Heat cleaning

The process of using heat from a butane torch or an e-nail to burn away residue or buildup left from a previous dab in a nail. 

“Heat cleaning shortens the usability of a banger by overexposing it to heat.”

“I always use a Q-Tip after I dab so I don’t have to heat clean my nail later.”

What is heat cleaning?

Heat cleaning is one of the easiest ways to clean a banger or nail when dabbing but it can be wasteful. Taking dabs will always leave some degree of residue behind in the nail, depending on the consistency and quality of an extract—for example, rosin usually leaves more residue than shatter because it contains more plant material; shatter has usually been winterized or dewaxed, which removes plant lipids.

To heat clean a nail, most dabbers use their torch to burn away any residue, leaving a clean but hot nail—heat cleaning can make a quartz nail “blush,” or glow orange due to the high temperature. Extreme heat degrades quartz’s ability to retain heat and leaves it more porous.

Alternatives to heat cleaning

Heat cleaning is easy to do and doesn’t require any other tools, however, it does use an excessive amount of fuel and also degrades the quality and life of a nail. Q-Tip tech is one of the most efficient ways to maintain a clean banger without compromising equipment: This involves swabbing a nail with a Q-Tip to remove residue in between taking dabs, minimizing wait time, heat exposure, and butane use.