One-hitter pipes are often far easier to clean than other pipes and bongs. Thanks to their compact size and streamlined design, one-hitters and chillums are often very easy to deep clean and keep clean.

Here, you'll learn everything you need to know about how to clean your one-hitter pipes, how often you should clean them, and how to keep them clean for longer.

Let's get started!

How to Clean a One-Hitter or Dugout Pipe

Cleaning your glass one-hitter, chillum, or dugout pipe is very easy. Just follow these steps!

Gather Your Supplies

You'll need isopropyl alcohol or a pipe cleaning solution, a Ziploc bag or plastic container (the plastic container should fit your smoking accessories snuggly), a pipe cleaner, and some Q-tips.

You may also need some paper towels, a small brush, and a couple of tablespoons of salt.

Clear Out Your Pipe and Dugout

Remove any loose ashes and debris from the bowl of your pipe. You can use the tip of your pipe cleaner to clear out any leftover chunks better.

Clear out your one-hitter, placing your leftover tobacco or CBD flower in another container while you clean them. You can use pipe cleaners or a small brush to remove all dry herbs from the compartment.

Soak Your Pipe

Place your one-hitter pipe or dugout in your plastic bag or container and pour some rubbing alcohol or cleaning solution. Although a few minutes should do the trick, leaving them overnight makes removing the gunk easier.

You can also add some sea salt or baking soda to the alcohol and shake your plastic bag while safely securing your pipe to expedite cleaning.

Clean Your Pipe

Take your pipe out and use your pipe cleaner to go inside your pipe, clearing the bowl and the mouthpiece. You can use a Q-tip for detailing, helping you fully clean your pipe.

Rinse and Dry

Ensure you're not leaving any cleaning solution by rinsing your pipe with warm water and leaving it to dry over a paper towel.

Although small pipes may take a few minutes to dry, you may want to wait a couple of hours before refilling your dugout, especially if it's made out of wood or if you can't reach the bottom to dry it.

Once everything is dry, you can reload your dugout for your next sesh.

How to Clean a One-Hitter with Boiling Water

Hot water is another simple and effective cleaning method for your metal and glass pieces, loosening and melting any resin buildup off your pipe.

Here's how to do it the right way:

1. Clear out your pipe: Use a toothpick or paper clip to remove any loose gunk and ash from your pipe.
2. Prepare the water: Start heating up your water on the stove. If you're using a glass pipe, you'll want to place some warm water in a bowl, submerging your pipe for at least 5 minutes to warm it up and ensure it doesn't break.
3. Boil the water: Once the water boils, you can replace the warm water in the bowl with the hot water, carefully placing enough to cover your one-hitter. Leave it for about an hour.
4. Rinse your pipe: Use tweezers or mitts to remove your one-hitter, and rinse it with warm water. Do not use cold water, as you may shatter your pipe. 
5. Detail clean your one-hitter: Use a cotton swab or a thin brush to finish cleaning any gunk off your pipe. Then, leave it to dry for about half an hour.
   Now your pipe is clean and ready to use!

How Often Should You Clean a One-Hitter?

You don't have to clean your one-hitter every time you use it. However, to keep any smoking device working correctly, you should perform a deep clean periodically.

How often you deep clean your pipe depends on how often and what you use it for. Some kinds of dry herbs leave behind more resiny residues than others. The more leftover tar or resin you have in your pipe, the worse it'll be to smoke with it.

Typically, you'll want to deep clean any chillum, dab rig, or water pipe after every 5-10 sessions. That way, you can enjoy the purest flavors from smoking your dispensary's flowers without any leftover tar to ruin the taste.

You should also deep clean your pipe before and after anyone else uses it to sanitize it and ensure no one shares any germs.

Final Thoughts

Cleaning your one-hitters and chillums is quite easy! From quick and effective glass cleaning solutions to simple boiling water, there's always an easy way to clean your pipe and ensure you get the best tasting experience.

If your one-hitter has seen better days, has suffered damage, or is simply too dirty for you to want to clean it, check out our collection of one-hitter pipes for sale!

Whether you're looking to get an all-in-one solution in the form of a dugout or want to keep it simple with a chillum or glass blunt, there's no shortage of all types of one-hitters available at GrassCity.