If you’re looking for better performance and flavor from your vaping experience, you might jump to the conclusion that there’s no way to get those things without buying a new vaping device. If you’ve been using your vape for a while and have never done anything to maintain it, though, there’s a good chance that you don’t need a new device at all. What you really need to do is learn how to clean your vape.
Why is knowing how to clean a vape so important?
- It keeps your device at maximum performance. A vape can’t generate huge clouds if the device doesn’t have a solid electrical connection with the tank or pod, it can’t charge correctly if the charging port is dirty.
- It maximizes the flavor quality if you’re using a refillable vape kit. If you’re the type of person who likes to switch between vape juice flavors constantly – and you don’t have a tank or pod devoted to each flavor – you’re going to experience poor flavor quality if you don’t keep your vape clean. When you switch to a new flavor, your tank or pod will still contain residue from the previous flavor(s). This problem is called flavor ghosting.
- It’s beneficial for hygiene, especially if you share your vape with others. Even if you don’t share it, though, keeping your vape clean is still best for your own health. Your vape spends a lot of time in your mouth, and it’s certain to pick up some unwanted microbes along the way.
The good news is that keeping your vape clean is easy and only requires a few minutes of effort. Here’s how to do it.
How to Clean a Disposable Vape
In the modern age, keeping disposable vapes clean is more important than ever because the best disposable vapes last days or even weeks before you need to replace them. We’ll talk about cleaning your device’s mouthpiece separately since those instructions apply to all types of vapes. For now, we’ll focus on cleaning the body of your vape as well as the charging port.
- To clean the body of a disposable vape, simply wipe away dirt and fingerprints with a soft cloth.
- To clean the charging port, use a toothpick or other non-metal tool to scrape away dust and lint. Be careful because you don’t want to scratch the metal inside the port.
How to Clean a Refillable Vape
If you’re cleaning a refillable vape, you can clean the body of the device and the charging port by following the instructions above. In addition, you’ll also need to clean the threading for the tank or the contact points for the pod.
- To clean your vape’s threading or contact points, use a clean cotton swab to rub away dust, tarnish or leaked e-liquid.
- If you have a contamination that you can’t remove with a dry cotton swab alone, you can dampen the swab with a small amount of rubbing alcohol.
- You can clean the bottom of your tank or pod in the same way.
- Make sure that all liquid is completely removed before using your vape again.
How to Clean a Vape Mouthpiece
Since you put your vape in your mouth many times every day, it’s the component of your device that’s most likely to attract germs and grime. You’ll obviously want to pay special attention to this component when you clean your vape, and that’s why it has its own section in this guide.
- If you’re using a vape tank, the mouthpiece is removable. Wash it in warm, soapy water and dry it completely before you resume vaping.
- If you’re using a pod vape or disposable vape, you can disinfect the mouthpiece with a cotton swab dampened slightly with rubbing alcohol. Remove the alcohol with a second cotton swab dampened with plain water. Finally, you can remove the water with a dry cotton swab.
- If you share your vape frequently, you might want to consider adding some alcohol wipes to your collection of vape gear. That way, you can always disinfect the mouthpiece when you need to.
How to Clean a Vape Tank
Compared to cleaning the rest of your vape, cleaning a vape tank is a bit more complicated. That’s why we’ve written complete instructions elsewhere on this site explaining how to clean a vape tank. Click the link if you need more detailed information. Essentially, though, it comes down to these steps.
- Disassemble the tank completely and remove the coil. Set the coil aside. If you want to clean that component, scroll down for instructions.
- Rinse all of the tank’s components under running water. If you do this each time you replace your coil, it should be all of the cleaning that your tank ever requires.
- If your tank is especially grimy because you’ve never cleaned it before, you can remove the grime with some soap and a toothbrush.
- Use a paper towel to dry the tank completely.
- Reinstall the coil – or install a new coil – and reassemble the tank. Be careful not to cross any of the threads, which could damage the tank’s components or cause leaking.
Note that if you’re planning to fill your tank with a different e-liquid flavor from the one that you were using prior to cleaning the tank, you’re going to experience some flavor ghosting unless you also replace the coil. Cleaning a vape tank will reduce flavor ghosting a little, but it won’t eliminate it completely because the coil’s wick will still have some of the previous e-liquid in it.
How to Clean a Vape Pod
If you’re using a pod system with a replaceable coil, cleaning the pod isn’t difficult and is a very good idea when you change flavors. We do recommend having a second pod available because it may take a while for the pod to dry. Here’s how to do it.
- Remove the coil from the pod and set it aside. We’ll explain how to clean the coil below.
- Open the pod’s filling port. In some cases, this is done by removing the mouthpiece. Other pods have silicone covers for their filling ports.
- Submerge the pod – and the mouthpiece if applicable – in warm water and swish it around for several seconds.
- Remove the pod and leave it out for a while to dry. Because a vape pod’s openings are small, it may take a while for all of the water to evaporate. You can speed the process along by putting the pod in front of a fan.
Since the goal of cleaning a vape pod is to get water inside the pod and then remove it, it’s not an easy thing to do if you’re using a vape pod with a built-in coil. You can try cleaning the pod anyway, but you’ll have a difficult time getting the water out afterwards. We recommend only cleaning vape pods with removable coils. When a vape pod with a built-in coil starts to taste bad, you're better off replacing it.
How to Clean a Vape Coil
In many ways, the coil is the dirtiest part of your vape. As you use your device, residue from your e-liquid accumulates on the coil and eventually causes your vape to taste burnt. If you use heavily sweetened e-liquid, the burnt taste starts to creep in even more quickly. Cleaning the coil removes some of that residue. Although cleaning a vape coil won’t make it taste the same as a new coil, it may improve the flavor enough that you’ll be happy to continue using the coil for a while longer. The longer you use a coil before replacing it, the less you’ll spend on vape coils in the long run – and saving money is definitely a good thing.
Even if a coil doesn’t taste burnt, it may still be a good idea to clean it if you’re changing flavors. As we explained above, the biggest cause of flavor ghosting is the e-liquid that’s in your coil’s wick. If you clean the coil when changing flavors, you’ll eliminate most of that issue. Remember that when you clean a coil, though, you’ll need to have another coil that you can use while the cleaned one dries.
Here what you need to do.
- Fill a bowl with very warm water.
- Put the coil in the water and swish it around for several seconds. If the coil is very dirty, you may start to see dark flecks floating in the water.
- Replace the water with fresh water and swish the coil around again. Repeat this process until you stop seeing flecks in the water.
- When the coil seems clean, set it aside and allow it to dry. Because a vape coil contains dense cotton, drying it may take around a day. Don’t use the coil until you’re certain that the wick contains no more water.
Does cleaning a vape coil sound like a lot of work to you? You can condense your work by cleaning several coils at once. You can also try using an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner, which people have reported is often a very effective way of removing coil gunk.