Soaking stems in sweetening mixture?

[oldbear58]

Has or does anyone tried soaking pipe stems/bits in a mixture of whiskey or brandy, perhaps with a small amount of honey or other material to remove any burnt tastes?

Oldbear

 

[Brewdude]

Short answer, no! In fact never heard of this until just now.

I can see where the alcohol from the booze would remove tar and such, but in my mind it would be better to do with neutral grain spirits such as Everclear.

And the addition of honey seems counter-productive somehow. Not sure of the solubility of honey in alcohol, but it could possibly negate any residual effects.

But there again, WTF do I know!


:scratch:



Cheers,

RR

 

[monbla256]

A "burnt" taste indicates that the vulcanite is starting to oxidize from the inside out so I would contact Walker Briar Works for one of their "stem kits" which will remove that and bring your stems to Like New condition again !! :twisted: :twisted:

 

[RDPipes]

Don't soak your stems in alcohol or any other volatile liquid or substance,
it'll only degloss it and may soften it depending on the proof. Walker briar works stem polish is mostly rubbing compound and it'll take way too much work to clean them with it, I don't endorse it.
If your stem is oxidizing, dulling and or turning a greenish hue you can soak it in bleach
for about an hour or less, lightly sand with 600 and buff it. If you haven't the means to do this you may send it to me and I'll take care of it for ya for the price of shipping it to me.

 

[Richard Burley]

Burnt taste? Did you smoke the pipe so hot the end of the tenon slightly melted? If so, you recall my early days of pipe smoking, sir. :tongue:

 

[oldbear58]

My answer (to myself) is: Yes, it works fine.

Cleaning a stem out with a pipe cleaner dipped in a booze/honey mixture works well to remove any stale tobacco taste and odor and to get the tars out a bit easier.

It leaves a slight sweet taste that isn't objectionable.

Oldbear

 

[Richard Burley]

My answer (to myself) is: Yes, it works fine.

Now let's be fair, here.  Your antecedent for "it" was "soak," not a quick thrust of a pipe cleaner.  This is a highly technical field, and we must choose our terms carefully.  Lives and fortunes could hinge on a single word.  

 

[RDPipes]

My answer (to myself) is: Yes, it works fine.

Now let's be fair, here.  Your antecedent for "it" was "soak," not a quick thrust of a pipe cleaner.  This is a highly technical field, and we must choose our terms carefully.  Lives and fortunes could hinge on a single word.  

Ditto!!!!!

 

[scotties22]

Burnt taste?  Did you smoke the pipe so hot the end of the tenon slightly melted?  If so, you recall my early days of pipe smoking, sir.  :tongue:

This is the only thing that makes any sense to me. I have overheated (as in almost melted) a stem trying to bend it and gotten a distinct "burnt" flavor out of the pipe when I smoked it. With normal use and proper smoking habits a stem should never get hot enough for the vulcanite/ebonite to get close enough to melting that it will taste burned. And a burned vulcanite/ebonite taste or smell is very very different than that of the buildup in an airway.

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

I run pipe cleaners dipped in rubbing alcohol through stems that need to be cleaned up a bit. I avoid letting the alcohol touch the outer portion of the stem as much as possible. I would avoid anything but flavorless EtOH, and certainly not honey.