How to properly clean your device?

There are many different kinds of electronic vaporizers, commonly called e-cigarettes, on the market today. There are slim and stylish vape pens, bulky vape mods, heavy pod mods, tanks, and more.

Aside from their obvious function of vaporizing juice for the user to inhale, what they all have in common is that they require regular cleaning. However, for many e-cigarette users, cleaning and maintenance are not the most important two words.

These tiny devices seem so complex and self-regulating that many users may forget they have all tiny parts that require individual attention. But in our handy guide, we’ll show you how RELX can keep your vape clean, running smoothly, and under control.

Why Clean Your Vape Equipment?

There are two important reasons why you need to clean your e-cigarette regularly: bacteria and longevity.

First, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that something you put in your mouth ten times a day could be a breeding ground for dangerous bacteria, which can lead to all sorts of health risks. Regularly cleaning all parts of your e-cigarette will help mitigate or even stop the spread of viruses and bacteria.

Secondly, cleaning your e-cigarette will help it last longer. If you let your batteries, screens, coils, and cartridges waste away the remnants of their past use, you will have to replace them sooner and more often. Cleaning them will save you time and money.

How to Clean Your E-Cigarette Tank Wiping the outside of an e-cigarette with a disposable disinfecting cloth isn't enough. E-cigarettes are made up of multiple small, intricate parts that tend to get dirty quickly. First, focus on your tank.

1. Empty the juice tank After disassembling the e-cigarette, put the empty tank aside and empty the juice in it. Please consider this step carefully. It’s all about timing.

The best time to clean your e-cigarette is after you’ve used up a fresh tub of juice. Don’t get into a spring cleaning mood halfway through using your tank and end up pouring out a perfectly good half tank full of juice.

But you need to complete this step to properly clean your vape tank. If it's the end of the cartridge, be sure to empty out any remaining e-juice drips.

2. Remove the coil (core) from the empty bin
The next step is to remove the oil from the empty tank. Place the coil aside, but not too far. We will discuss this issue next.

If you don’t want to disassemble the entire e-cigarette and only want to remove the tank, coil, and battery, that’s fine too. These are the main elements you need to clean, but to do a thorough job that gives you peace of mind, disassemble the entire thing.

Pro tip: Take photos along the way. E-cigarettes are not always easy to reassemble.

3. Rinse the empty tank thoroughly with warm water Run the tank under the tap set to lukewarm. It is not good to shock the inside of the tank with temperatures that are too cold or too hot. However, remove as much buildup as possible by flushing.

4. Soak the water tank For a deep clean, soak the water tank in a bowl of water. You can also put all the other parts in it, save the coil (which we will deal with separately) and the battery (which should not come into contact with water under any circumstances).

Set the bowl aside for anywhere from half an hour to several hours.

5. (Optional) Use Some Cleaner If you're feeling thorough, put a little bit of a cleanser like vinegar, baking soda, or dish soap on a non-abrasive scrubber. Gently clean the tank in this manner to remove any buildup.

6. Dry Thoroughly You don't have to complicate this step - just set the tank aside and let the air do the work.

How to Clean Your E-Cigarette Coil

Imagine a car. There are some things you don’t need, but want, like a decent sound system. However, there are some things that the car cannot run without, like the alternator. Without the complex technology that ignites the ignition process, you’re not going to get anywhere.

This is a lot like the coil inside an e-cigarette. The coil is the filament inside the device that heats up and produces enough energy to make the atomizer produce vapor. This has evolved from the days of incandescent light bulbs, where it was an essential component.

You need to take care of the coils just like you would take care of your vehicle's alternator. Here’s how:

1. Let Coils Soak in Cleaner Gun gunk buildup on coils can be intense, so soak them in the cleaning solution before rinsing them. Don't go too industrial -- household cleaning solutions like ethanol or vinegar should work.

2. Rinse the coil thoroughly After soaking the coil, rinse off the dirt. With just a little scrubbing, you should be able to see those coils glow brightly.

3. Make sure you clean the wick holes This step is one that many people miss. Before setting the coil aside to dry, check the wicking holes. The wick is the thing inside the e-cigarette that absorbs the juice that the coil heats into vapor.

You can imagine how much juice is going through the sweat pores as it bubbles and burns. This misting process can be messy and leave scars on your sweat pores. Give them an excellent rinse and scrub.

4. Leave to Dry Completely Blow the coils, pat them down, and finally, let them sit for a few hours to dry completely.

How to Clean Your Vape Battery

The last part of your e-cigarette that you need to focus on is the battery. Continuing with the car analogy, you can have a full tank, a well-lubricated belt, and a carburetor, but without a fully charged and operational battery, you might as well be walking.

1. Make sure your hands are completely free of soap or water Unlike the battery case and coils, it is vital to handle the batteries sensitively and separately from the other parts. Before handling this component, thoroughly wipe off any water, soap, or detergent that may be on your hands.

If batteries interact with the wrong substances, they can become damaged and lose their charge. As the friendly team at London Fire Brigade warn, batteries submerged in water can short-circuit, malfunction, and even pose a fire risk.

The lesson here is: keep your hands as clean as possible when handling batteries.

2. Carefully remove the battery from the e-cigarette While cleaning your hands, carefully remove the battery from the e-cigarette.

It's not just the integrity of the battery that we're worried about here. Damaged batteries can sometimes short-circuit e-cigarettes. If you don’t want your cleaning process to turn into a costly mistake, proceed with caution.

3. Clean the battery connection area You will need a cotton swab and some rubbing alcohol. Dab a cotton swab with rubbing alcohol and touch the area where the battery connects to the tank and atomizer.

Juice accumulates in these areas. You need to break it down before it disturbs the battery placement.

4. Don’t Forget the Air Holes After cleaning the connection area, now focus on the nearby air holes.

You can use anything small, needle-like, from a toothpick to a thumbtack. Vape pens don’t always automatically restrict airflow, so you need to be aware of the buildup you’re causing yourself.

5. Wipe the outside of the battery with rubbing alcohol How much rubbing alcohol you need depends on the size of the battery, which depends on the type of e-cigarette you use. The batteries in mods take up most of the surface area of the device. But in a vape pen, by contrast, the battery is slim and hidden beneath the exterior.

Use a little rubbing alcohol to clean the surface of the battery, then give it some time to dry completely before reinserting it into your e-cigarette.

Why You Shouldn't Clean or Refill Your Cartridge The cartridge is the part of the e-cigarette that is filled with the vaporized juice. They are like the gas tank of a car – without them, things wouldn’t work for any reason.

Although refillable pods are popular and widely available, be careful not to overdo it when cleaning these devices. You can clean your tank, battery, and coils, which can be used in your vape. But pods don’t fall into that category.

After a certain amount of use, too much residue will accumulate in the cartridge and you won't be able to get a good draw. Try to avoid cleaning and unnecessary refilling of e-cigarette cartridges.

Conclusion — Cleaning in Practice
Don't treat your e-cigarette as a disposable item. It's a marvel of engineering that a device the size of a USB drive can do something as complex as vaporize synthetic juice.

Treat it with the respect it deserves by cleaning it. That way you’ll get more mileage out of it and your experience with it will be more powerful.