Sharing’s Caring Unless It’s With Your Vape! | UK Vape Scene

Sharing's Caring… Unless It's With Your Vape Kit!

Although, of course, these days smoking gets a seriously bad rap (hey, lung cancer - we're looking at you!), it hasn't always been that way and, in fact, the practice has incredibly strong historical and cultural links, links that are so significant that they go some way towards explaining why people do still reach for the ciggies, despite the very well-documented negative health outcomes associated with them.

Aside from being adopted by many cultures for ceremonial, medicinal or spiritual purposes, tobacco use has also helped forge strong social connections over the years, as well. The hookah, for example, quickly took hold in Arab communities, bringing people together for a puff alongside a hot cup of Java Joe and some good conversation.

Even now, it's certainly not unheard of for people to class themselves as social smokers, only reaching for the cigs when they're out and about… and who hasn't asked their pal for a cheeky drag every now and again?

This cultural sharing aspect of smoking certainly extends to vapes, as well, and many vapers extol the virtues of sharing vape pens and disposables among friendship groups - but, as friendly and as welcoming as this might well seem, it's probably not the best course of action if you want to keep yourself fit and healthy, especially at this time of year.

Communicable diseases!

Of course it's tempting to help a friend out who's been caught short without their Lost Mary vape, but doing so could put your health at risk, exposing you to all sorts of nasty bugs, including norovirus, colds and flu.

Because vaping involves inhaling through a mouthpiece, it's possible that you could accidentally inhale little drops of saliva from anyone with a respiratory infection, covid or even pneumonia - so this is always a risk to bear in mind when sharing your vaping equipment.

Basically, if you don't want to catch a viral infection this winter, then you're best off not sharing your vape, even if it's with a close friend or family member.

And it's not just winter illnesses that you have to be mindful of… you could also increase your risk of contracting the herpes virus if you're not careful. This virus is present in saliva and can easily be spread through vape sharing if the person you're sharing with has the virus and is symptomatic.

Illnesses aside, if you're the one asking to bum a vape, you might also be accidentally exposing yourself to higher nicotine doses than you'd have otherwise, so you might find yourself even more addicted to it than before, so there are plenty of reasons why you should avoid sharing where possible.

Our top tips for cleaning your vape

If you absolutely insist on sharing, at least keep your vape pens clean. In fact, even if you never share, cleaning out your vape regularly is a good course of action to take.

Cleaning your vape not only makes it more hygienic to use, but it could also prolong its life, as well - and the good news is that it's really easy to do it.

All you need is some warm water and some paper towels to get the job done. If you really want to up the ante, you can use some antibacterial cleaner or washing-up liquid and some cotton wool buds to get into those tricky corners, but this may not always be necessary. It all depends on how virtuous you're feeling!

If your vape has a removable drip tip, make sure you focus your efforts particularly on this part of the device, as this is what goes into your mouth and will be most likely to pick up all those nasty germs and bacteria.

Give it a rinse under a warm tap once a week and that should do the trick, or for a more intensive clean, swirl a cotton bud around the inside. You could also soak your drip tip in some warm water with some cleaning solution for a nice deep clean.

For the vape tank, the best time to clean this is when you're changing the coil. Unscrew all the components of the tank, putting everything in a safe place so you don't lose anything vital. Rinse it all under a warm tap or soak the parts in some warm water and disinfectant. Dry all the parts with a paper towel and reassemble. Easy modes!

If you have a vape pod with a built-in coil, all you can do is keep the mouthpiece clean, since you can't access the inside of the device. If your pod has a replaceable coil, take the coil out and rinse the pod in some warm water, using disinfectant if you think you need to. Dry it well, prime the coil and refill the pod for your vaping pleasure.

As for disposable vapes, you probably don't need to clean these, as they'll only likely last you a few days but if you do notice that it's starting to look a little scruffy, wipe it down with some tissue or clean out the mouthpiece with a cotton bud.

So there you have it! Lots of handy hints and top tips from the UK Vape Scene team to help you vape safely and hygienically this winter and beyond. If, as ever, you need any more advice or support, give the team a shout!