What are Chillums and what are they used for?
The chillum is a thin, long funnel, usually made of clay, wood, glass or stone and is used for smoking tobacco and other legal herbs. The most essential component of the chillum is the filtering stone, without which the herbs will fall in the user’s mouth; many people also use a cloth to hold the chillum as it can get very hot and become difficult to hold.
Because of its elongated shape, the chillum is probably the hardest to clean of all smoking accessories; it is also hard to clean because it is one piece and the stem cannot be separated from the bowl. Despite the difficulties, however, chillum users have to clean the chillum often, and thoroughly, in order to produce a safe and enjoyable legal high.
To clean the chillum, take a toothpick and first remove the large pieces of debris and the big clumps that are stuck in the chillum bowl. Wooden toothpicks are preferable to metal knives or other metal tools because although toothpicks are small and working with them is painstaking, metal is abrasive and it can easily scratch the surface of the chillum. After you loosen the debris with the toothpick, gently tap the chillum on a surface to release the dirt; this process should be repeated until the chillum is clean. Use a pipe cleaner – the kind that is often used in arts and crafts – to clean the body of the chillum even more thoroughly and to dislodge pieces of the herbs that may have become more firmly embedded.
The next step is to pour isopropyl alcohol into a receptacle and to soak your chillum in it for at least two hours; then rinse the chillum under cold water to wash off the alcohol. After you have let the chillum dry completely it is ready for your next herbal smoking experience.