Best Way to Clean a New Pipe?

[senkosam]

Title edited for caps and brevity. See Rule 9.


I have a cleaner/refresher in a bottle that smells like Listerine. It doesn't seem to do much.
For older pipes, I use a blade that opens up to grind down built-up carbon in the bowl but I still don't know what to use after that. I do use a pipe cleaner in the stem.
Suggestions?

 

[bullet08]

Inside the chamber, grain alcohol can be used. But be careful, if you spill it, it can ruin the finish.

Brand new pipes, you don't have to go that far. Warm water should get everything out. Water typically doesn't harm the finish, but it could. Coffee definitely take shine off.

 

[Chasing Embers]

On a new one if you regularly clean the airway with pipe cleaners and wipe out the chamber with a paper towel, chemicals shouldn't be necessary unless you are allowing the pipe to remain wet between smokes.

 

[rsshreck32]

On a new one if you regularly clean the airway with pipe cleaners and wipe out the chamber with a paper towel, chemicals shouldn't be necessary unless you are allowing the pipe to remain wet between smokes.

So, when you use the pipe cleaner and paper towel, do you use immediately after smoking, or wait til it cools down?

 

[WhiteCrown]

On a new one if you regularly clean the airway with pipe cleaners and wipe out the chamber with a paper towel, chemicals shouldn't be necessary unless you are allowing the pipe to remain wet between smokes.

I've only done this regularly a couple years and occasional reaming and haven't needed anything more on any of my pipes. It's like seasoned cast iron: Don't even think about touching one drop of soap on my skillet. My wife knows this... now.

You shouldn't try to remove your stem until after it cools but doesn't matter much with the paper towel wipe. Wait till it cools if you want to build up cake faster, do it immediately if you want to slow the cake. Try it differently with two different pipes and see what you like, there is no wrong answer except the one you don't like IMO.

 

[kcghost]

I just use a pipe nail on the carbon and then a pipe cleaner on the stem and shank.

 

[Chasing Embers]

So, when you use the pipe cleaner and paper towel, do you use immediately after smoking, or wait til it cools down?

Immediately afterwards.

 

[proteus]

My perspective is this. After a smoke...usually I do this the next day...for briars, cobs or meers dip one end of a longer pipe cleaner in Graves or Everclear. Separate the stem from the bowl if the pipe is curved enough the stem won't go through all the way through.

Clean the draw hole in the stem and then the stummel and use the dry end to dry out.

I wipe the bowl with a 12 gauge bore mop sipped in grain and dry with one as well but a paper towel works well too for both wet and dry.

For me if there is more cake than a couple millimeters then I use a pipe reamer not a knife. A reamer that is purpose built will remove the right amount evenly.

Let it dry 24 hours. If you have at least two pipes you can rotate between them smoking the same kind of tobacco everyday if you want and without over smoking a single pipe too much without letting it rest easy.

 

[rsshreck32]

Immediately afterwards.

For a while I had wiped out the chamber with a paper towel after smoking but then saw some people say not to do that. I resumed that practice and it's worked for me. I usually leave a pipe cleaner in for a while to soak up moisture. I usually take the stem off the next day and do a little extra cleaning with the pipe cleaner, especially the pipes designed for filters bc I don't use filters.

 

[verporchting]

The paper towel thing has worked for me and it’s a huge time saver for deep cleaning pipes. If they’re not all caked up reaming is a snap and not needed often.

A quick pipe cleaner right after smoking keeps the stem fresh and the mortise much cleaner.
Nowadays deep cleaning is mostly focused on the mortise and goes much quicker.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Right out of the box, flush the bowl with water to remove any debris from manufacturing.

Until the pipe gets funky, all you need to do is flush the bowl with hot tap water; can be done immediately, or when the pipe is stone cold. Pipe cleaner up the airway, and air dry. If in a hurry to reload, wipe with paper towel. No need to remove stem until disassembly, to clean the mortise.

 

[OzPiper]

On a new one if you regularly clean the airway with pipe cleaners and wipe out the chamber with a paper towel, chemicals shouldn't be necessary unless you are allowing the pipe to remain wet between smokes.

^^^^ This

Most bowl coatings are pretty neutral, and help promote a cake layer.

If you dislike bowl coatings, using sand paper wrapped around a piece of dowel or Sharpie pen works well
Be careful not to get the inner rim out of round.

You can use alcohol soaked cleaners in the shaft and mortise. And if the stem is vulcanite/ebonite

DO NOT use alcohol if the stem is acrylic. Use a cleaner dipped in water or liquid soap

Quite a few members like flushing their pipes with water after smokes

 

[Gimlet]

I separate stem and shank and run a tapered pipe cleaner through each between each smoke, when the pipe is cool (unless I smoke two bowls in quick succession in the same pipe, but this is rare).

At the same time I bend the pipe cleaner in two and run it round the inside of the bowl to remove loose and surface material And that's about it.

I don't use a reamer. Every so often I run a knife round the bowl to maintain about a millimetre of smooth cake. Every couple of months I clean with whisky using pipe cleaners and cotton buds, but I don't do much with the bowl because it doesn't really need it if you maintain a smooth cake.

I've tried pipe sanitising fluid but it tastes foul and doesn't seem to do much, so I just keep a bit of whisky in a jar for cleaning.

I use 9 mm filters and filtered pipes do smoke drier but gunk can build up each end of where the filter seats. This and the draw hole is where I concentrate with the whisky treatment. Afterwards, when dry, they smoke like new.

 

[Sigmund]

It never crossed my mind to do anything different. Sometimes I remove or smooth part of the bowl coating. I wipe it out, load it and smoke it. When Im done I take out the filter run pipe cleaners through and wipe the bowl with a little piece of paper towel. I agree the paper towel wipe is great for keeping your pipes clean. I then take a cloth or shirt tail to the pipe and put it back on its shelf. Its ready for next time.

 

[Briar Lee]

Water will work to clean pipes.

Vodka has grain alcohol as a solvent added. Vodka is 60% water.

The best I’ve found is 190 proof Everclear.

 

[senkosam]

So, when you use the pipe cleaner and paper towel, do you use immediately after smoking, or wait til it cools down?

I wait until it cools.
I'll use a reamer if the bowl inner diameter gets too small.
After a smoke, I roll up tissue paper and cram it down as far as it will go to soak up as much moisture as possible. I may leave it in the bowl for 24 hours. A pipe cleaner reams the stem.

The warm water flush I never thought to do aiming to always keep the bowl and stem as dry as possible. I suppose leaving the pipe in the sun on my car's dashboard should dry it well after a flush or smoke.

I rotate between 6 pipes but refill after the first smoke only once per pipe.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Title edited for caps and brevity. See Rule 9.


I have a cleaner/refresher in a bottle that smells like Listerine. It doesn't seem to do much.
For older pipes, I use a blade that opens up to grind down built-up carbon in the bowl but I still don't know what to use after that. I do use a pipe cleaner in the stem.
Suggestions?

Get rid of the stuff that smells like Listerine.

You aren't real clear - new meaning new, or estates/used that are new to you? I assume that's what you mean by "older pipes" and maybe that's what this is about.

A brand new pipe? I'll clean the stem with a little soap and water, run a damp pipe cleaner through the stem, wipe out the bowl with a damp paper towel and what else would you need? Unless it's a new Pete and I remove the bowl coating (most don't, you decide what works for you).

An estate? I clean them thoroughly and take the chamber down to bare briar very carefully, usually ending up with a very fine sanding, but haven't picked up an estate in a long time. How in general depends on how much carbon is in there.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Seldom is "pipe sweetener" aka alcohol needed.

And a hot water flush adds far less moisture than smoking it (!), due to the high temperatures of the steam produced in the chamber. Steam for a half hour adds much more moisture than hot water for less than a minute.

 

[senkosam]

I found this:
Vinegar and baking soda mixed

or 420 Cleaners or
Grand Master
waste of money?
What say you?

 

[El Capitán]

You shouldn't try to remove your stem until after it cools

And addendum to this is if you have a military mount. Those you can pull hot without warping.