Can i use distilled vinegar to clean out atomizers/tankomizers?

[SirKillawatt]

question pretty much sums up my question, i ran out of vodka to clean them with, can i use this distilled white vinegar or is it a terrible idea?

 

[elfstone]

I guess you can. It's not going to do any damage as far as I can tell. I'm not sure how effective it would be for coils/wicks, but hey - I use just hot water to clean tanks and it works great.

Anyhow, there is a method described here: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/e-cigarette-maintenance/177570-novel-way-clean-atty.html that may or may not work - I never tried.

 

[PittBoss]

I have seen people clean out their cartos with white vinegar and baking soda..also have tried it a couple of times myself with good results!

 

[Malduk]

I use it. Its alright.

 

[sj74]

I have never tried it, but I use an ultrasonic cleaner and blazing hot water. 20 minute cycle does the trick for me. And no I am not using a Hospital Grade Ultrasonic..lol. Got one at Bed Bath and Beyond and it works great for me. Cartos, attys, tips all cleaned in it.

 

[dogbertusceasar]

Took me a min to find this again: How To - Cleaning an atomizer - YouTube

He uses Baking soda and vinegar to clean the atty - caveat: haven't tried it myself.

Hope this helps!

 

[Nitemaxx]

I use boiling water then denatured alcohol then boiling water again. Works great.

 

[2roundsaday]

in my experience alcohol as in Vodka or other pure grain alcohols are the only safe way to clean attys. hot water is sufficient for your tank cleaning or again the vodka or PGA. isopropyl alcohol and vinegars imo arent safe to use. think of it this way would you drink vinegar or isopropyl alcohol? always remember when deciding to use something....and ask yourself would i put this in my body?

 

[elfstone]

Please do not use "denaturated alcohol". You can never be sure, really, what it exactly contains, but in all cases it has poisonous substances. It is ethanol intentionally adulterated to be made toxic...

Isopropyl alcohol - this is probably a judgement call; I would never use it. It is toxic. It's not as toxic as the poisons in denaturated alcohol, but still... In the trace amounts that would result with careful use for cleaning atties, one can argue it's not going to be dangerous.

Ethanol / drinking alcohol / PGA - it's far less toxic than the two above. It's probably still a bad irritant for the respiratory system, but again, in small amounts it is considered "okay" to vape. Obviously, there is nothing out there that is definitely, authoritatively and unquestionably totally safe to vape, but alcohol has been used in flavoring and thinning e-liquids for some time now without known incidents.

Vinegar - in the concentrations found in vinegar, acetic acid should be perfectly non-toxic. Again, it is irritant and should probably not be vaped in higher than a drop / several ml ever. But in traces after trying to clean an atty, it should be "safe-ish" as explained above. It has been used for flavor / stabilization in e-liquids along with similar acids (malic, citric).

That's just my opinion - use your own judgement and research...

 

[hairball]

in my experience alcohol as in Vodka or other pure grain alcohols are the only safe way to clean attys. hot water is sufficient for your tank cleaning or again the vodka or PGA. isopropyl alcohol and vinegars imo arent safe to use. think of it this way would you drink vinegar or isopropyl alcohol? always remember when deciding to use something....and ask yourself would i put this in my body?

Please explain why vinegar wouldn't be safe and secondly, yes I drink vinegar daily. It cleans toxins from your blood. I've been doing it for several years now. Vinegar is used in lots of foods...salad, pickles, canned foods, etc.

To the OP, vinegar and baking soda are safe and effective way to clean your stuff. Rinse well with hot water afterwards to remove the taste.

 

[kabonk]

I use vinegar too

 

[SCoph]

Who doesn't like a good Vlasic pickle now and again? Especially in a spicy bloody mary...mmm! I'm gonna have to look for that flavor! lol

I think subscribing to the notion, "Would you eat or drink it?" is a safe standard to go buy.

 

[elfstone]

I think subscribing to the notion, "Would you eat or drink it?" is a safe standard to go buy.

Well... I guess if you wouldn't eat something then it's probably not safe to vape in most cases... Although I wouldn't drink PG. Or nicotine On the other hand, there are plenty of things that are safe to eat, but unsafe / nasty to vape. It's a shaky standard, imho.

 

[AttyPops]

in my experience alcohol as in Vodka or other pure grain alcohols are the only safe way to clean attys. hot water is sufficient for your tank cleaning or again the vodka or PGA. isopropyl alcohol and vinegars imo arent safe to use. think of it this way would you drink vinegar or isopropyl alcohol? always remember when deciding to use something....and ask yourself would i put this in my body?

Not to pick on you, but to try and further discussion, people have vinegar tasting parties (like wine tasting). IPO in small amounts is OK to clean with (but just blow the atty out, optionally rinse, and let it dry. IPO evaporates away and leaves no residue). PGA is poison too... just takes more. Look up Alcohol Poisoning.

OP: Vinegar is fine to clean with. However, it's hard to get the flavor out of the wicking material. Go ahead and try it. A lemon juice rinse followed by water may help.

I use hot water. If that fails, out comes the Isopropyl alcohol (rinsed and dried well after). Have used vinegar, but don't like getting rid of the aftertaste.

 

[Traveling_Raven]

i boil mine and pass vodka through them. i have heard that a ultrasonic cleaner works well, i am going to try that

 

[alexand]

I think you can