WeedRepublic is all about keeping smoking paraphernalia clean. Clean equipment makes for a more pleasant vaping experience and a more effective one too. It’s no good buying some fancy piece of kit only to let it end up all crude up and performing sub-optimally, is it? 

In the following article, we’ll show you two of the best ways to clean your atomizer. It’s pretty straightforward but these tips will ensure that you get the most use out of every coil you use before you need to think about getting a new one! Let’s get started already!

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Image source: Shenzhen LTQ VAPOR Electronics Co.

Why Clean Your Wax Atomizer? 

Cannabis vapor and smoke have loads of resins from the cannabis itself. Whilst we love these resins for the effects they have on mind and body, we’re not their biggest fans when it comes to keeping our equipment in tip-top condition. They can impart funky tastes on our concentrates, perform less efficiently, and generally not be as enjoyable to use. 

A clean atomizer will: 

• Last longer - You’ll get a lot more use out of the product before the coil burns out than if you were to never clean it at all. 
• Hit better - Clean atomizers make for better vapor production. It’s a bit silly buying an expensive and powerful vape like the CFX Vaporizer if resin build-up means it doesn’t produce as much vapor as it should!
• More pleasant experience - Vapors produced from a dirty vape will be tainted by the taste of old resins. With a perfectly clean atomizer, you’ll only taste fresh vapor. Shatter and waxes taste great, so why spoil them?
  
  

If you're smoking with something like the CF Vaporizer from Boundless Technologies, you can be sure you're going to have an enjoyable vaping session. With the CF vape variable temp settings give you control over the temperature, so heat up the ceramic chamber to your preferred temp and toke away!

Image Source: Vaping360

What Easven is an Atomizer?

Before we introduce you to the best ways to clean an atomizer, let’s clarify exactly what we mean by an atomizer on a vape. An atomizer is a name for vape tanks and the heating elements inside them. In this article, we’re talking specifically about atomizers for vaping cannabis. 

Although the cleaning methods below will work for any type of vape, you will probably find that products for vaping nicotine or eJuice (such as the Bug Mini Mod), do not require such heavy-duty, extensive cleaning techniques. The same resins just aren’t in eJuice vape to bung everything up as are in cannabis vapor!

A wax atomizer is a vape tank that has been modified for vaping cannabis concentrates such as wax or shatter. They might have single, double, or triple coil configurations with a wick in either ceramic or quartz. Alternatively, there might be no coil at all. Some vapes such as the Hypnos Zero from Linx don’t have a coil and will use some other heating system. Others will feature a small ceramic cup for the extract itself to sit in. Whatever the heating system is for your atomizer, both of the methods we recommend below will work great for it!

This powerful, stealthy little vape will have you enjoying your e-juice for many hits! The Bug Mini Mod is perfect for 50/50 blends, which you can also pick up on the Mig Vapor site.

The super conscious vape designers over at LINX have created one beautiful pen with the Hypnos Zero. Designed with a ceramic heating chamber, this extract pen delivers nothing but pure, flavorful hits!

How to Clean an Atomizer

So, without further ado, here are WeedRepublic’s two favorite ways to clean your vape atomizer. These methods will work equally well for wax atomizers that are caked in resin as well as not-so-dirty ones. 

However, as you’ll soon see, the first takes a lot longer so it will be used less frequently. If coil cleanliness is high on your list of priorities, you’ll probably prefer method two. 

Method One: The Overnight Deep Clean

We recommend the following method to those vapers who are looking to restore their wax atomizer to as close to its original condition as possible and don’t really mind how long it takes. While it may take a little more time, this method only calls for the use of items you can get at a decent supermarket.

Equipment

• Small tupperware box with lid. 
• Isopropyl alcohol (always use the highest percentage rubbing alcohol possible. Anything above 90% will work but really aim for above 95%). 
• Coarse salt (regular table salt works too). 
• Paper towel. 
• Qtips. 
• Paperclip.
• Warm water. 

Method

The first few steps of this easy method of atomizer cleaning focuses on really dirty vapes. If yours doesn’t have much visible resin buildup, skip immediately to step 7. 

1. Remove the vape tank from your vape pen. 
2. If your atomizer has a removable cup, take that out too. 
3. Take a Qtip and clean around the inside of the tank, around the coils, and any screw threading that might be mucky with resins.
4. Use the paperclip to remove any excess resins from around the air holes in the atomizer. Blocked air holes will have a big impact on the vape’s performance.   
5. Dip a second Qtip in the rubbing alcohol. 
6. Repeat step 3 with the alcohol-soaked end of the Qtip. 
7. With a lot of the surface clean, it’s time to get it sparkling!
8. Mix a few teaspoons of salt with about 100-150ml of isopropyl alcohol in the Tupperware box. 
9. Add the components you want to clean to the Tupperware with the alcohol and salt. 
10. Give them a gentle mix around to make sure the solution gets all over them. 
11. Leave everything to soak in the alcohol overnight. 
12. The next morning, take your atomizer out of the alcohol. It should look loads cleaner already!
13. Next, run over the surface of the atomizer once more with a dry Qtip. 
14. Then, rinse the components in warm water. This will clean any alcohol off and make it ready for vaping. 
15. Finally, dry the entire atomizer carefully with paper towels and dry Qtips. 

That’s all there is to it. Follow the above to give an atomizer like those (yes, we used a plural!) found in the Linx Blaze extract vape a new lease of life. It’ll restore your device to the best possible condition possible without replacing any parts. 

With two atomizers, one quartz and one ceramic, the Linx Blaze extract vaporizer should be your go-to vape pen any time you want to fire up your cannabis concentrates. Any time you buy THC vape pens, you want to know you're getting the best in vapor production and flavor, which is why we highly recommend the Blaze.

Method Two

Our second method to clean your atomizer is a much quicker job. In fact, it takes a matter of minutes, rather than hours. If you use the following instructions regularly, you’ll probably never need to do the full deep clean from method one because the resins just won’t have a chance to build up in the same way. 

That said, this technique does rely on the use of one specialist product that you won’t find in your local supermarket. WeedRepublic recommends using Formula 420 or Formula 710. It’s a great product that doesn’t require any premixing. It’s super-fast acting, too, and will get your tank and coils sparkling in no time.

Tokers have relied on Formula 420 to clean everything from their bongs to their atomizers for years. The all-natural solution works wonders on all of your 420 paraphernalia. If you need to step up your game and clean off residue from concentrates and oils then you can use the Formula 710.

We’re not saying Formula 420 is the only way to fast-clean your atomizer either. It’s just one we know definitely works. Different manufacturers offer different products and others will work just as well. We just happen to have experience with Formula 420.

Equipment

• Formula 420 (or similar pipe cleaning product).
• Ziplock bag. 
• Clean water. 
• Paper towels. 
• Qtip. 

Method

• Remove your vape tank and dismantle it. 
• Put the dirty pieces into the ziplock bag.
• Add your cleaning product. You really don’t need much since it’ll be powerful stuff. About 50ml should be plenty. 
• Seal the ziplock bag (very important!)
• Give it all a good shake for a minute or two. 
• Remove the items from the bag. 
• Use the clean water to rinse any remaining cleaning product away. You really want to be careful here because you don’t want any of those nasty chemicals in your lungs!
• Dry the components of your vape tank with a paper towel and/or Qtip. 
• Reassemble all the pieces of your atomizer, load it with some wax, and take a hit. You earned it!

As you can see, this method is much faster. For some vapers, this will make a lot more sense since they’ll never need to leave their vape pen out of action too - even if it is only for a matter of hours! Meanwhile, others might clean more than once a day too much like hard work. We recommend at least weekly cleans with method one if that’s the case for you. 

What if Atomizer Cleaning Doesn’t Work?

Even if you meticulously clean your vape often, the coils in your atomizer will eventually burn out. When this happens, there is only one solution -  buy a new atomizer. 

When you do replace your atomizer with some fancy new ones, make sure to clean it regularly. This will make sure that your vapor production is always at its maximum and the taste from your concentrates is the best it can be. A clean vape is an efficient vape - remember that!

If you clean your vape after each session, you can easily extend the life of an atomizer by a few weeks. This means you’ll have more cash to buy all those lovely cannabis concentrates to vape. Happy toking!

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Written by Megan Medeiros (BA)

Megan Medeiros has a bachelor’s degree in English and is currently working on a master’s in English at James Madison University. She's the owner and operator of Medeiros Writing, and has been working as a cannabis writer for the past three years, mostly following the legal climate of marijuana, especially in areas like California, Colorado, Oregon, Canada, and other legal areas.

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