As our nation proceeds to navigate the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, you’re probably sanitizing everything around you in order to mitigate carrying or catching the virus. The Center for Disease Control even includes step-by-step guidelines to disinfecting and cleaning all surfaces on its website.

And in the midst of the deep clean, your pile of cannabis accessories should not be overlooked. Because unlike a water glass or dish which gets washed after every use, pipes, bongs, and other products may get a once-over every few weeks – though they touch your lips, hands, and mouth constantly.

So keep that bucket of cleaning supplies nearby and follow our guide to cleaning your cannabis gear. You probably have the time now that you’re social distancing.

What do quarantine and social distancing mean?

What’s the difference between quarantine and social distancing? Vox recently reported on coronavirus and the utilization of social distancing to help quell the spread of the virus:

• Quarantine: to separate individuals completely from the public if it is believed that they have been exposed, but aren’t yet showing, symptoms of sickness.
• Social distancing: requires the public to refrain from social gatherings and maintain a conservative and clear radius around oneself and others when out and about.

Including these practices in your plan to help fight the virus will greatly and positively affect your community. Protecting those who are immunocompromised or most susceptible to the virus is the number one priority throughout this pandemic.  

Even if you are symptom-free, you can still be a carrier of coronavirus. According to various experts interviewed by The Atlantic, you should be avoiding social interaction as much as possible at this time. This includes skirting the gym, canceling non-essential appointments such as beauty treatments, stepping away from birthday parties and large family or friend gatherings, and keeping a healthy separation between you and the public when grocery shopping or running errands. 

Deep clean your grinder

Though you may be washing your hands often and thoroughly, you most likely touch cannabis nugs with your bare hands when breaking up and shoving them into a grinder. And can you remember if you washed your hands before each and every time you used your favorite grinder this past year? Be extra safe during this time and do a deep clean on your grinder collection.  

Not only will you feel peace of mind for sanitizing your stash, but you’ll also de-gunk any old resin sticking to the teeth and end with a satisfyingly shiny and slick grinder.

Sanitize your glass

Almost every cannabis consumer I know has a pipe or bong in their possession, while concentrates fanatics most definitely own some type of dab rig.

Thankfully, when you clean glass products, you usually sanitize them against certain viruses at the same time. Reason? It is commonly recommended that you pick up a bottle of 99% isopropyl alcohol and a package of coarse salt to deep clean. According to the CDC, cleaning products that contain at least 70% alcohol concentrations can kill coronaviruses.

If you prefer the homeopathic route, it is unfortunately not recommended to go the natural way, as distilled vinegar, tea tree oils, and other natural products are not powerful enough to take on COVID-19.

Put some elbow grease into your handheld vaporizers

Just like grinders and glass, handheld vaporizers benefit from a scrub. Learn how to clean the mouthpiece of your PAX with our breakdown of the PAX III — you’ll find out how to sanitize both the device and the concentrate attachment.

Any other vaporizer mouthpiece can be cleaned the same way as the Utillian 722. As noted with the other products, vaporizers can be sanitized from the use of a few Q-tips and 99% isopropyl alcohol.

Featured image by Gina Coleman/Weedmaps

Hannah Meadows