Dirty Hookah (how To Clean?)

[cc4385]

Hi everyone,

I've been trying to search this up on the forums, but either I'm really bad at searching or it hasn't come up before. I'm a lazy person. I got a hookah about two months ago and smoke it pretty frequently. I have a little brush to clean out the white gunks that form inside the stem area, but recently I've noticed that there's some brown stuff that I can't clean out. Do hookah places online typically offer cleaning solutions for the stems that you can immerse them in?

Otherwise, how do *you* clean your hookah?

Also, which coals do you guys recommend? I've been using the Japanese odorless ones, but ash always gets stuck in the bowl, and it turns out smoking like crap. It sucks because I have some really good shisha and never had this problem with the self-lighting coals.

Thanks!

[Winter]

I usually use hot water and rinse the stem and the other accessories pretty well. Use some soap too.

Coconaras are excellent coals... they don't ash too much, last for a long time, and they give off a lot of heat.

[cc4385]

I usually use hot water and rinse the stem and the other accessories pretty well. Use some soap too.

Coconaras are excellent coals... they don't ash too much, last for a long time, and they give off a lot of heat.

Winter,

The problem is I think I definitely went a few days/weeks without cleaning my hookah a few times, and I think some of the gunk has stuck on (hopefully not permanently). I now clean with hot water & everything, but it doesn't get rid of the stuff. Would it be just easier to buy a new hookah?

I've been really disappointed - it seems like my hookah just kind of broke down all of a sudden a month and a half into owning it. I bought it from saharasmoke.com? Edited June 20, 2008 by cc4385

[Scoop]

when my hookahs get dirty i buy new ones.

(brushes + lemon juice then baking soda/water)

[cc4385]

when my hookahs get dirty i buy new ones.

(brushes + lemon juice then baking soda/water)

oo I think I'll try that tomorrow.
Do you really buy new ones when they get dirty? How often does that turn out to be?

[bobosap]

empty dishwasher

[Big Boss]

I throw my Phunnel and Super Chief in the dishwasher. I put my scalli mod and pyrex bowl in a bowl of simmering water and add a bunch of baking soda. Cleans them right up. For the base, I fill it up with hot water and add a drop of dawn dish soap. I then scrub the inside with my base brush that came with my hookah. For the stem, I usually do the same with the base except I don't use dawn, just hot water and run my brush through there a bunch of times. If the outside of the stem is dirty, which it rarely is, i'll use windex. Surprisingly it works quite well.

[Scoop]

i have 14 hookahs right now...but i dont just keep buying new ones, only once in a while

[Snoopy1966]

I personally clean out my Hookah after every use. I use a stem brush and just run water down the stem and brush it out good. Then I blow out the water in the hose port and then I blow on the bottom of the down stem where the purge vale port is and blow out all the water. Then I use a vase brush to brush out the vase. I use a little of dish soap in the vase. I rarely have to use lemon juice, but that will get rid of a lot of gunk. You may have to get some cheap vodka to kill all the smells and get it clean.

I have 14 Hookahs too Scoop!

[hookah hippie]

To clean my hookahs I use a brush and vinegar (it is just as acidic as lemon juice but soooo much cheaper)

[Stuie]

I really try to rinse out after every session, sometimes i won't do a full cleaning, even though I should... i have been lazy lately. I use Dawn on everything except bowls and hoses. Then I use Lemon Juice/Water Solution.

[MeHT]

I use baking soda and good old scrubby-scrubby-scrub-srub.