Can You Freeze a Bong for Smoother Hits: Tips for safe freezing
Yes, you can put a bong in the freezer, but it depends on the material. Silicone bongs are safe to freeze, while glass and ceramic bongs may crack due to thermal stress. Freezing a bong with water inside causes the water to expand into ice, stressing the bong’s structure. Always remove water and accessories before freezing.
In this article, we’ll explore all the potential risks of freezing a bong, the benefits of doing so, and the importance of glass thickness and materials in preventing bong fractures and cracks. You’ll learn how to safely freeze your bong to avoid damage - let’s get started!
Short Answer:
- Silicone and steel are the safest bongs to freeze
- For glass and ceramic bongs always pour out the bong water before freezing
- Give a few minutes for the bong to thaw before using it to prevent thermal stress
- It’s safer to use an ice bong, refrigerator, or glycerin bong than it is to freeze a bong
Why would you freeze a bong?
Freezing a bong creates a much cooler environment for hot smoke to travel through, which cools the smoke and preserves delicate terpenes sensitive to heat which enhances flavor. This drop in temperature reduces irritation to the lungs, leading to a smoother hit. Cooler smoke also helps prevent coughing fits, making the experience more enjoyable.
Pro-tip: If you want to cool your bong and bong water, try putting your bong with water in the fridge instead of the freezer which has far fewer risks than freezing a bong.
Things to consider when freezing water pipes
Freezing water pipes, especially those made of glass, requires some careful considerations due to how the bong’s material reacts to low temperatures. When glass gets cold, its microstructure can develop internal stresses, which can lead to fractures and weak spots in your bongs.
Repeated freezing and rapid temperature changes can make these internal stresses worse, increasing the chance of cracks and break over time.
Before freezing a bong, you want to consider the type of bong you have, whether that’s silicone, glass, steel, acrylic, or ceramic. Other factors that matter are the thickness of the material, bong part accessories, and some easy mistakes to avoid, such as rapid temperature changes and bong water expansion.
1. Glass bongs and freezing temperatures
Glass bongs offer a clean, smooth smoking experience, but tossing them in the freezer can be a gamble. Extreme temperatures can make glass brittle and prone to cracking, especially if you take a glass bong from the freezer and suddenly expose it to warmer air and hot combusted smoke, it can experience thermal shock, which can cause the glass to break depending on how thin your glass is.
Glass is an amorphous solid, which means it lacks a neat, orderly structure. This makes the glass in your bong more susceptible to thermal stress. When glass is cooled rapidly, the outer layers contract quicker than the inner ones, leading to internal stress that can cause fractures if exposed to heat too rapidly.
So, if you’re set on chilling your glass bong in the freezer, make sure to let it warm up slowly, by thawing it in a cool environment before use.
Pro-tip: While it might be tempting to chill your glass bong for cooler hits, it’s safer to use ice cubes in the bong’s ice catcher instead, which doesn’t affect the integrity of the glass.
2. Risks of Freezing Water in Bongs
Freezing a bong with water still inside is a recipe for disaster. Water expands by about 9% when it freezes, putting significant pressure on the bong’s internal walls. For both glass and ceramic bongs, this expansion can lead to cracks or breaks because of the material’s rigid structure.
In silicone and acrylic bongs, which are more flexible, the expansion is less likely to break but can warp the shape permanently depending on how long the bong water stays frozen.
Glass, being a rigid material, simply can’t handle the increased pressure from expanding ice especially if the material is very thin. If you plan on freezing a glass bong, always empty the water first. Once you are ready to use it, let it thaw a bit to prevent any rapid temperature changes and you should be good to go.
Pro-tip: If you want to make your bong water colder to help cool hot smoke, try putting a glass bong with water inside of the fridge, not the freezer, or place a few ice cubes in the water chamber. This will help help cool smoke without damaging your bong.
3. How thick is the glass in your bong?
When it comes to freezing your glass bong, the thickness of the glass is a very important factor. Thicker glass is more resilient to thermal stress because it can absorb and distribute temperature changes more effectively. However, this doesn’t make it completely safe from the risks of cracking, especially if the water inside the bong freezes and expands.
Glass bongs with a thickness of less than 1 mm are the most vulnerable, often cracking under the stress of rapid temperature changes. Bongs with a glass thickness of 1.5 mm or thicker can cope better with the expansion and contraction from freezing, thawing, and hot smoke, reducing the risk of damage. When in doubt, remember: the thicker the glass, the more wiggle room you have when it comes to freezing.
4. Thermal expansion in different glass types
Freezing temperatures and the type of glass matters, a lot. Borosilicate glass is known for its superior thermal heat resistance, which is why it’s so widely used as scientific glass like Pyrex and Chemistry beakers. Boro glass can withstand rapid temperature changes without cracking, which makes it the only candidate of glass material you can safely freeze.
Soda-lime glass, which is cheaper, is not as durable under extreme temperatures, especially rapid temperature changes. Its higher thermal expansion coefficient makes it more susceptible to cracking when exposed to sudden temperature shifts.
5. The Effect of freezing on bong accessories
While many focus on the body of the bong when considering the risks of freezing, it’s important not to overlook accessories and delicate parts like percolators, downstems, and bowls. These bong parts are often more fragile and vulnerable to thermal stress and expansion when compared to the entire body of the bong. Even if the main structure of the bong holds up, the accessories might crack or get brittle, leading to unnecessary and costly replacements.
If your bong is dirty and has resin build-up in the downstem or percolator holes, the risk of damage increases. The moisture which is usually trapped here, can turn into ice and expand putting stress on these delicate parts. To minimize these risks just make sure you remove the downstem, bowl, and let the bong dry completely before putting it in the freezer to make sure there is no moisture build up in the percolator.
Alternatives to freezing your bong
If you want to cool your smoke without risking your glass, here are three safer alternatives:
Ice cubes: One popular option is using an ice catcher, which is built into ice bongs. This handy feature lets you drop ice cubes into the neck of the bong, chilling hot smoke as it passes over the cubes. This significantly cools smoke for a smoother experience without exposing your glass to extreme shock.
Refrigerator: Another great option is to simply fill your bong with cold water from the fridge instead of freezing it, or to place the entire bong with bong water in the fridge for 30-60 minutes. The cold bong water can help to reduce hot smoke much more than room temperature water.
Frozen glycerin: Glycerin bongs are one of the best freeze techs available for cooling down hot smoke but are the most expensive. Glycerin coils can be frozen separately, and then attached to your bong. Hot smoke travels through the coils, which are encased in frozen glycerin cooling smoke by up to 300 degrees for a smooth, no-cough experience.
Silicone Bongs: The Freezing Champions
Silicone bongs are the champions of temperature resilience out of all the different bong materials. Unlike glass, silicone doesn’t get brittle when it gets cold, making it a fantastic option if you’re looking to cool down your smoke.
Silicone bongs are one of the only bongs that are widely frozen to get smoother hits to compensate for their weaker filtration when compared to glass bongs. The flexibility of silicone rubber allows it to handle the expansion of freezing water far better than any other material.
Learn: Silicone vs glass bongs - which is better?
Ceramic Bongs and the Cold Challenge
Ceramic bongs, much like their glass counterparts, don’t do well in freezing temperatures. While ceramic is slightly more forgiving, it can still become brittle and crack under thermal stress.
When exposed to extreme cold, the material’s rigidness makes it more susceptible to damage, like an accidental tip-over or bump into a hard object. If you decide to freeze a ceramic bong, make sure there is no water in the bong and that you give it a few minutes to thaw before smoking from it.
Steel Bongs: The Indestructible Option
When it comes to withstanding freezing temperatures, steel bongs are in a league of their own. The robust construction of steel means it won’t crack or break under the stress of extreme cold, thanks to steel’s excellent thermal conductivity. A steel bong can cool down quickly and retain that chill longer, making it one of the best bongs to freeze.
Pro-tip: Some steel bongs even come with insulation, which allows the bong water and the bong to stay cold for hours in the day. Just drop a few ice cubes in the water chamber and slowly the entire bong will stay chilled all day long.
Acrylic Bongs: A Moderate Choice
Acrylic bongs, made from sturdy plastic, can withstand freezing temperatures better than glass and ceramic. Their resilience makes them a decent choice to withstand freezing temperatures, but they aren’t as flexible as silicone, so you do not want to freeze with water inside of the bong, or else you will warp the plastic.
FAQ:
1. Can I put my bong in the fridge?
Yes, you can put your bong in the fridge. Storing a bong in the fridge is much safer than freezing it, even with water inside. The cooler environment helps cool the glass and water and this helps cool the smoke for smoother hits without the risk of cracking the glass.
2. Can you freeze smoke?
No, you cannot freeze smoke. Smoke consists of tiny particles and gases suspended in the air, and when exposed to freezing temperatures, these particles and gases will not solidify into a frozen form. Instead, they will condense or dissipate. Smoke requires specific conditions to remain visible and cannot be preserved by freezing.
3. Is ice in a bong safe?
Ice is safe to put in your bong if you run water over the ice cubes to melt away ice shards. Using an ice catcher in the neck of the bong is best, as it suspends the ice cubes and prevents them from raising the water level. This avoids splashback of bong water into your mouth while smoking.
