how often does a pipe need to be cleaned

[petersenlover]

I am kind of new to the pipe and just curious as to how often other people clean their pipes. I have heard different times I try to clean after ten times smoking. Is that to often or not enough.

 

[pepesdad1]

Personally, I like to clean mine after every smoke...keeps them really fresh.

 

[Slide]

Personally, I like to clean mine after every smoke...keeps them really fresh.

I do the same. Rarely will I smoke a 2nd bowl without cleaning the pipe.

 

[DoverPipes]

Swab out the ash, pipe cleaners all around after every smoke.
Full tear down, salt / everclear when they start to sour ever so slightly.
You'd be surprised how many smokes you can get before a full treatment becomes necessary. Just the basics go a long way. PS: Make sure the pipes rest between smoke sessions so they can dry properly.............

PPS: I also dedicate many of my pipes to a single type / brand of tobacco.

 

[tiltjlp]

I clean my pipes completely after every smoke. That way the tobacco tastes like it should, I never have sour pipes, and I have never had to use salt and alcohol.

 

[Anonymous]

Guess I am the Philistine. I clean em when they need em or I get around to it. I had one pipe that would sour. I'd microwave it for 8 seconds. If you ever try that, start with less. It doesn't take long to heat a pipe. That seem to destroy the evil juices it accumulated. Of course that is with some quite inexpensive pipes. I wouldn't consider nuking anything I thought expensive. I'll be doing that with the cheap estate after soaking it with hootch for a bit.

When one seems to need a major cleaning. I soak the cleaner in a mix of Madeira and Cognac. Put it in the pipe after coating the bowl with the cleaner just to dry it a bit. I leave it overnight. Next time out, I pull the cleaner. Pulling the cleaner shows a very dark cleaner but it is fluffy and not at all like one used to open the pipe during smoking.

Yes, I know. Castigate as you wish. I said I was a Philistine. Trust me. David has left the building. But, if it makes you feel better...

 

[Harlock999]

I clean after every smoke, but occasionally after two smokes.
I like a nice clean pipe.

 

[monbla256]

I dump out the ash, rarely have any dottle due to what I smoke, blow thru the pipe to remove any loose ash, put a cleaner in it, put it back in the rack and latter in the day, a few hours is all I find it needs, pull the cleaner out and don't smoke the pipe again for at least two days or longer. ( I have around 90 pipes so that helps) Then once a month I take 12 of my most smoked pipes check the cake depth, ream to what I like if needed, use some whisckey on a cleaner in the bowl and thru the stem with a shank brush, pull stem out, wipe of any "goop" on the teneon, put it back together and put it in the rack and don't smoke it again for at least two weeks, You can adjust this time wise based on number of pipes you have, but give 'em at least 48/72 hours to thouroughly "air out" after the ceaning. Have done this for several years now and had great smokes from ALL my pipes this way. :twisted:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

As an experiment, I have tried both methods, cleaning after every smoke (to clarify, that means letting the pipe rest first, then taking it apart to clean--a day later, usually) and then kind of cleaning "as-needed," which turned out to be roughly once every two weeks.

I noticed not much a difference, but the problem lies in that last smoke that finally says, "Enough, I'm dirty, so you get moisture, garbage and filth rather than good smoke." I had no idea when that would be...after 10 smokes? 12? 20?

Playing Russian roulette wan't doing it for me any more. Though, rather than doing an alcohol swab, squeaky-clean after every session, much like one would care for a fine firearm, I resorted to somewhat lazier tactics, wherein after a pipe has rested, I take it apart, dry-swab the schmutz out of works quickly, and move on. This lasts me close to a month of decent smoking, provided adequate rests and rotations are given.

Conclusion? I'm not a "daily" cleaner, but I sort of am. I don't use Everclear but once a month, and have no sourness problems. I might do a stem polish/airway ream/bowl shine every six months, pipe depending. The pipes that require a little more attention are typically my cobs, because I notice they are more susceptible to performance issues, and I want to keep them going for as long as possible.

:shrug:

 

[idbowman]

Swab out the ash, pipe cleaners all around after every smoke.
Full tear down, salt / everclear when they start to sour ever so slightly.
You'd be surprised how many smokes you can get before a full treatment becomes necessary. Just the basics go a long way. PS: Make sure the pipes rest between smoke sessions so they can dry properly.............

PPS: I also dedicate many of my pipes to a single type / brand of tobacco.

Same here. I was pretty rigorous about cleaning thoroughly after every smoke for a while, then I started to get a little lazy about it...having noticed no decline in the quality/enjoyment of the subsequent bowls, I've seen no reason to do more than a thorough cleaning with pipe cleaners until the pipe "tells" me otherwise. When it tastes/smokes even the slightest bit off when fully dry, or if it seems to take longer than usual to dry out to begin with, I break out the alcohol for a deeper cleaning.

 

[Dutch]

I clean after each smoke, unless I am breaking in a pipe. My theory on this is simple. Briar, corncobs, and meerschaum are pourous. That is one aspect of them all that makes them so well suited for burning tobacco. What goes in, either stays in or has to come back out.

Now, if you think about it, eventually every pipe is going to reach maximum capacity at some point.

Do you ever notice how when cleaning some estate pipes, you can go through an entire pack of cleaners, before you finally stop soiling them? It's because bowl after bowl was smoked in that pipe, and what went in, must come out.

I believe that it is much easier to get the majority of the tars and residue out of a pipe, and keep the majority of it out, by cleaning it after each bowl. I thing it was in Rick Newcombe's book that he discusses the pipe saturation aspect, and even with cleaning, a pipe will reach a point when the wood fibers are totally saturated. At some point, the pipe will become "full," and reach a point where it is unable to deliver a quality smoke.

I suppose, if a guy wants, he could just let a pipe fill up with residue, and when it fails to deliver a quality smoke he could just discard it and buy a replacement. It's just a personal preference really, because it's not like most pipe smokers are sharing their pipes with anyone else.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey, lets put together a BoB softball game featuring the Anal Retentive VS Lazy Bastards. Should be a hummer! :twisted:

Just not sure what we could put on the jerseys.

 

[IndySmoker]

Word of warning, before you do anything with the everclear, be carefull to not let it touch the outside of the pipe. It'll ruin the stain faster then anything, I didn't know that the first time I did it.

 

[Brewdude]

Guess I'm a lazy bastid.

Don't clean or ream until the pipe tells me to.

Never done a salt/alcohol/bowl thing.

Use cleaners as needed.

All pipes rest at least 24 hrs between smoking. Several get smoked everyday. No sour or otherwise off flavors with those.

Seldom use the alcohol on the pipe cleaners. Again only when necessary.

Keep the cake reamed to a dime's thickness. But don't fuss with it after every smoke. Only when it builds up. Just did this today with a favorite Mastro Poker and it's fine. Smoking it right now aamof.

Yup, I'm lazy. But it seems to work for me.

As always, YMMV.




Cheers,

RR

 

[KevinM]

I run a pipe cleaner through after every smoke until clean and dry. Then -- ever thrifty -- I bend the cleaners and swab the loose matter and ash off the walls of the bowl, leaving only a very thin carbonized layer. (Partially burnt tobak ain't cake, I say.) I have a wax saturated t-shirt that I use on the bowl and stem, taking an extra swipe of two at the rim. I use my thumb nail to remove stubborn deposits near the bit.  Whole process takes a couple minutes. I rarely do take apart maintenance, unless clearly needed.

 

[Hawker]

I prefer to clean after every smoke (once pipe has cooled). Dip a pipe cleaner in Pipemaster's Clean & Cure. 1/2" & swab out bit first from mouthpiece, then stem & air way and give the inside of the bowl a swipe. Takes a whopping whole 30 seconds.