or organic materials, it’s better to use a different method to clean them without alcohol. If your pipe is made out of metal or glass, go ahead and gather your supplies and get to soaking and cleaning it. Soon enough, smoking out of it will almost be like enjoying a brand new pipe!

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Soaking the Pipe

1
Place your pipe in a sealable plastic bag or container. Carefully put your pipe into a zip-top plastic bag or a container with a sealable top. The bag or container must be sealable so the alcohol and salt mixture doesn’t leak out.^{[1]
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- If your pipe can be disassembled, take it apart before you put it in the bag or container. If the pieces are delicate, such as thin glass parts, put each piece in a separate bag or container so they don’t knock into each other and potentially break.
- This cleaning method can be applied to any type of glass or metal pipe.
2
Pour in enough isopropyl alcohol to cover the pipe. Open up a container of isopropyl alcohol. Pour it slowly into the bag or container until it just covers your pipe.^{[2]
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- You can use rubbing alcohol as long as it contains at least 70% isopropyl alcohol by volume.
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3
Add 2-3 tbsp (17-51 g) of table salt to the alcohol. Measure out about 2-3 tbsp (17-51 g) of any type of regular table salt. Don’t worry about being too exact with the measurement. More salt won’t hurt your pipe.^{[3]
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- The salt will act as a gentle abrasive substance to help loosen the resin stuck on the inside of your pipe as it soaks in the alcohol.
- Kosher salt works well because the grains are bigger than standard table salt.
4
Seal the bag or container and shake to swirl the mixture around. Close the zip-top of the bag or snap the container’s lid into place to seal your pipe and the alcohol and salt mixture inside. Shake the bag or container back and forth vigorously for 1-2 minutes, so the salt starts to scrub the surfaces inside your pipe.^{[4]
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- If your pipe is particularly dirty and has a lot of resin on the inside, feel free to shake it for longer to help loosen it. You won’t do any harm by shaking the mixture around more, but your arm might get tired!
- Be cautious if your pipe has any delicate pieces. For example, if it is a glass pipe with thin ornamental pieces of blown glass on it, shake the mixture very gently.
5
Let the pipe soak for at least 1 hour or overnight. Leave the pipe alone in the mixture for about 1 hour if it is just mildly dirty. Allow the pipe to sit in the mixture until the following day if it is super dirty and has a lot of caked-on resin.^{[5]
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- If your pipe is really dirty, you can also try letting it sit for an hour or so, then empty out the dirty alcohol and fill the bag or container with clean alcohol and more salt. Shake the mixture around again, then let the pipe sit overnight.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Rinsing and Swabbing the Pipe

1
Open the bag or container away from your face after your pipe soaks. The alcohol mixture will smell very strong and nasty because of all the resin and grime it removed from your pipe. Carefully open up the bag or container away from your face, so you don’t breathe in the fumes.^{[6]
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- Be very careful not to spill any of the dirty alcohol mixture. It will be very stinky and sticky and hard to get out of something like a carpet or rug.
2
Rinse your pipe out thoroughly under hot running water. Carefully remove your pipe from the dirty alcohol. Hold the mouth of the pipe under a faucet and turn the hot water on. Let the water run through the pipe and out of the bowl of the pipe until the water runs clear.^{[7]
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- Running clear means that you don’t see any more pieces of resin getting flushed out of the pipe by the hot running water.
- If you don’t want to get the dirty alcohol and bits of resin on your hands, wear rubber or latex gloves for this part.
3
Scrub the inside of the pipe with pipe cleaners or cotton swabs. Insert a pipe cleaner or cotton swab into the mouthpiece and push it back and forth to clean off any resin that is still stuck inside. Repeat this with a fresh pipe cleaner or cotton swab until it comes out clean and you don’t see any obvious pieces of resin or grime inside the pipe.^{[8]
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- You can also soak a cotton swab or pipe cleaner in isopropyl alcohol before you do this to help loosen stuck-on resin.
4
Give your pipe a final rinse with hot water. Hold the mouthpiece under hot running water and let the water run out through the bowl of the pipe. This will flush out any last bits of grime that you scrubbed loose inside.^{[9]
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- If your pipe still looks dirty after all this, you can start over at the beginning of the process. Soak it again and scrub it out again until it is clean enough for you.
5
Set your pipe on a dry towel and leave it to air dry for 1-2 hours. Lay a small, dry towel out on a flat surface like a table or countertop. Place your pipe down in the middle of the towel and let it dry completely before you use it.^{[10]
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- This will also ensure that any alcohol residue that didn’t get rinsed off completely evaporates.

Warnings

Don’t soak pipes made out of stone, ceramic, wood, antler, or bone in alcohol and salt mixture. Instead, you can scrub them out with pipe cleaners or cotton swabs. For stone and ceramic pipes, it’s OK to soak the cotton swabs or pipe cleaners in isopropyl alcohol first.^{[14]
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