red dye on pipecleaner - yuck !!!

[paulbookbinder]

First post, about my first red stained pipe. I just bought a Peterson Sherlock Holmes Squire, with the bowl dyed a light red. I have only smoked it a few times, but so far each time I do the pipecleaners I use before, during, and after smoking come out completely stained red. I assume this is from the dye used to color the wood, but why would they dye the INSIDE of the shank??? How long will the dye leach out like this? I used pipe sweetener on it this morning and after 15 minutes of scrubbing ... still red dye on the pipecleaners. All my other pipes are natural briar or a dark stain, and I have never seen this before.

thank you,


Paul

 

[Lestrade]

I had that happen once, to a lesser degree on a Pete from the Killarney line. After 3 or 4 smokes it quit leeching color.

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

I assume this is from the dye used to color the wood, but why would they dye the INSIDE of the shank??? How long will the dye leach out like this?
Paul

I'm not sure about the Sherlock Holmes pipes specifically, but I know that on many of their pipes Peterson dips the entire pipe into the stain. My guess is that's how the stain wound up in the shank. You might want to try running a few alcohol soaked pipe cleaners through it to see if that helps any. Otherwise, I'm sure it will stop after a few smokes.

 

[Wet Dottle]

Paul,

Like Dave said, that's the result of the maker dipping the entire pipe in stain. I clean the inside of such pipes thoroughly with alcohol before smoking. Ethanol (grain) or isopropyl alcohol will work. I plug the shank with a paper towel and slowly pour the alcohol down the bowl. The stain comes out through the shank into the paper towel. Let it dry before smoking and be careful not to let any of the alcohol touch the outside of the pipe, because it will ruin the finish. It's anoying, but I don't think the stain has any negative effect other than coloring the pipecleaners.

 

[paulbookbinder]

thank you all for our speedy replies. I will just smoke it and see what happens, maybe the pipe sweetener I scrubbed it with this morning will have some effect.



Paul