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5 Easy Steps How to Clean a Dab Rig and Get Reclaim

Dab Rigs
5 Easy Steps How to Clean a Dab Rig and Get Reclaim
Reclaim is what’s left inside your dab rig after you finish using it. It’s that dark brown to blackish substance that’s collecting at the joint or the inner walls of your rig. Interestingly enough, some dabbers collect reclaim for re-use. It’s not as good as your concentrate in terms of flavor and effects. However, it definitely tastes better than resin, making it suitable for re-smoking, edibles, and topicals. Today we’ll talk about how to clean a dab rig and get reclaim that you can use for these purposes. You’ll only need 15-30 minutes, depending on how thick and stubborn your reclaim is.

Materials for cleaning a dab rig


You’ll be needing the following to help clean your rig, and harvest reclaim:



  • 90% Iso or grain alcohol. Iso is for harvesting reclaim for smoking, while grain alcohol is to get reclaim for edibles. Everclear is a famous brand that dabbers use for this.

  • A glass basin or dish for holding your harvested reclaim

  • Paper towels or rolling papers to wipe off any accessible reclaim in inside the downstem or joint.

  • Pipe cleaners for hard-to-reach surfaces

  • Ziploc bag for soaking detachable parts

  • Optional: torch to soften reclaim in certain areas.


Step 1: Prep your rig


Check the banger or nail to see if it’s a little hard to remove. If it’s stuck, you need to heat the joint a bit using your torch to soften the reclaim. Wave the torch at a good distance that will provide heat but not too much. After a few seconds, turn the torch off and gently wiggle the banger. Heat the joint a bit more until you can easily remove the banger as well as the removable downstem if any.

Use paper towels or rolling papers to wipe out all the reclaim inside and around the joints, as well as the downstem. Get a Ziploc bag and place the removable parts inside. Cover with enough alcohol to fully submerge the pieces. Set them aside

Step 2: Pour alcohol and soak


Pour out the water from the dab rig and see where the reclaim collects inside the dab rig. Pour alcohol through the joint until you fully submerge the reclaim. If you have a dab rig that has a reclaim catcher like this Heady Glass Dab Rig with Swirl Accent, you probably won’t need much in the water chamber. You do, however, need to make sure that the catcher has enough alcohol to melt the reclaim.  Let the alcohol do its work by soaking the rig for 15-30 minutes, swirling every now and then.


Step 3: Harvesting


Dump out all of the alcohol in the glass dish. Make sure that you’ve got all the reclaim that the alcohol got. If there are still some reclaim left, use pipe cleaners or your dab tool to scrape them off. Rinse your dab rig thoroughly until it’s all clean and clear. Do the same with the removable stem and banger.

Step 4: Let the alcohol dry out in the dish


Place the dish with reclaim in a well-ventilated area. Keep it dust-free and undisturbed until the alcohol dries out. It usually takes 1-2 days to fully dry, depending on how much alcohol you used. You can help it dry faster by applying heat, but do this with caution. Never use and open flame as alcohol is highly flammable. You can place it by a sunny window, or an electric hotplate in a low setting. Remember to keep an eye on it.

Step 5: Scrape the reclaim and store


Use a flat, dull knife to scrape out the reclaim from the bottom of the dish. You can store your reclaim in wax paper, or use silicone containers for better storage.

You now have reclaim that you can use for smoking and edibles! Others place the reclaim in capsule mixed with coconut oil for ingestion. It’s not going to taste that good, but it can do its purpose while you're saving up on your next batch of concentrate.

Now that you know how to clean a dab rig to get reclaim, you may want to do this regularly. We suggest that you use a drop-down attachment or a reclaim catcher. This way, you won’t have to use that much alcohol, and it will be easier to collect your reclaim. Your dab rig also stays cleaner longer!

331 comments

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