How to Clean Vape Pods: Step-by-Step Guide

If you have a pod vaping system, you’re familiar with the enhancements a pod-based device brings to your vaping experience. To fully enjoy high-strength nicotine salt e-liquids preferred by many new vapers, a pod system is essential. Not only are pod systems among the smallest, sleekest, and most stylish vaping devices available, but they’re also incredibly affordable.

Despite the inexpensive nature of pod vaping kits, some new vapers may discover their pods deteriorating faster than expected. Vape pods can be costly, so it’s ideal for them to last through many refills before needing replacement.

This guide will teach you a crucial technique for pod vaping system owners: how to clean vape pods. If a pod starts to produce a burnt taste, it’s not necessarily due to a faulty or damaged atomizer coil. More often, the coil is just coated with residue. By eliminating the residue, you can revive the pod’s original flavor, allowing you to reuse it instead of discarding it.

The topic we will address is the residue causing your vape pods to burn out.

Why Does Residue Form in Your Vape Pods?

The residue in vape pods forms because some e-liquids contain ingredients that do not fully vaporize when heated. These unvaporized ingredients stick to the atomizer coil in your pod instead. Over time, the residue thickens and eventually covers the coil’s heating surface completely, resulting in a deeply caramelized or burnt flavor when vaping.

Vapers refer to this residue as “coil gunk.” It impairs the coil’s wick functionality, and when the residue layer becomes thick, it can even burn during vaping. This situation leads to experiencing a “dry hit” every time you vape, despite having sufficient e-liquid in the pod.

How to Prevent Coil Gunk in Your Vape Pods

Many e-liquid flavors lead to residue formation on a vape coil, with the main culprit being the sugar-free sweetener sucralose. Sweet e-liquids are immensely popular among vapers, making sucralose a prevalent ingredient in today’s vape juices. The abundance of sweetened e-liquids means it’s unusual to find one without sucralose.

If your e-liquid tastes like candy, fruit, or leaves a sweet coating on your lips, it likely contains sucralose. This sweetener shortens pod life as it doesn’t vaporize cleanly under heat, caramelizing similarly to sugar. While a portion of sucralose may be tasted, most will stick to the coil, forming gunk that ruins the coil’s flavor over time.

To prevent premature burnout of your vape pods, consider switching to unsweetened e-liquids. Residue formation will occur more slowly, allowing your pods to last several days or even a week before replacement.

If you prefer sweetened e-liquids, you may wonder how to prolong your pod’s lifespan while maintaining flavor quality.

Are you content with the flavor of the vape juice you’re currently using and wish to maintain your vaping experience unchanged? This leads us to the primary focus of this article: the proper method for cleaning vape pods.

Step-by-step Guide on How to Clean a Vape Pod

Ever wondered about the importance of learning how to clean a vape pod? It’s essential because, beyond the e-liquid residue, there’s typically nothing wrong with the atomizer coil in the pod causing the burnt flavor. The residual e-liquid is the main culprit of the problem. By eliminating this residue, your pod will have a functional atomizer coil almost akin to a new one.

Keep in mind, in some pod vaping systems, the atomizer coil is an integral part of the pod and not replaceable. In such cases, cleaning pod cartridges becomes challenging as liquid can only flow through a single filling hole. Cleaning a vape pod is notably easier when the coil is detachable. Some of our top pod systems featuring removable atomizer coils are:

• Innokin Sensis
• Innokin EQ FLTR
• Innokin Kroma Z

Let’s delve into the steps for cleaning your dirty vape pods.

• Prepare a sizable bowl with very hot water. Avoid boiling the water as vape pods are crafted from plastic, preventing degradation or melting of the material.
• Unseal your vape pod’s filling hole. If the pod features a removable coil, take out the coil as well. Submerge both components in the water. Note that vape pods tend to float due to their hollow structure. You might need to press the pod down for better water filling. Inadequate submersion could impede proper cleaning.
• Swirl the pod and coil in the water for agitation to disperse the residue. Allow the items to soak before swirling them again. Dark specks may emerge at this stage, either floating in the water or within the pod, if non-removable.

• Swish the pod and coil periodically in the hot water to break up the residue. When dark flecks stop appearing in the water, the coil is clean. If you’re using a pod with a built-in coil, consider rinsing the pod under the faucet to force some of the flecks out of the pod.
• Once done, remove the pod and coil from the water. Tap the pod against a paper towel to remove most of the water. Allow the pod and coil to air dry for several hours before resuming use.

If you struggle to remove residue from your vape pods using hot water alone, consider cleaning them with alcohol instead. Use safe-to-drink strong alcohol like vodka for better effectiveness. It’s more expensive than water, so you may want to clean multiple dirty pods and coils together. After cleaning, rinse thoroughly to remove all alcohol.

In cases where contaminants like dust and lint are difficult to remove from certain areas of your vape pods, such as intake vents or contact plates, gently scrape those areas with a toothpick to remove the grime.

To elevate your vape pod cleaning, try using an ultrasonic cleaner instead of a bowl of hot water. The ultrasonic vibrations in a jewelry cleaner, for instance, will remove coil residue much faster and more thoroughly than manual cleaning.

Is Cleaning Always Effective for a Burnt Vape Pod?

Prior to cleaning your vape pods, it’s crucial to know that cleaning may only eliminate burnt flavor caused by residue on the coil. If the burnt flavor is due to a damaged wick, replacing the pod or coil is the only solution.

If a coil’s wick burns due to insufficient wetness when vaping, you may end up with a burnt flavor. This can occur if you vape with an empty pod or immediately after installing a new pod or coil. Always wait a few minutes after coil replacement to vape, ensuring the wick is fully saturated with vape juice.

By experience, you can differentiate between coil residue and a burnt wick. Coil residue has a sweet flavor like burnt sugar, while a damaged wick results in a harsh flavor that can burn your throat.