Percolator Bongs and Pipes

A percolator is a feature that is commonly found in glass bongs (but recently acrylic bongs and silicone bongs have types of percolators now) which helps to filter your smoke as it travels through your water pipe. Basically, percolators are a series of tiny holes in the glass which the smoke travels through, filtering all the nastiness and toxins from your smoke and combusted herbs resulting in a smooth smoking experience when you inhale.

Having a percolator in a bong is considered essential for many smokers (but not all, each bong user has their own preference!) because it makes the hits much smoother and ensures as many toxins as possible are filtered before you take your hit.

It really depends on what sort of smoking experience you prefer. Are you an old school bong user who loves a harsh throat hit, or, do you much prefer the smoothest possible hits?

If you want the smoothest possible hits then we can guarantee you'll prefer a Percolator bong. The hits are much smoother compared to other bongs because there is much more filtration as the smoke passes through the bong's chamber, you'll find the hits are cooler in temperature (especially after also passing through water) and generally much easier to handle and inhale.

Unsure of the different types of bong or which ones are the best bongs for you? We've got you covered with our Every Type of Bong blog so you can identify which bong suits your needs the most, whether its a beaker base bong, ceramic bong or one of the many other types.

If you're unsure what all these types of bongs even mean and want to learn the absolute basics of bongs, read our What is a Bong guide before buying your first bong.

There are many different types of percolator pipes and bongs available and each one will filter your smoke differently.

tProbably the most popular type of perc, tree percs are essentially lots of small glass tubes that attach to a much larger glass tube. The smoke travels up the main tube then through a series of smaller ones, each one featuring lots of tiny holes which filters the smoke as it passes through.

These percs look very basic but have amazing filtering capabilities. Honeycomb percolators have dozens of small holes that are suspended horizontally inside the main chamber of your bong, although quite basic they work very well and don't affect the draw of your bong as much as other percolators.

This perc is usually suspended within the water chamber of the bong and has slits in the glass (commonly referred to as diffusers) which the smoke travels through. Because the slits are very small holes in the glass, they catch a lot of the toxins and other nastiness from your smoke.

The inline percolator is a horizontal tube of glass with a series of diffusers around the surface area which the smoke travels through to ensure maximum filtration.

The matrix perc is essentially a mix between a showerhead perc and a disc perc and is actually one of the most ergonomic designs of diffusers out there. The matrix sits in the water chamber of your bong and has dozens of diffusers will slits that filter the smoke up into the central chamber of your bong where you'll have ice cubes (If your bong is an Ice Bong that is), so not only will your smoke be filtered but it will also be super cool too.

Smokers will often tell you that cleaning a percolator bong is really difficult but the truth is it doesn't have to be. Keeping your bong clean is really important, not only will it make smoking from your bong much more pleasant in terms of taste and smoothness of hits but bongs over time can accumulate lots of harmful bacteria so it's best to keep on top of the cleaning instead of risking getting ill.

Cleaning a percolator bong is just like cleaning any other bong except you have to be careful of the actual percolators inside to ensure you don't break them.

1. First put on some rubber gloves and remove the bowl and drop pipe
2. Fill the percolators up with isopropyl alcohol, it may even help to use a cleaning stop so you can fully fill your bong with iso.
3. Leave to sit for about half an hour.
4. Tip half the Iso Alcohol out and shake the bong, you'll notice all the gunk and nastiness unsticking from the bong.
5. Tip the rest of the cleaning alcohol out, do this straight down the sink so you have less of a risk of inhalation of it.
6. Rinse with warm water (ensure its not hot).
7. If some dirtiness still remains simply repeat the process.

For a full step by step guide on how to maintain and clean your bong check out our How to Clean A Bong Guide.

If you're looking to purchase a percolator bong you needn't look any further than Ali Bongo. We have one of the largest ranges of percolator bongs in all different styles on the market and ensure we only stock percolator bongs that are manufactured to a high quality standard for a smooth smoke. Whether you're looking to buy cheap percolator bongs to save money or splash out on an absolute beast we have the right bong for you to ensure you're satisfied.

With UK free shipping for UK orders of £40 or over we'll have your percolator bongs to you safe and sound as soon as possible.

Yes absolutely you can! One of our favourite things about glass bongs is the sheer amount of bong accessories that are available. If you have a regular non-percolator bong but want to add something to make it highly functional in terms of percolation then you should take a look at an Ash Catcher (or commonly referred to as a Pre-Cooler).

An Ash Catcher will slot into the drop pipe at the ground joint and allow you to add a bowl to the top of the Pre Cooler, essentially adding something in between your drop pipe and your bowl. Ash Catchers and Pre Coolers work as percolators because they add extra chambers for the smoke to travel through which increases the distance between the burning herbs and your lungs meaning your smoke will be cooler and filtered by the time it enters the main chamber and you inhale your hit.

Ash Catchers and pre-coolers are available in both 14.5mm and 18.8mm so ensure you get the right size for the ground joint (gauge) of your bong; unsure of your ground joint size? Just give us a ring or send us an email and we'll be glad to help.

A Pre Cooler will also help you to keep your bong clean, because it sits directly below the bowl it will catch lots of ash which otherwise would have gotten stuck in your bong or even worse trapped in your percolator.