Here's the short version. Glass: fill or bag it with 90%+ isopropyl alcohol and a spoonful of coarse salt, shake until it's clear, rinse with warm water, air-dry. Chamber: wipe with a cotton bud dipped in isopropyl once it's off the heat, or soak it in ISO if the manufacturer says the chamber comes out. Base: never submerge it or rinse it; a damp cotton bud on the contacts is as wet as it should ever get. That covers traditional glass rigs and e-rigs like the Puffco Peak Pro and Dr Dabber Switch 2.

I should say up front: I hate cleaning. In my first month of vaping I didn't clean anything at all, and I've had a calendar reminder that reads "clean your vapes, you animal" ever since. Concentrates are less forgiving than flower. Residue on a dry-herb vape makes it taste a bit stale. Residue in a dab chamber gets reheated every single cycle, and it tastes burnt. If your dabs have started tasting wrong, cleaning is usually the fix (see Why Does My Dab Taste Burnt?).

What You Need

• Isopropyl alcohol, 90% or stronger. Puffco specifies 90%+ and calls 99% the best choice, because weaker ISO contains more water. Dr Dabber recommends 91% or higher. A plain bottle from a chemist or online is fine. Branded "rig cleaner" is usually just overpriced ISO.
• Coarse salt. Table salt works. Coarse sea salt scrubs better. It does the abrasive work while the ISO dissolves the residue.
• Cotton buds. Lots. Pointed ones are useful for threads and small chambers.
• A resealable bag or a container with a lid for soaking glass and removable parts.
• Paper towel or a lint-free cloth, and somewhere for things to dry properly.

How to Clean the Glass

This part is the same whether it's a traditional rig or the glass attachment on an e-rig.

1. Take it off and empty it. Pour out the old water. On an e-rig, remove the glass from the base first. Water must never run back into the electronics.
2. Add ISO and salt. For a traditional rig, pour ISO in with a tablespoon of coarse salt, cover the openings and shake. For small or oddly shaped e-rig glass, a resealable bag works better: glass in, ISO and salt in, seal, shake. Dr Dabber's own advice for its glass is exactly this, with salt for stubborn residue.
3. Soak if it's bad. Puffco's Peak Pro 3DXL manual says to submerge the glass in 90%+ ISO for 20 minutes. Heavily stained glass can go longer.
4. Rinse with warm water until you can't smell the alcohol.
5. Dry it completely. On Puffco glass, Puffco specifically warns against letting water seep into the bottom section that sits on the base. Shake it out, stand it upside down, and give it time.

How to Clean the Chamber or Atomiser

This is the bit that affects flavour most, and the bit most people get wrong.

After every session: the quick swab

When the heat cycle has finished, take a dry cotton bud and wipe out whatever's left in the chamber. Leftover concentrate is still soft for a short time after the cycle, and it comes out easily. Leave it until tomorrow and you're cleaning hardened residue that has been reheated a few more times. Dr Dabber recommends a dry swab after every dab on the Switch 2. Puffco recommends a cotton bud with ISO for light cleaning of the Peak Pro chamber.

Weekly or every charge: the ISO swab

With the chamber cool, or at most warm if your manufacturer says so, dip a cotton bud in ISO and work around the bowl, walls and rim. Go gently. Ceramic coatings and inserts are consumables, and scrubbing hard with anything metal shortens their life. Follow with a dry bud to take off any remaining alcohol, then leave it to air-dry before the next heat cycle.

Deep clean: the soak

If your chamber is designed to come out, a soak shifts what swabs can't. On the Puffco Peak Pro, the 3DXL manual says to submerge the chamber in 90%+ ISO for 20 minutes, never rinse it with water, and let it air-dry completely before you put it back. If a chamber is discoloured, pitted or cracked after a proper soak, it's worn out. Puffco sells replacements, such as the Peak Pro 3DXL chamber.

Clean cycles and burn-offs

Only use a heat-based clean if the manufacturer builds one in. The Dr Dabber Switch 2 has a cleaning-assist cycle in its app that gently warms the insert (the knowledge base lists 100 degrees for 30 seconds) to soften residue before you swab. Dr Dabber also says it does not recommend using a torch to clean inserts. The Puffco Peak Pro documentation I found doesn't list a dedicated cleaning cycle, so on a Puffco I stick with swabs and soaks. Running an empty chamber on a high setting to "burn it clean" mostly bakes residue on harder and adds wear.

How to Clean the Base (E-Rigs)

The base holds the battery and the electronics. It gets the lightest touch of anything on the rig.

• Swab the contacts and threads with a cotton bud lightly dampened with 90%+ ISO. Puffco's instruction for the Peak Pro base is exactly this: gently clean the connection points, and never let water get into them.
• Wipe the outside with a dry or barely damp cloth, and check your manufacturer first. Dr Dabber warns not to use ISO on the Switch 2's outer shell, because it damages the finish.
• Let it dry fully before reattaching the chamber or glass.

What Never to Do

Don't	Why
Submerge or rinse an electronic base	It holds the battery and electronics. Puffco's manual says do not rinse or submerge it in liquid.
Put ISO on a hot chamber	Isopropyl is highly flammable. Wait until the cycle has ended and the heat has dropped.
Use water on a Puffco chamber	Puffco says ISO only for the chamber. Water is for rinsing glass, not heaters.
Blow into the glass or store it full of water	Both can push water down into the base. Puffco warns against both.
Reassemble anything wet	Left-over alcohol or water plus heat and electronics is a bad mix. Dry everything completely.
Torch an e-rig insert	Dr Dabber advises against it, and it damages coatings.
Overfill the chamber	More residue, more mess in the threads, harder cleaning. Puffco's manual warns against overfilling too.

Dab Rig Cleaning Schedule

This assumes regular use. If you dab once a fortnight, clean after each session and you'll rarely need the deep clean.

When	Glass	Chamber / atomiser	Base	Time
After every session	Empty the water	Dry cotton bud once the cycle ends	Nothing	Under a minute
Daily (if daily use)	Fresh water only	Quick ISO swab, cool chamber	Quick look at the contacts	A few minutes
Weekly / every charge	ISO and salt shake, rinse, dry	Thorough ISO swab	ISO bud on the contacts and threads	15–20 minutes plus drying
Deep clean (monthly, or when flavour fades)	20+ minute ISO soak	20-minute ISO soak if it's removable (no water), then air-dry	As weekly	30 minutes plus a full dry

Puffco's own guidance for the Peak Pro is a thorough clean every time the battery runs flat and needs recharging, which lines up with the weekly row for most people.

Puffco-Specific Notes

• Peak Pro: glass soaks in ISO then rinses with water; the chamber soaks in ISO and never sees water; the base gets an ISO bud on the gold contacts only. Full walkthrough in the Peak Pro guide.
• Proxy and Pivot: same principles, smaller parts. The device-specific steps are in the Proxy guide and the Pivot guide.
• Load smaller: a Hot Knife makes it easier to load small, neat amounts, which means less residue to clean afterwards. See the Hot Knife guide.
• More on the whole range in the Puffco brand hub or the Puffco collection.

Dr Dabber-Specific Notes

• Switch 2 insert: dry swab straight after each dab, then an ISO swab while the insert is still warm, per Dr Dabber. Warm, not hot: wait for the heat cycle to finish completely.
• Cleaning-assist cycle: use the one in the app instead of improvising a burn-off.
• No torch on inserts, and no ISO on the outer shell.
• Glass: ISO and a tablespoon of salt, shake, rinse, dry.
• More on the brand in our Dr Dabber hub.

If you want the chemistry behind why ISO works and water doesn't on sticky residue, the editorial team covers it in The Chemistry of Vaporiser Maintenance. My dry-herb cleaning routine is in I Hate Cleaning Too.

Dab Rig Cleaning FAQ

What is the best thing to clean a dab rig with?

Isopropyl alcohol at 90% or higher, plus coarse salt for the glass. It dissolves concentrate residue that water can't touch. Puffco and Dr Dabber both specify ISO in their own cleaning instructions.

Can I clean a dab rig without alcohol?

For glass, hot water and salt will shift light residue, and there are alcohol-free glass cleaners. For e-rig chambers, stick to what the manufacturer specifies. Puffco says ISO only, never water, for the Peak Pro chamber.

How often should I clean my e-rig?

Dry swab after every session and do a proper clean weekly, or each time the battery runs flat, as Puffco suggests for the Peak Pro. Soak the chamber when the flavour starts to fade.

Can I put my Puffco in water?

Only the glass, and only once it's off the base. The base must never be rinsed or submerged, and the chamber gets ISO only.

Should I clean the chamber hot or cold?

Wait until the heat cycle has ended. A dry cotton bud works best while residue is still soft. Only use an ISO bud once the chamber has cooled, or is just warm if your manufacturer recommends that, as Dr Dabber does for the Switch 2 insert.

Why does my rig still taste burnt after cleaning?

Either the chamber or insert is worn and needs replacing, or the temperature is too high. Try one preset lower first. The dab temperature guide covers the rest.