Isopropyl alcohol has been the go-to bong cleaner for decades, and there's a reason it's still the standard — it works, it's cheap, and it's everywhere. The key is getting 99.9% pure. The 70% surgical spirit stuff contains too much water to be truly effective. At 99.9%, it dissolves sticky cannabis resin almost instantly. It's proper alchemy.
The Salt & Alcohol Method
Here's the recipe: pour 100ml of 99.9% IPA into your bong, add 2 tablespoons of coarse salt — Epsom or sea salt works best — plug the openings, and shake vigorously for 30–60 seconds. The alcohol dissolves the resin while the salt physically scrubs it off the glass. Rinse with warm water and your piece comes out looking brand new. It's cost-effective, it's simple, and it works better than most fancy commercial cleaners.
Where IPA Really Shines
Vaporiser stems, glass chillums, downstems — drop them in a jar of IPA for 1–2 hours and the resin dissolves completely without any scrubbing. Heavily soiled pieces? Leave them overnight and they come out like new. At under a fiver for 500ml, this is the best value cleaner on the market by a wide margin.