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Two Methods:Isopropyl alcoholFreezingCommunity Q&A

Getting the resin out of your piece. For those desperate times when you need to "scrape and smoke" or you just want a fresh, clean pipe.

Method 1
Isopropyl alcohol

  1. 1
    Check the tips and warnings at the bottom of the page so you don't accidentally break your pipe.
  2. 2
    Look inside your pipe to see where the resin has collected. Untwist a paperclip or take the rubber ends off a bobby pin. Poke it into the mouthpiece, carburetor, or bowl (anywhere you need to) and collect the resin as best you can. Optionally, you can stick a lighter (10-15 seconds) where you plan to scrape. This heats the resin and makes it stickier. It is better to not try the lighter method or scraping the outside the bowl, as the resin here is going to be very hard. Instead, run the bowl under hot water for about 30 seconds, then take your fingernail (protected by a strong cloth or napkin if you don't want dirty nails) and scrape for a huge amount of resin. After scraping, you will get several very sticky black chunks of resin. Find somewhere to lay them where they can easily be picked up. Metal or a similar surface works best because it's impossible to separate moist resin from things like Kleenex and pipe cleaners after if it's been meshed into the material by accident. Once you have all your resin pieces removed and they have become cool/somewhat dry for better conformity, roll them together into a ball. If you aren't going to smoke the resin then skip this step entirely.
    • Continue to scrape until you can see through the glass or look inside and see no pieces of resin left.
  3. 3
    Clean it. For your pipe to look like new you will need at least 90-95% isopropyl alcohol, preferably 100% (it takes a lot to break resin down). You can find it at your local drugstore or Wal-Mart. You may also want to buy a canister of uniodized salt.
  4. 4
    Place your pipe into a Ziplock and fill it with isopropyl alcohol; not all the way to the top but just enough to cover the bowl. Using salt as an agitator (shaking the bag side to side for the agitation) will drastically reduce the time cleaning takes.
  5. 5
    Let it sit for at least 3 hours. If you used salt with the alcohol, it doesn't have to sit at all, just shake until finished. No one wants to wait 3 hours before using their favorite piece.
  6. 6
    Go to the sink and run warm to hot water. Rinse your pipe well. If you skipped the salt or scraping step, scrub it with a baby bottle brush or test tube cleaner to remove any remaining debris. Water and a tiny squirt of dish detergent alone will remove any alcohol.
  7. 7
    Continue to rinse your pipe until you cannot smell any isopropyl (it is flammable). Once you have rinsed it and the smell has gone, your pipe should look new and ready to be re-resed

Method 2

  1. 1
  2. 2
    Grab the pipe you want to get resin out of.
  3. 3
    Place the pipe in the freezer.
  4. 4
    Wait 30 minutes. You can leave it longer if you like, but half an hour is the minimum.
  5. 5
    Grab your scraping tool.
  6. 6
    Scrape the pipe. The freezing effect only lasts for a few minutes before it's all sticky again, so try to be quick.
  7. 7
    Watch the resin simply dump out of the pipe like a handful of dry black sand.

Community Q&A

Ask a Question


  • Another method to remove resin for smoking, while skipping the tedious scraping step, is to not use salt with the alcohol. Most debris will already loosen from the pipe when left inside the bag of just isopropyl (for the required time). Afterwards, use a gold coffee filter to remove any ash (it falls through the screen, leaving you only resin). Then wait for your resin to dry; you want it to be alcohol-free before smoking. This will take a long time and is not recommended for beginners.
  • If your resin is a little fresh or you got it wet somehow, and you don't feel like waiting for it to dry, place it in the freezer so it hardens. Make sure it's already rolled into a ball first though. Do not put resin that is wet with alcohol in a freezer. Let it fully evaporate instead.
  • After cleaning, if the alcohol in the bag is still a golden amber color, you probably didn't have much resin left inside the pipe, or skipped the salt step. It doesn't take much use of a pipe to be able to turn the alcohol dark.
  • This is the best method for cleaning glass pipes in particular, but it's effective for metal as well.


  • Be careful when scraping the bowl (also called a cone) from the inside. This is sometimes the weakest part of a pipe, and you do not want to apply too much pressure.
  • Again, make sure you rinsed away all the alcohol. It's very flammable, not to mention it smells and tastes foul.
  • Resin contains more carcinogens and tar as the result of being a concentrated by-product of your plant matter's combustion.
  • Just because you can clean glass and metal hand pipes this way, doesn't mean it'll work for an acrylic water pipe. Isopropyl will destroy it. Glass water pipes will be fine.

Things You'll Need

  • Isopropyl alcohol
  • Ziplock bag
  • Salt (uniodized is cheapest)
  • Baby bottle brush or test tube cleaner
  • Bobby pin/paper clip/pipe cleaner

Article Info

Categories: Pipe Smoking

In other languages:

Español: eliminar los residuos de la cazoleta de tu pipa, Русский: получить смолу из трубки, Italiano: Rimuovere la Resina da una Pipa, Português: Limpar Resina do Fornilho de um Cachimbo

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