How to Clean a Dab Rig: The Complete Guide

Aside from their incredible potency, one of the best things about dab rigs is how easy they are to clean. Unlike with a dry herb vaporizer, you don’t have to clean a cramped oven and a tiny airflow tube when you use a dab rig. 

Dab rigs are also easier to clean than vape pens with cartridges – and cleaning a cartridge is pretty much impossible anyway. Dab rigs tend to be fairly large, and since they offer plenty of airflow, you usually don’t have to worry about cleaning a tiny space that’s difficult to reach. 

Most importantly, the non-electronic components of a dab rig are usually removable, which means that you can clean them by soaking them in alcohol – which is always the best way to clean any vaporizer component.

You might already know that alcohol is the best cleaner for a vaporizer. You may actually be here because you want to know how to clean a dab rig without alcohol, though, and we’ll cover that in this guide as well. We’ll also explain how to reclaim and use any residue that may still contain active cannabinoids if you want to avoid waste. 

It’s time to become a real vaping expert. Here’s the best way to clean a dab rig.

How to Clean the Main Body of a Dab Rig

Assuming that you’re using an electronic dab rig like the Puffco Peak Pro, the main body of your dab rig is the one thing that you can’t clean simply by soaking it in alcohol because the device’s electronic components can’t get wet. In most cases, the only thing that you should ever use to clean the main body of your dab rig is a soft cloth. If your device is stained with sticky residue that you can’t simply wipe away, you can remove the residue with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol. Wipe any residual alcohol away promptly after removing the stain.

How to Clean a Dab Rig Banger, Nail or Coil

Your dab rig uses a glass, quartz or metal banger, nail or coil as a heating surface – and in almost all cases, the heating element is removable for easy cleaning. To clean your dab rig’s banger, nail or coil, simply remove it from the device and drop it in a bowl of rubbing alcohol. Cannabinoid oils are alcohol soluble, so an hour or two in alcohol should remove the residue completely. Rinse and dry the item before using your dab rig again. It’s helpful to have a second coil, nail or banger that you can use during the soaking process.

Note that when you use your dab rig, the heating element is subjected to intense heat. That’s going to cause permanent discoloration that persists even after you’ve soaked the item in alcohol. The staining is completely normal, and you don’t need to worry about it.

How to Clean a Dab Rig’s Glass Components

If your dab rig has a small glass component that’s removable – a bubbler, for instance – you can clean it by soaking it in alcohol as described above. That’s not so easy, however, if your device has a large glass mouthpiece that encloses the entire heating area. In that case, it’s handy to have some isopropyl alcohol cleaning wipes that you can use to wipe away the residue from inside the glass. After using the cleaning wipes, rinse the glass and let it dry completely before using your dab rig again.

How to Clean a Silicone Dab Rig

If you have a dab rig made from silicone, you can clean it by soaking it in alcohol or by using alcohol wipes as described above. Remember to rinse away the alcohol and dry the dab rig completely before using it again. However, there’s also a second option that you may like even more.

Is the inside of your silicone dab rig full of residue that you’d like to reclaim and use again? Try throwing the entire dab rig into your freezer. At below-freezing temperatures, cannabis residue hardens and becomes easy to separate from silicone. Simply scrape the residue into a container, and then you can vape it again.

How to Clean a Dab Rig Without Alcohol

Without a doubt, rubbing alcohol is the best cleaner for a dab rig because it’s such an effective solvent for cannabinoid oils. However, you might be looking for a way to clean a dab rig without alcohol – perhaps because you don’t have any alcohol. It’s also possible that your dab rig has components made from a material that isn’t alcohol safe, such as wood. This is why it’s always a good idea to have some alcohol wipes available for cleaning your device – because even when you can’t soak a component in alcohol, a cleaning wipe is usually fine.

If you want to clean your dab rig without alcohol, try cleaning the components in hot, soapy water. If you need a little extra scrubbing power, use salt or baking soda. Strong soap usually does a good job of dissolving cannabis residue – but remember that you’ll probably have to provide a little elbow grease to remove the residue completely.

How to Reclaim the Residue from a Dab Rig

Has it been a while since the last time you cleaned your dab rig, and are you concerned that you might be wasting useful cannabinoids if you simply throw your used cleaning liquid away? There is an alternative that can allow you to reclaim and use the residue from your dab rig, although it costs a little more. Instead of soaking your dab rig’s components in rubbing alcohol, you can use a very strong drinkable alcohol – such as Everclear – instead. 

After soaking your dab rig’s components in the alcohol, you can bottle the alcohol and use it like a cannabis tincture – place a dropper under your tongue and hold it there for several seconds. It’s not likely that a tincture made from reclaim is going to send you to the moon – it’s also not likely to taste very good – but making a tincture is a good way to ensure that you can clean your dab rig with absolutely no waste.