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Last updated on 19.07.2023 | Reading time approx. 07:26 min
You’ve probably experienced this: You want to prepare a new bowl and notice a black crust forming on your smokebox from previous hookah tobacco use. This crust sticks stubbornly to the underside and is difficult to remove. Not only does it look unappealing, but it can also negatively affect the taste of your hookah and overall smoking experience.
But how do you remove these sticky residues from your smokebox and restore your HMD’s shine? In this guide, we’ll show you exactly how to clean your hookah smokebox so that you don’t have to compromise on taste or aesthetics.
First, let’s explain why these stubborn residues form on your smokebox in the first place. The hookah charcoal heats up your smokebox (also called a heat management device or simply HMD). This heating process also warms the hookah bowl underneath, including the hookah tobacco inside.
Additionally, the air drawn through the side openings of your HMD helps further heat the tobacco. This happens because the air passes by the hot hookah charcoal, absorbing heat before flowing through the tobacco when you inhale through the hose.
Unlike traditional smoking, such as cigarettes, this heating process does not burn the tobacco. Instead, the molasses in the hookah tobacco evaporates, and the tobacco itself simply chars.
The evaporating molasses, which is the liquid in the hookah tobacco, consists of various components, including sugar. Sugar is one of the elements in molasses that doesn’t evaporate but rather caramelizes, forming a sticky, dry mass of hookah tobacco and residual buildup. This caramelized sugar is the primary cause of the black crust that sticks to the underside of the HMD.
To understand where tobacco residue sticks the most, let’s take a closer look at a smokebox. Various manufacturers produce different models, all designed with the same goal in mind: to provide an optimal hookah session by heating the tobacco evenly for thick smoke and intense flavor.
However, smokeboxes differ significantly in one key aspect: the bottom surface, which makes contact with the hookah tobacco. By examining these contact surfaces, which transfer heat to the tobacco, we can see clear differences between models.
For example, the Kaloud Lotus features small protrusions on the underside, while the ONMO HMD has bars. The Na Grani HMD and AO 912 HMD feature a very flat ring with a ribbed structure. Additionally, some smokeboxes have a completely smooth underside without any texture, such as the AO HMD Sandblasted.
HMDs with different contact surfaces
Exactly this contact surface, which significantly differs between models, is where the black crust of tobacco residue forms after several smoking sessions. This happens precisely where direct contact between the tobacco and the smokebox occurs during smoking. Examples of this include the protrusions of the Kaloud Lotus, the bars of the ONMO HMD, or generally the base of your HMD.
The extent to which residue sticks to the smokebox depends on how long it has been since your last thorough cleaning and how strong the contact between the smokebox and the tobacco is during smoking. It also depends on how high you pack the tobacco in your hookah bowl.
In our cleaning guide, we differentiate between light and heavy contamination.
With light contamination, only coarse chunks of tobacco stick to the smokebox. Once these are removed, the underside of the smokebox is almost completely free of residue. This stage usually occurs when your smokebox is still fairly new and has only been used a few times or if you recently cleaned it thoroughly.
With heavy or stubborn contamination, a black layer remains even after removing the coarse chunks, covering large areas on the underside of the HMD. This level of buildup is nearly inevitable over time, no matter how meticulously you handle your smokebox! However, there’s no need to worry, as even these residues can be removed.
Now we’ll show you how to best clean your HMD smokebox and remove all residues.
Most HMDs on the market are made of aluminum. These are typically produced using a die-casting process, giving them a rough surface. The ONMO HMD and Kaloud Lotus are particularly popular models. In recent years, stainless steel HMDs have also gained popularity. The cleaning process for these different variants is fundamentally the same.
Left: Stainless steel HMD by AO, Right: Aluminum HMD by ONMO
Start by scraping off the remaining hookah tobacco residue from the underside of the HMD using a knife or another flat object.
Scraping off coarse residues
If your hookah smokebox only has light contamination, it will look similar to the last image after scraping. In this case, only a small spot remains slightly more contaminated. You could still use the HMD without noticing a significant drop in flavor quality.
However, if your HMD still has large areas with a thin black crust after scraping, it means your smokebox is more heavily contaminated. In this case, you should also read the next steps, where we explain how to remove more stubborn residue.
Once the coarse residue has been scraped off, you can decide whether your smokebox is ready to use again. If your smokebox looks like the one in the following image, we recommend following the next steps to ensure that the flavor of your next hookah session is not compromised.
Now, you should wait a few hours. Ideally, leave the smokebox in a water bath overnight. This softens the layer of dirt, making it easier to scrub off with your wire brush once you take it out of the water.
Cleaning a smokebox with an HMD wire brush
After following these steps, even the most stubborn dirt should be removed from your smokebox. It should now look like the one in the previous image above. Now you can fully enjoy the flavor of your next hookah session.
To make it easy for you to clean your smokebox in the correct order at home, here’s a step-by-step summary:
Stainless steel smokeboxes, such as the Na Grani HMD or the AO HMD 912, are manufactured differently from aluminum variants like the ONMO HMD or the Kaloud Lotus. Due to the material and the different production process, the smokebox reacts differently to cleaning.
For stainless steel variants, be aware that wire brushes can leave scratches, which are particularly noticeable on shiny surfaces. If the appearance of your HMD’s underside is important to you, consider using a brass brush. While cleaning with a brass brush is slightly more difficult, the softer bristles help prevent deep scratches.
But even an aluminum HMD has its drawbacks when it comes to cleaning. If you've had your aluminum HMD for a long time, the material will gradually wear down, causing the protrusions or bars on the underside to become smaller. This happens because aluminum is a relatively soft material. A brass brush can help minimize wear, but the black residue tends to stick more stubbornly to aluminum, sometimes making it impossible to fully remove dirt with a brass brush.
If your HMD has lost a significant amount of material over time and you need a new one, you can always find replacements in our hookah shop! Our recommendation is the ONMO HMD, as it offers outstanding value for money.
However, this shouldn’t discourage you from choosing an aluminum model, as it takes years for the material to wear down to the point where it affects your smoking experience. Aluminum models are often better suited for beginners since heat management is easier. In general, wear and tear from cleaning is unavoidable, but we don’t think it’s a big deal—the underside of the smokebox isn’t visible while smoking anyway! Our take: As long as it tastes great, that’s all that matters.
We strongly advise against putting smokeboxes/HMDs in the dishwasher! The aggressive detergents can damage the smokebox material.
You should not clean your smokebox in the dishwasher
