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Baking-soda in bong water... keeps the bong clean?

T

TheAzo

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Nov 7, 2009
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I recently bought a nice bubbler. It works great. But it's made of all clear glass, so it very quickly goes from looking like a lovely piece of precision glassware to looking like a filthy piece of used smokeware. The water also got foul quickly, probably because of how little water there was in it.

On a whim, I decided to try putting baking soda into it. I put in enough that there was still solid baking soda under the water. Baking soda water lasted at least twice as long before it started to have an adverse effect on the taste of the smoke. And more surprisingly, the pipe didn't get dirty like it used to. Brown resin that had been there actually came off instead of getting worse as I smoked out of it. After using it for a while (over 2-3 weeks of smoking it every day) it started to get a faint white stain below the water line - this came out easy with the usual rubbing alcohol + salt shake, and I could easily have let it go for another 2-3 weeks before it looked bad enough to need to clean (I wanted to make sure it came out). With regular water, I felt like it needed to be cleaned with salt and rubbing alcohol after less than 2 weeks.

I'm impressed - has anyone else tried this? I highly recommend it.
 
I've heard of using baking soda to clean a dirty bong but never heard of it being used in the bong water. It is pretty benign and I doubt it would be harmful unless you use a lot and use it for a long period of time but personally I wouldn't do it anyway, I like to keep the amount of chemicals I consume to a minimum.
 
this is just a guess but baking soda is a great cleaning product however smoking it is probably not ideal...
 
I agree. Use it to clean, not to smoke with. I will search around for the name of the product I can't remember it right now but if you go to a smoke shop and ask for a liquid that prevents resin buildup in bongs there is a product built specifically for this.
I think it is a greenish colored liquid that you simply add to the bong water, and it prevents resin buildup entirely. Pretty cool stuff. I will try to find it for you and post
 
It is not toxic. You aren't smoking it. Its a carbon atom with two oxygens. Toxic? Hardly. If you are worried, use a brand that doesn't extract it with chemicals, like Bob's Red Mill.
 
It's completely safe, it's just a (relatively) weak and non-toxic base. It's not like you're actually burning it, and, really, who inhales mouthfuls of water when taking a toke (shitty smoking system, if you are).
 
I?ve done it too. baking soda is a mineral not a chemical. Alternative doctors recommend taking a teaspoonful a day.
 
Baking soda is in most baked goods, people. You eat it regularly. Worry more about the propylene glycol your inhaling vast amounts of in your vapes. Largely untested in humans. Don't vape (anything) around your kids. even within the same hvac system of them.
 
Yeah this thread is old af but I am wondering if this might be a good idea? I've heard people recommend a tiny bit of sea salt to help keep it cleaner longer so?
 
Na just use water, i tend to use water that has been boiled and cooled down, letting some of the crap air off plus i know that water is clean then
I make cups of tea anyway so there is always leftover boiled water

Baking soda is good for cleaning things though like taking away odors and also somewhat abrasive if you shook up in a bong but no , there is no need to even attempt to use it for smoking through
 
What 23 said:
It is not toxic. You aren't smoking it. Its a carbon atom with two oxygens. Toxic? Hardly. If you are worried, use a brand that doesn't extract it with chemicals, like Bob's Red Mill.
Click to expand...
You just described CO2, carbon dioxide not NaHCO3 which is sodium bicarbonate aka baking soda.
 
likeyoumeanit said:
Baking soda is in most baked goods, people. You eat it regularly. Worry more about the propylene glycol your inhaling vast amounts of in your vapes. Largely untested in humans. Don't vape (anything) around your kids. even within the same hvac system of them.
Click to expand...
Using this logic then the vit e oil that people were cutting vape oil with shouldn't have killed anyone, but it turned out to be quite toxic when vaped. .
 
I don't think that putting baking soda in your bubbler is likely to be all that dangerous. I doubt it helps to add more baking soda than will actually dissolve, though. You're just setting yourself up to inhale dust and cough. But the good news is: it's soluble and your body can remove it.

On the other hand, I definitely disagree with smoking a bubbler every day for two weeks without changing the water, baking soda or no.
 
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