How To Properly Clean Your Grinder And Why It’s Important

You know how to clean a bong and probably know how to clean a pipe too. But grinders are one essential tool in a stoner’s arsenal that often gets overlooked when it comes to cleaning.

These tools were designed to break up and grind your flower to be used more efficiently in:

• Bongs
• Pipes
• Vaporizers
• Joints
• Blunts
• One-Hitters

Needless to say, almost every cannabis user has a grinder, but I’ll bet good money that it’s never been cleaned before. We applaud the proactive stoners who understand the consequences of dirty, never-been-cleaned grinders. With this guide, you can be one of them. 

Read on to learn more about the importance of cleaning your grinder and how to do it properly.

There are four main reasons why consumers must clean their grinders. See below.

Makes Grinder Teeth Dull: Your grinder has one job: to grind weed. While it also catches kief, its main job is to break up your herb effortlessly, and we mean in one or two twists, not five. When a grinder’s teeth are dull, it can take a while to fully grind and break down buds. It should only take one or two twists. To prevent your grinder’s teeth from dulling, cleaning it will help.

Clogs Up The Screen: If you use a three-piece grinder with a kief storage compartment, this one’s for you. Over time, the screen between ground herb and kief gets clogged with kief, flower, and debris. When using a clogged screen, you’re missing out on fresh crystals! These fresh crystals from your premium bud will get lost in the mess. Some will make it through the screen, but some will become part of the mess.

Builds Bacteria: This is one of the more important reasons why you should use a clean grinder. Because cannabis has moisture, that moisture stays in your grinder and can build bacteria. That means with every grind; you’re increasing your chances of lung and throat infections by using cannabis that’s been sitting in a breeding ground of bacteria. Cleaning your grinder often will prevent this.

Makes Grinders Sticky And Squeaky: Some grinders are squeaky because they’re old, and others are squeaky because they’re dirty. This comes down to the quality of your grinder. If you close the grinder tight and there’s a little squeaky resistance, you can get rid of it by cleaning it. Furthermore, if you struggle to close your grinder easily and find yourself trying to align the ridges a little too often, your grinder needs a good clean.

You don’t have to clean your grinder after every grind. However, you should clean it whenever it starts to get sticky, squeaky, and difficult to turn. If your screen gets clogged and you can’t see through it well, that’s another indicator that it should be cleaned. Learn how to do it below.

Step 1: Empty all the flower and kief within the grinder. Place it on a dish like a rolling tray while you’re cleaning it.

Step 2: Isolate all parts of your grinder. This includes the top piece with teeth, the storage compart for herbs, and the storage compartment for kief (there may be more or fewer compartments depending on the design of your grinder). 

Step 3: Get cotton swabs, paper towel, a medium bowl, and isopropyl alcohol. If you have one, an old toothbrush or a scrubber with bristles helps too. 

Step 4: Fill the medium bowl with enough iso to submerge all pieces of your grinder. When submerged, let them sit for a few minutes. This will help loosen up the debris.

Step 5: Take your cotton swabs and scrub them into the nooks and crannies of your grinder. You can also do this with a paper towel on the screen and flat surfaces. 

Step 6: Take your old toothbrush or bristle brush and scrub the screen. Scrub until you can see through it and all debris has fallen out.

Step 7: Rinse your grinder thoroughly to ensure it’s free of isopropyl alcohol. Let it dry, and put your herbs and kief back in their respective compartments. There you have it!

If you’re using premium flower and grinding it up in a years-old, never-been-cleaned grinder, you’re not really making the most of your flower.

Besides, bacteria easily accumulate in dark and sticky grinders, meaning you’ll inhale everything that’s built up in your grinder over time. Furthermore, grinders that have never been cleaned usually have a clogged screen.

Your kief chamber could be overflowing by now, but all those precious crystals are getting trapped in places they shouldn’t. Cleaning your grinder solves these issues and brings out the best in your flower for enjoyable sessions.