The most significant advantage of glass pipes is that they do not alter the flavor. Whatever you smoke in them stays the same, unlike wood and clay pipes that are explicitly used to enhance the flavor. So while glass pipes do not add any impurities during combustion, they also have their side effects or disadvantages of glass pipes. Over the years, the market of glass pipes is becoming more conscious regarding the quality of these products. Buyers are more educated than before, so they are more conscious about maintaining their authentic smoking experiences, cleanliness, and pricing.
In this regard, the biggest disadvantages of glass pipes is that they are made of glass, a fragile material that can break easily. Nobody will like to see his favorite pipe shattering into pieces. Although the craftsmanship is improving the quality of bong pipes and glass, these products still have minor stress points. Big glass pipes get heated and cooled in everyday use. This heating and cooling can fracture and leave cracks that can shatter the pipes under minor stress.
In order to combat this stress issue, most manufacturers have started to use borosilicate glass features commonly known as Pyrex. This glass can stand higher temperature differences that emerge during smoking.
So, while you are smoking with the pipe, the pipe will become gummed up with resin, which is a substance that is left behind in the combustion process. As resin increases, it gets challenging to pull smoke out of the pipe. Not only that, pulling smoke out gets problematic; substances present within resin alter the flavor of the smoke. Empty pipes, if not cleaned for very long, can harbor bacteria, due to which your health gets at the risk of many severe problems. Luckily, you can avoid all of these problems simply by cleaning your glass pipes regularly. This will ensure a healthy smoking habit in you and increase the lifespan of your glass pipes.
One of the best methods for cleaning glass pipes is boiling them. If you are using this technique, remember not to drop your cold pipe into hot boiling water. Instead, the right approach is to place your pipe within lukewarm water because this allows the water to reach boiling point with pipe already in it. The temperature of the glass pipe increases gradually with the water. So, when the water starts boiling, the removal of resin happens. However, even the hot water will simply soften the resin in severe cases. Now you should use a pipe cleaner to remove anything stuck inside the pipe.
The most suitable pipe cleaner for the removal of softened resin is a combination of rubbing alcohol and salt. In this regard, once your pipe has been taken out of the hot water, you should put it into a container and pull some rubbing alcohol, which will be followed by salt. Now you should keep this as it is for overnight. During this period, the glass will clean up considerably. The job of alcohol is to dissolve the resin, while the salt acts as an oppressive that removes any parties stuck inside the pipe.
In summary, glass pipes are an environmentally sound choice for consuming any substance in the shape of smoke. In addition, proper maintenance, cleaning, and care make them last for several years.
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