If you enjoy switching up the e-liquid flavour in your tank, you may of had the unpleasant experience of still tasting the previous e-liquid lurking about in the background. This will particularly be true of strong flavours like; coffee, tobacco, menthol, cinnamon and liquorice to name just a few.
It’s advisable to give your tank a wash each time you change flavours, to avoid crossover contamination and give it a deep clean bi-monthly. This guide will take you through your tank cleaning options from easy and quick, to methods that take longer but give a more intense clean.
1. The Simple, Fast Rinse
The simplest and fastest way to clean your vape tank, initially you need to dis-assemble all your tanks pieces. Most importantly remove the O-rings, as this is where much debris and old flavour gets caught. Coil heads should be removed and if still free from wear, can be scrubbed and re-used.
Fill a bowl with hot water and lay all the pieces of the tank inside. Allow them to sit until the water cools down and give them one extra rinse under a tap. Use a toothbrush if needed, to remove any stubborn dirt. Pat dry with paper towels and allow to completely dry before re-assembling.
2. Soak in PG For an Intense Clean
After filling up a cup or bowl with unflavoured PG, insert your tank and let it soak. After a good amount of hours or ideally overnight, stand it on a napkin to drip dry. This method is one of the best to get rid of an old e-liquid flavour.
3. Vinegar, Baking Soda or Ethanol
If you don’t have some spare unflavoured PG to hand, there are various substances you may already have around the house that could work. Vinegar is highly acidic and a strong cleaning agent, but must be thoroughly rinsed once used to eradicate any lingering smell.
Other options are; baking soda or ethanol mixed with water. These will be work well to get your tank sparkling again, but of course thoroughly rinse after application.
4. Soapy Water Or Lemon Juice With Water
Soapy water is very effective at dislodging old gunk from a tank and a good scrub with a toothbrush will make this method even more effective. Lemon juice and water is another method great at removing ground in muck. Completely rinse the parts multiple times afterwards, to eradicate any lingering taste or smell.
5. The Ultrasonic Cleaner – A Pro Method
Formerly built to clean jewelry and precious metals, vapers young and old now use these to clean their atomizers. If you’re a long term avid vaper, this piece of kit should be on your next birthday list as it’ll save you copious amounts of time.
Not only produced just for precious metals, companies like Coil Master make their own ultrasonic cleaner. You don’t have to get one specifically for vaping; any will do and are worth the cost if you have a lot of equipment.
If the flavour of your e-liquid still doesn’t taste right after cleaning the tank, make sure you check the coil over. It may need an extra scrub or it may be time to invest in a new one.