Weed is sticky and though many people will swear by the fact that this stickiness is good, it is still very annoying to have on your hands or in your grinder.
The reason is that over time a layer will develop that sticks to every nook and cranny in your grinder and makes it incredibly difficult to use.
While many people would say that that sticky stuff can make other things, most people are not interested or don’t want to make the effort.
If you are one of those people, you will find yourself in a situation eventually where your grinder simply does not work anymore, and at that point, you only have two options: throw away that grinder and buy a new one or clean your grinder.
Considering how dense and compact this material is and how difficult it seems to remove, there are ways to get rid of it, and they are easier than you would think.
As such, we decided to detail the process and the correct way to clean your grinder, so it works just like before.
What Do You Need To Clean A Grinder?
The first thing you must do is ensure that you have all the right tools for the job. You should always start with what you already have available to you and then go out and purchase additional equipment as needed. In our case, we used the following:
A small plastic container
Some hot water
A toothbrush
A spoon
The spoon is not entirely necessary, but it is useful to have in case your toothbrush’s bristles are not strong enough for the job. The container needs to be big enough to hold the entire grinder and a fair amount of liquid as well.
How To Clean Your Grinder
Now, let’s begin cleaning your grinder. You can use our step-by-step guide below to do this.
Step 1 – Take Your Grinder Apart
First, take the grinder apart; this means taking off the top part of the grinder (the part with the screen), opening up the inside and removing anything stuck in there, and finally taking off the bottom part of the grinder.
Step 2 – Add The Water
Once you are done with that, pour some hot water into the container and put the lid back on. This step is important because it will help break down any residue or dirt stuck between the parts of the grinder. Let the grinder sit for about 15 minutes.
Step 3 – Wipe Clean
After 15 minutes, turn your grinder upside down onto a towel and use a soft cloth to wipe everything clean. If you have an extra piece of cloth, it helps to rub some more pressure on the area to get rid of any remaining debris. It should look perfectly clean now.
Step 4 – Get Your Toothbrush
After you are done cleaning the grinder, you might notice that the grinders are getting slippery. This is normal and nothing to worry about.
There might also be some residue left behind if you didn’t use the toothbrush to clean the surface. But again, this is nothing to worry about.
If you want to keep your grinder looking pretty, you could apply some oil to the parts that were cleaned.
However, we recommend against doing that since this will dry out the grinder and thus make it harder to clean later on. Instead, you could just reuse the grinder after cleaning it.
Why Should I Clean My Grinder?
The reason why you need to clean the grinder is that the cannabis sits in tiny little pockets within the grinder. These pockets can become filled with dust over time and when you heat it with a flame, it makes it even worse.
As such, you need to clean the interior of the grinder from time to time to avoid damaging the grinder. If you don’t clean it regularly, you risk losing the functionality of the grinder completely.
That said, there are other reasons to clean the grinder too. For example, if you are using the grinder for grinding seeds instead of buds, it wouldn’t hurt to clean the grinder.
Even if you are grinding bud, cleaning it will prevent any stray particles from making their way into your finished product.
Lastly, if you are going to use the grinder for smoking purposes, cleaning the grinder will allow you to smoke without having to worry about any unwanted particles getting stuck in your mouth.
How Often Should I Clean My Grinder?
There is no set rule on how frequently you should clean your grinder. Since most people use the same grinder for different methods, it depends on what you plan on using it for.
For example, if you are going for seed-based products like kief, then you should clean your grinders daily. On the other hand, if you are going straight for flowers,
then you only need to clean your grinder once every 2 weeks or so. In either case, remember that it is better to be safe than sorry. So always choose to clean your grinder at least once a week.
Grinder Cleaning Tips
Use a wet sponge to clean your grinder. Just dip it into some warm water and start scrubbing. Be sure to move around all areas of the grinder to ensure that you get all the mess.
When cleaning, make sure that you don’t use abrasive sponges. Using those will damage the screen and other parts of the grinder which would make them hard to clean in the future.
Cleaning your grinder doesn’t mean that you have to clean out the entire thing. You can simply remove the top part of the machine and gently brush away any dirt or residue that was left behind.
Conclusion
Cleaning a grinder is a bit of a chore, but if you want to have the easiest time grinding weed then it is a necessary annoyance.
Otherwise, your grinder will stop working effectively and then will stop working altogether. Once it reaches that point,
you either need to spend a lot of time cleaning it or get a brand new one, so it is best to have the mild inconvenience of cleaning it now, than later.
My name is David Lumis and I am a self-proclaimed smoker. Five years ago, after I had been made redundant from my job as an engineer, my anxiety hit an all time peak. I have always struggled with it since I was a teenager, but that life event sent me into overdrive.
My story is exactly why I want to educate more people about cannabis and show them that it isn’t a dirty drug, but a form of medicine. If you are struggling, I urge you to read through this site to see how cannabis can help you.
