Mold Buildup

[mandude]

My hookah has a rubber compartment above the base through where the smoke enters the hose. After I use my hookah I dry everything out as best I can but there always seems to be some water left. Would this cause a buildup of mold in that rubber compartment?

[bjelder]

Take a blow dryer to it

or a leafblower

but I've honestly never heard of mold growing in hookahs. I could be wrong.

[NJE03]

Take a blow dryer to it

or a leafblower

but I've honestly never heard of mold growing in hookahs. I could be wrong.

On the contrary, I have personally experienced mold in my hookah before.

[ilikemyusername]

Take a blow dryer to it

or a leafblower

but I've honestly never heard of mold growing in hookahs. I could be wrong.

On the contrary, I have personally experienced mold in my hookah before.

SICK!

[Dom]

another thing you can do to ensure it dries faster is put it in your water heater room. it's usually considerably hotter and drier in there than it is in the rest of your house.

[vaypourus]

I haven't had any mold yet....I make sure that I let everything air dry with all the parts separated.

I know some mold can be pretty toxic..I can't imagine that smoking it would be any better.

[Doubon]

If there is any moisture then bacteria will grow.

I have a related question:
If I smoke from a hookah with mold in the base (unintentionally) can it cause an illness?

I ask this because I notice that some lounges overlook changing the water in the base when cleaning their hookahs.

[Dom]

If there is any moisture then bacteria will grow.

I have a related question:
If I smoke from a hookah with mold in the base (unintentionally) can it cause an illness?

I ask this because I notice that some lounges overlook changing the water in the base when cleaning their hookahs.

if there is mold in the base, then it is VERY bad for you because of the gasses and spores and stuff that mold produces.

some lounges may not change their water after each use becaue it's not really needed. especially if you smoke the same flavor out of it again.

when i'm at home, i'll load a bowl, smoke it, and then leave it over-night and the next day dump the old bowl and smoke another on the same setup. i'd only actually rinse it out every two smokes. which was every other day. it has not been a problem for me. as long as the water doesn't sit in the base for more than a couple days, you'll be fine.

however, letting vapor sit in your non-washable hose for about an hour, will ruin it! if you walk away from the hookah and you think you'll be away from it for a while, purge the hose so that the vapor in the hose doesn't condense into a liquid and rust out your hose. happened to one of my cobra hoses and my mya hose that was saposedly "washable."
wow, i went off topic. sorry. lol

[liquidglass]

as far as the Mold question goes. let it dry but to make sure it's clean take a small diameter brush and clean out all the holes (even the hose port all the way through) I've never gotten mold buildup.


But if you think you do have mold, put some vinegar in the affected parts and let it sit for a bit, then clean.

[Sonthert]

1. Mold is only "toxic" if you are allergic to it.
2. Mold is hard pressed to grow on brass or stainless steel, which most hookahs are made of.
3. Mold has to subsist on something, hookah tobacco doesn't have too much to offer..the worst I ever saw is grape flavro and fruit flies...they seem to love that shit.
4. A good way to dry out water is to use a substance that is volatile, dries easily and is cheap and readily available...in the Chem lab, we used to use acetone, but rubbing alcohol should work well...

[kajon]

My roomate in college left the water in the hookah for weeks on end. When I dumped out the water there was mold all over the base. The sad part is he smoked from it with all that mold.

[Sonthert]

[Cybersist]

My roomate in college left the water in the hookah for weeks on end. When I dumped out the water there was mold all over the base. The sad part is he smoked from it with all that mold.

Sounds strangely familiar to my roommates..... and they never cleaned the hookah...cant say it was my hookah....so i didnt care as long as i didnt smoke out of it.

[fifthmanstanding]

1. Mold is only "toxic" if you are allergic to it.
2. Mold is hard pressed to grow on brass or stainless steel, which most hookahs are made of.
3. Mold has to subsist on something, hookah tobacco doesn't have too much to offer..the worst I ever saw is grape flavro and fruit flies...they seem to love that shit.
4. A good way to dry out water is to use a substance that is volatile, dries easily and is cheap and readily available...in the Chem lab, we used to use acetone, but rubbing alcohol should work well...

at number one: not neccessarily, I live in the southeast US where black mold is heavily prominent due to the humidity and water left by natural disasters. The spores and gas put off by black mold is deadly over time and even to those with no allergies. And it will grow ANYWHERE. Including hookahs. My friend lives in a house that was built back in the 20's and has supposedly been mold treated since the flood from a hurricane years ago, but the back of his refridgerator is covered, it's in the sheetrock, and even though he often cleans his hookah and it's part, it was apparently in the hose. Not good.

[vaypourus]

1. Mold is only "toxic" if you are allergic to it.
2. Mold is hard pressed to grow on brass or stainless steel, which most hookahs are made of.
3. Mold has to subsist on something, hookah tobacco doesn't have too much to offer..the worst I ever saw is grape flavro and fruit flies...they seem to love that shit.
4. A good way to dry out water is to use a substance that is volatile, dries easily and is cheap and readily available...in the Chem lab, we used to use acetone, but rubbing alcohol should work well...

Yeah man...gonna argue with you on those points.

When I was doing construction, flooded houses often required ventilators and/or Tyvek suits because of this little guy. The stuff would grow in days, and would often killed mice and pets with ease. You did not have to be allergic to it to be affected by it, as it produces some nasty airborne toxins. We had to plastic bag everything we removed to prevent it from being released.

Mold grows very well on glass, especially if there is water in it. Any molassus that were to drip down the stem into the water would supply food...I mean, it is concentrated sugar. Ever left a glass of water in a basement for a while? Grows all kinds of stuff. If spores can get in there (which most are found free floating in air) then it could get a colony growing.

My molecular biologist roommate says that mold could def grow in a hookah base if left alone for a couple of days.

[Dereksd]

yay for eric being back

boo for mold