Base/stem Cleaning

[Zildjian]

What is the best way to clean your base and stem? I would like specific instructions....time...measurements....

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand GO!

(btw this is for a mya qt and gyro...assume the qt is half the gyro so make sure you state which recipe is for which hokoah)

[jerrysalem]

Good question. I am a fanatic with it and clean it immediately after each use.

Base - some dishwashing liquid, hot water, shake it up, use the brush that is used I guess for baby bottles, time, 2 minutes

Shaft - I have the kind of brush that I've only seen in speciality hookah shops like hookah-shisha.com.
Since we both thank goodness have the quality Mya stainless steel shaft, I use normal dishwashing soap. I first run some hot water thru the shaft for about 20 seconds, then use the thin long brush with detergent liquid on it, for about 30 seconds, and rinse with hot, then cold water

Shisha bowl - some hot water with the scotchbrite or other dish scrubber for about 30 seconds, rinse with cold water

Hose - I put one end of the hose under fairly warm water and suck through the other end until the water gets in my mouth. Then blow the water out of the hose until it's empty. I do this about five times. Normally it's OK but sometimes (I smell it then to see if it's clean) I have to use some lemon juice and do the same suck in and blow out a few times. 2 minutes.

Important-Hang hose up to dry so that the water gets out and doesn't rust your hose.

That's about it. Total time maybe 5 to ten relaxing and productive minutes and at the end you KNOW your beloved hookah is good to go for the next time!

This is for ANY hookah, be it Gyro or QT or hobohookah, it takes the same time as they all have the same amount of parts. Edited January 14, 2008 by jerrysalem

[jfaltous]

I'm a lot lazier with my cleaning.. I usually rinse everything out after each use (i.e. run hot water through stem and swirl some hot water in the vase), and scrub the bowl. Once a week or so (after about 4-5 uses) I do the thorough cleaning, which includes using one of those stem brushes with some baking soda for the stem and using a mix of baking soda and water to swirl around the vase. For the vase I usually rinse it out afterwards and then put in a mix of lemon juice and water (about 1/4 cup of lemon juice and fill to the top) and let it sit for about an hour, then it comes out smelling fresh.

As for the hoses, I tend to just blow through them after every use and leave it at that. I have 2 Mya hoses that I use right now and only once have I felt the need to clean them, and all I did then was rinse water through it about 4 or 5 times and hang it out to dry.

[MechAnt]

For the longer stems, I fill it a little less than halfway with hot water and throw in a shot of some vodka or cheap tequila (or leftover Natty light) and slosh it around for a while then brush it out and finally wash it out with hot water. With the base, I throw a shot of alcohol in with hot water and shake it up throughly. Since you have a Gyro, completely disassemble it and work each piece individually as I do with my MYA Acrylic's stem which similarly disassembles.

[r1v3th3ad]

just don't put it in boiling hot water!
I double hose I have went unused and uncleaned for a good four months...too busy with working overtime and classes, barely had time to sleep. Anyway, I decided to clean it in boiling hot water and it killed all my seals(they were a plastic/superglue like seals). If you have this issue though, and your hookah "dies", get a tube of JB Stick, it works wonders. It holds up to roughly 400 degrees F directly on it. Moisture affects it, I have to change my seal every four months or so.
Now I clean it starting with a rinse, then followed with pipe cleaner rods. If its real bad I bust out my everclear 151 proof. Tooth brush work well for exterior. If nothing really available, strips of cloth twirled up(like a wet towel hittin your ass) works wonders for stem.

Good luck, hope this is useful to someone.

[clickhea]

ive also been using dish washing liquid, which seems to work great, just make sure you rinse it out real well

then once a week or so i'll use the beer method to remove smells

[thecoalition]

hot water + lemon juice.
base = pour in swish around and dump out. repeat two times.
stem = same liquid shake vigorously dump out. scrub with stem cleaning brushes. repeat swish method.

thecoalition method leaves no soapy taste and cleans well.

once a month i use formula 420 but a liter of lemon juice is half the price.