4/15 #2
I experimented with cleaning some cartos this weekend. Opted for four steps: 1) soak all day in PGA 2) flush with hot water from the bottom end with a syringe 3) overnight soak in clean PGA 4) all day dry.
I put one of them back in service with the same flavor as before (spearmint). The first half mL or so was alcoholic thanks to the PGA residue (good thing I was
vaping it at home!), but that's now flushed out. Taking into account flavor, vapor, and TH I'd say this one is back up to 80-90% like new, which isn't bad considering it had been used 2 weeks before getting cleaned. I should be able to get at least another week of pleasant vaping out of it. By my quick calculations I used about $2 worth of PGA, so the process is cost effective as long as I'm cleaning more than 1-2 cartos at a time...
They all came clean except the one that had cinnamon roll / butternut squash in it. Both of those are darker juices that leave prizes in cartos... It's cleanER, but definitely not clean. I think an actual boil might be helpful for these to get more gunk out, but I didn't have the time or stove availability to test it this weekend.