How (and Why) to Clean your Cannabis Grinder

Grinders are among the most popular items we sell at the Delta 9 stores, and if you already own one, you know why. The quality and ease of use of these economical little workhorses makes the process of preparing your cannabis clean and simple. No more sticky fingers. Of course, there are many more good reasons to own a grinder, and just as many good reasons to keep it clean.

Four Good Reasons to Clean Your Grinder

Health
Cannabis is organic material, which means bacteria, mold and mildew can grow in the residue of your grinder if left for long periods of time. Additionally, metal grinders can subtly begin to lose metal shavings over time if not cleaned. You don’t want to inhale any of these things into your lungs, for obvious reasons.

Time
Grinders are quick and efficient, but they can become gummed up with plant material over time, which makes them more difficult to twist and less effective at producing the fine grind that you want. This means more time to achieve even less of your desired results. A little time spent cleaning your grinder means more quality time for the good stuff.

Money
A clean grinder will produce a fine, easy-to-pack flower that can be stretched to last longer. It also ensures that you’re not left with large buds that are stuck together, which is wasteful. Additionally, in a clogged grinder the internal workings have a greater chance of breaking. Regular cleaning will extend the life of your grinder.

Pleasure
A dirty grinder can result in a coarse blend of old gunk and new flower, rather than a potent batch of fresh flower that burns longer and smoother, intoxicates you with its smell and delights you with its taste. Additionally, a clean screen in your grinder will result in more kief being collected, and we all know how pleasurable that can be.

A clean grinder will function better and last longer.

Tools You’ll Need to Clean Your Grinder

• Freezer (Optional) – for hardening residue in your grinder, making it easier to knock off
• Freezer or Ziploc bags – (Optional) for placing your grinder pieces in before freezing
• Q-tips and toothpicks – for getting into cracks and hard to reach places
• Paintbrush and toothbrush – for brushing out the debris
• Paper plates or paper towels – for collecting the debris
• Isopropyl alcohol – for metal grinders
• Rubbing alcohol – for deeper cleaning
• Hot water and dish soap – for plastic or acrylic grinders
• Microfibre cloth – for initial drying
• Drying towel – to set your grinder components on for air-drying
• Hair dryer – to speed up the drying process

Cleaning Your Grinder, Part 1 – Initial Cleaning

1. Take your grinder apart. The most common grinders today are composed of a lid, a grinding chamber, a collection chamber, a screen and a kief chamber.
2. Place all your grinder components in a freezer bag and put them in the freezer for 30 minutes. You can skip step this step if you like, but it hardens plant debris and makes it much, much easier to remove.
3. Remove the grinder components from the freezer and tap each of the pieces over a paper plate or paper towel to knock out hardened residue.
4. Use Q-tips to clean out the hard to reach places in the grinder components and use brushes to remove residue from other surface areas.

Cleaning Your Grinder, Part 2 – Deep Cleaning

Depending on whether you have a metal, plastic, or acrylic grinder, the deep cleaning process will be slightly different. For metal grinders, isopropyl alcohol should be used, as water can lead to rust forming in your grinder. For plastic and acrylic grinders, which can be degraded by alcohol, warm, soapy water should be used.

For Metal Grinders – First Steps

1. Place all the components of your disassembled grinder into a freezer bag or Ziploc bag, pour in just enough isopropyl alcohol to cover all the components, seal and let soak until the liquid turns brown and you can see pieces of debris floating in the mixture.
2. Remove the grinder components from the bag, brush out any remaining debris.

For Plastic and Acrylic Grinders – First Steps

1. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Place all the components of your disassembled grinder in the water and boil for 10 minutes.
2. Remove the grinder components from the boiling water, place them in a bowl of warm soapy water and brush out any remaining debris.

Final Steps – Rinsing, Drying and Reassembling

3. Rinse all components thoroughly.
4. Dry grinder components with a microfibre towel and place them on a towel for further air drying.
5. Reassemble the grinder ONLY after it is completely dry.

All done! And you’re going to feel great about it too! You’ve just improved the functioning of your grinder, prolonged its life and improved the quality of its production. Only one thing left to do. Grab one of your favourite Delta 9 strains and test out your workmanship.

Enjoy!