Cleaning grinders can be so easy if you know how!

A grinder is an essential part of every green herb lover's household. In principle, grinders are long-lasting companions, provided they are used correctly and regularly given the necessary care and cleaning. This is necessary because a resin layer forms relatively quickly in the herb grinder when grinding herb that is still rather "moist". This resin layer is then responsible for the fact that your grinder becomes more difficult to turn or, in the worst case, no longer turns at all. At this point at the latest, you should clean your grinder. You should pay attention to the material your grinder is made of. In the following paragraphs, we will deal specifically with the individual cleaning methods of the respective grinder materials and other special tips and tricks.

Structure of this contribution

- Different types of grinder
- Tip: Put the grinder in the freezer
- Cleaning metal / coated grinders
- Cleaning wooden grinders
- Cleaning plastic / acrylic grinders
- Tip: Cleaning grinders with milk
- Using the leftovers from the herb mill
- Conclusion on cleaning grinders

Different types of grinder

- Metal / coated grinders: This type of grinder is usually a high-quality herb grinder. This is why they are in a higher price range. When it comes to cleaning, they are easy to handle.
- Wooden gr inders : As the name suggests, these grinders are made of natural wood. Natural products always require a little more attention when cleaning and using them. For this reason, there are a few points you should pay attention to with these herb grinders.
- Plastic / Acrylic Grinder: Depending on the type of plastic, these grinders are often comparatively cheaper than others. When cleaning, as with wooden grinders, there are special cases where you should be more careful or leave them alone.

Tip: Grinder in the freezer

This trick is a well-intentioned advice to make your cleaning easier and more efficient. Break your grinder down into all its parts and put them in your freezer or whatever. Now leave them there for half an hour. The cold will harden all the sticky and moist plant particles that are in your herb grinder. This trick also comes in handy to remove the last remnants from the pollen sieve. However, you have to be a little careful with plastic and acrylic grinders, as these materials become brittle at low temperatures. Afterwards, this trick makes it easier for you to remove the remaining material by tapping, brushing and scraping.

Cleaning metal / coated grinders

These types of herb grinders are probably the easiest to clean. Either follow our cleaning instructions below or follow the instructions below "Cleaning the grinder with milk".

The first step is to start disassembling your grinder into all its parts. Be careful with the screens, as they can be very fragile.
2. Then put all the parts in your freezer and leave them there for half an hour.
3. Afterwards, we recommend that you prepare a mat to collect the leftovers and clean them with a toothbrush, paintbrush, toothpick and Dabbing tool and a toothpick. At first, you can also try to remove the largest residues by tapping them against your hands. For coated grinders, however, you should not use the dabbing tool, as you could scrape off the coating.
4. Then put all the individual parts into a bowl or plastic bag with a cloth. Isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol will kill the bacteria that are in the nooks and crannies of your grinder. You can move the bowl or plastic bag back and forth to really get all the plant debris off the grinder.
5. Now let the items soak for some time until the liquid is light brown or it is obvious that all particles have been removed from the grinder.
6. To be on the safe side, wash the individual parts well with water and let them dry.
7. Finally, you can now assemble your grinder and smoothly grind the green herb again. You will definitely notice the difference!

Cleaning the Wood Grinder

The natural material wood is probably the most sensitive material when it comes to grinder cleaning. We advise you not to put your wood grinder in boiling water or milk, to treat it with dish soap or isopropyl alcohol or to put it in your freezer. We would recommend the following process for cleaning your wood grinder:

First of all, disassemble your wooden grinder into all its parts.
2. The next step is to clean it with a toothbrush, paintbrush, toothpick or Dabbing tool. Be careful with the latter two tools so that you do not scratch your grinder.
3. If the grinder is very dirty, use warm water and a toothbrush. The heat of the water will dissolve the resins in the grinder.
4. If your grinder gets wet, give it enough time to dry out completely.
5. After everything is dry and clean again, you can assemble your wooden grinder and enjoy its new shine.

Cleaning Plastic / Acrylic Grinder

With plastic and acrylic, proceed with more caution, as these materials react sensitively to temperatures and cleaning with alcohol is sometimes not possible due to incompatibility, e.g. with acrylic. Therefore, we would recommend the following procedure:

To begin, disassemble your grinder into all its parts. However, be careful when handling the sieves, as they can break very easily.
2. Now it's time to put the parts in the freezer for about half an hour! See the description in one of the paragraphs above.
3. Afterwards, get yourself a base, such as a chopping board, a Mixing bowl etc. to collect the leftovers. Then tap the grinder with your hands over this surface to remove the coarsest remnants. You can then work on your grinder by brushing it with a toothbrush and brush and/or scraping it with a toothpick and Dabber to work on it. You can also help with this step by using warm water, dish soap and a toothbrush. Don't forget to rinse all parts with water afterwards.
4. Then bring some water to the boil in a pot on your cooker. Then turn the temperature down until it is only slightly simmering. Now put all the parts of your grinder in the pot for a minute.
5. Next, remove the parts from the pot with tongs or other tools and wait until they are at room temperature again.
6. Finally, you can assemble your plastic/acrylic grinder and start grinding again!

Tip: Clean grinder with milk

This tip should only be followed for metal and coated grinders, as plastic and wooden grinders could be damaged by the high temperatures. The recipe for success with this trick is that the fat content in the milk dissolves and binds the oils, resins etc. in your herb grinder through heating. In addition, the milk lubricates your grinder and the handling will definitely feel smoother again after this method. In the following, you will learn how to proceed:

First disassemble your grinder into all its parts.
2. Then remove the coarse residues from your grinder as best you can. Toothbrushes, brushes, toothpicks and dabbing tools are useful for this. Dabber helpful. Be sure to keep the leftovers, as they can still be useful to you. You should avoid using the dabber on coated grinders, as you could damage the coating.
3. Then heat about half a litre to a litre of milk in a saucepan.
4. When the milk starts to boil, put the parts of your grinder into the pot. We recommend that you clean the sieves and any rubber seals etc. separately with cotton buds dipped in warm milk, as these could be damaged in the pot.
5. Then leave the items in the hot milk for 10 minutes to a quarter of an hour, stirring gently at regular intervals.
6. After the recommended time, remove the items from the milk with tongs or similar and wash each one carefully with water.
7. Then dry everything and, if necessary, polish with cotton buds.
8. Finally, you can assemble your grinder and treat yourself to a nice glass of milk as a reward!

Using the leftovers from the herb mill

You should definitely keep the cleaned-up remains and not throw them away, because they are valuable and potent kief. Cleaning your grinder will even reward you, because you can do the following things with this kief:

- Decarboxylate it and add it to your food.
- Before you roll up your sports cigarette, you can sprinkle some in.
- Sprinkle a little in your bong head.
- Dip your sports cigarette in the fine dust.
- Brew a delicious hemp tea.

Conclusion on grinder cleaning

No matter how high quality and exclusive your grinder is, oils and resins will build up in it during use and consequently affect its performance. Sooner or later you will need to clean your grinder. Regular cleaning not only prolongs the life of your grinder, but also ensures a better and healthier enjoyment of your processed herbs. Moreover, after a thorough cleaning, you will notice that your grinder will look and function almost like new again. But as you learned from our article, there are differences and dangers in cleaning the different grinder materials. High quality grinders allow you to clean thoroughly without causing any damage. You should always be aware of this and then consider your individual needs and requirements when buying a grinder.