A grinder works best when it holds 0.5 g to 1 g of dry flower, turns three to five times per load, and gets a deep clean every two to four weeks. Resin and plant wax coat the teeth, the threads, and the screen. That buildup adds friction, shrinks the kief yield, and makes the lid stick. A 30 minute soak in 91 percent isopropyl alcohol removes most of it.
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What you need
- 91 percent isopropyl alcohol (70 percent works, with a longer soak)
- Small stiff brush or an old toothbrush
- Two shallow dishes
- Paper towels
- Pointed tool, such as a dab tool or a toothpick
How to use a grinder
Load
Break buds by hand into pieces about the size of a pea. Fill the top chamber halfway. A full chamber packs the teeth and presses the flower into lumps. Remove stems first. Stems wrap around the axle and stall the lid.
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Turn
Hold the base and turn the lid one quarter turn at a time. Reverse direction if the lid stops. Three to five passes give a shred of 1 mm to 3 mm, the range most pipes and vaporizers handle well. Stop when the lid turns with no resistance.
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Empty and collect
Tap the middle chamber into a tray. Unscrew the bottom chamber to reach the screen. Kief falls through a mesh of 60 to 120 microns. Scrape the tray every week or two. Kief left in the tray pulls moisture from the air.
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How to clean a grinder
- Take the grinder apart. Keep the pieces in order.
- Scrape loose resin with the pointed tool. Work over paper.
- Put metal parts in a dish. Cover them with 91 percent alcohol.
- Soak 30 minutes. Plastic and painted parts get 5 minutes at most. Alcohol clouds some plastics and strips some coatings.
- Brush the teeth, the threads, and the screen. Run the brush along the screen in one direction.
- Rinse with warm water. Dry all parts for one hour. Water left in the threads causes corrosion on steel and aluminum.
- Reassemble.
The alcohol in the dish holds dissolved resin. Some users let it evaporate and keep the residue. That residue has no test for pesticides or mold, so the contents are unknown.
Cleaning schedule
Three or more sessions a day: clean every one to two weeks. Daily use: every two to four weeks. Occasional use: every two to three months. Clean sooner if the lid sticks, the screen clogs, or kief stops falling into the bottom chamber.
What to avoid
- Dishwashers. Heat warps aluminum and plastic.
- Boiling water. It warps plastic and can crack anodized coatings.
- Metal tools on the screen. They tear the mesh.
- Overfilling. It is the top cause of a jammed grinder.