Cleaning pipes

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dspiveyjr

dspiveyjr

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New to smoking pipes and was wanting any information on how often would I clean my pipe and the correct way to clean or care for my pipe, may sound elementary but I am new. I guess I could research it on the Net but would rather get ideas and information from my BoB friends. Thanks in advance.
 
I'll be concise but don't think I'm saying this is the only way to do it....

If its a new pipe, don't really clean inside the bowl. Just remove unsmoked pieces of tobacco, but don't scrape the sides of the bowl with a pipe cleaner. If the pipe is well broken in and has a cake, in addition to removing unsmoked tobacco you can bend the end of a pipe cleaner to make a "U" and use that to swab the inside of the bowl lightly to remove ash.

After each smoke, I keep the pipe together and run a pipe cleaner down the stem, from the bit, to the shank. When its at the shank, and I can see it from the top of the bowl, I run it, about 1 inch, back and forth a few times, and then pull out the pipe cleaner and discard it.

I don't remove the stem very often so that it won't wear down (become loose) too quickly.

Once every two months or so, I'll do the above stem/shank cleaning after first dipping the tip of a pipe cleaner in some ever clear.

Once every 6 months or so, I'll take the pipe apart, and with a pipe cleaner dipped in ever clear I'll clean the shank until the pipe cleaner stays clean (doesn't pick up any more gunk).
 
I clean my pipes in almost the exact same use to remove my stems more often but found it was not necessary, that a pipe cleaner from the bit to the shank works just fine for everyday cleaning.
 
I must be a one off, but I thoroughly clean my pipes after each usage. My own preference is a light cake in the bowl. Once I finish smoking it I clean out the residue and take the pipe apart to clean the mouthpiece and then the bowl. I also normally wad up a kleenex and clean the top of the bowl and twist it around the inside of the bowl and then use the same pipe cleaner to clean the walls again.

I'm probably doing too much and have received "some" criticism from some people I know but that's the way I do it. I've never ruined any of the pipes except one I made for myself and the tenon was loose anyway so I rack it up to my own faulty design of the early pipe itself.

about once or twice a year I use nivea (sp?) cream on a kleanex to remove the smoke residue around the top of the bowl depending on how often I smoke the pipe itself and every once will also remove some cake w/a reamer.

The one fault I have, as with many pipe smokers I know, is i don't always wait for the bowl to completely cool down prior to cleaning. but again it's just the way I do it. I think you should wait, but I also think you should thoroughly clean both the mouthpiece and the bowl as seperate entities. I'm sure you'll find many ways to clean the pipe.. just don't let the cake completely close the tobacco chamber.. never really understood that.. I mean my 60 minute bowls are 60 minutes bowls .. if I can't fit the tobacco in then where's the pleasure..

just my opinion
James
 
Personally I just run a dry cleaner down the shank and then bend it in half and do the bowl. Regardless of how new the pipe is, I prefer very little cake anyway. I usually give them a quick polish with a micro-fiber cloth as well, with some spit to clean off any tar on the bowl rim.

When inspired I will get together a group of well-smoked briars and take them apart, brush the airway with Everclear, clean the stem with whatever is needed to get rid of the oxidation, then a turn on the wheel with carnuba wax.
 
The guys have pretty much covered it!
Make sure you get all the spit etc, around the bit off before you lay it to rest. Just wipe clean with a cloth. this will keep the stem looking sharp and retard the oxidation process on the stem!
Bottom line, treat them well and keep them clean!
 
I do all that too, with whisky though! Ever Clear? isn't that umm like paint thinner? :suspect:
 
Everclear to clean the pipe, Bourbon for the cleaner,,,
 
Bud theres as many opinions on pipe care as there are pipers...



I used to be anal about cleaning my pipes after each use...
Then it was clean all of them I'd smoked at the end of the week...
That turned into clean them all at least once a month...

Now I just run a pipe cleaner up the bit and swab the bowl out with it.. Every great once in awhile I'll get bored and set down and scrub a few out, but I find it unneeded.

You'll develop your own routine...



FTR: I do dedicate my pipes to specific blends and/or genre so it's not like I'm chasinbg a lat bomb with a straight ginny.
 
ShellBriar":v014y6fr said:
I don't remove the stem very often
Click to expand...
Good advice. Smoke slowly, and it won't get all gummy in there. The pipe cleaner after every smoke is a good practice. After a dozen smokes, when you do pull it apart, there won't be enough to even make it seem worth the additional hassle. It helps if the pipe is made well and there isn't much of a gap inside. Unless I'm traveling, I rarely pull the stem out.
 
I used to be anal about cleaning my pipes after each use...

Kinda sounds like you're using supositories! :lol!:
 
I usually pay this young lady that wears lots of make up and works the evening shift down town to clean........................................... oh wait that's another story.

I too clean just whenever the mood strikes. But I do run a cleaner through them after each use. Sometimes depending on the pipe I like to run cleaners a couple pipe cleaners though them while everything is still warm and gunky.
 
eggman":uxaxw3kw said:
I usually pay this young lady that wears lots of make up and works the evening shift down town to clean........................................... oh wait that's another story.

I too clean just whenever the mood strikes. But I do run a cleaner through them after each use. Sometimes depending on the pipe I like to run cleaners a couple pipe cleaners though them while everything is still warm and gunky.
Click to expand...
Off topic Bro,
We are talking about cleaning briar Shanks......... oops Rim Shot!!!!!
good one!
:lol!:
 
I run a little Everclear through mine when I start noticing a pipe doesn't quite taste the same with that particular blend. Always seems to work like a charm.
 
My system is:

After each smoke, run a pipe cleaner down the stem, twist it around for a second, and remove. Lightly knock the tobacco and ash off the walls with a knife or pipe nail.

When pipe develops a dark, tarry taste that overshadows the flavor of the tobacco, it's time for a more thorough cleaning. I actually just did this procedure tonight after one of my pipes started tasting awful in the second half of the bowl. First take the stem off, run a prickly pipe cleaner and then a bourbon soaked cleaner through it until it smells cleanish. Set aside a finger of bourbon for yourself as well. :) Then, do the same thing to the shank and the bowl (swirl around doubled over pipe cleaners in it), just to get the "loose stuff" off (not going for the cleanish smell this time). Pop a cotton ball loosely packed into the bowl, plug the stem with an extra fluffy cleaner, and drip bourbon on it until you start to see the "waterline" at the top (it will come up and then settle down as the bottom pipe cleaner absorbs it). Let it sit for a few hours, take everything out, and let it dry overnight. Through the whole procedure take care not to spill alcohol on the outside of the pipe, and keep a paper towel or rag on hand in case you do. If the cake is getting thicker than you prefer, ream back with a pocketknife or a reamer.
 
If you can't get everclear, bacardi 151 is next best, but really any standard liquor will work - whiskey, vodka, rum, etc. I used bourbon on a pipe 2 days ago and it worked perfectly, and did not taste like bourbon (although that wouldn't have been a bad thing).

I used to use isopropyl alcohol, which many do, but one time I got sick shortly after smoking a bowl that had had maybe 12 hours dry time, which probably wasn't enough in hindsight. It may have been purely coincidence, but now I only use alcohols that aren't harmful to humans "just in case."
 
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