Do I clean my pipe correct?

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geirove

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 10, 2014
172
0
After every smoke, I clean the bowl with a paper towl. Run 1 or 2 pipecleaners through the shank until its clean going out. 1 bowl=approx 48 hours rest.

 

ben88

Lifer
Jun 5, 2015
1,323
544
Quebec
I decided of this routine: I smoke 1 pipe all day (3-5 bowls) then clean all insides with brandy and put it away for a week. Seems to work

 

ray47

Lifer
Jul 10, 2015
2,451
5,610
Dalzell, South Carolina
I'd say your doing okay, besides the pipe will let you know when it needs a more thorough cleaning. How will you know? The tobacco taste will change and not for the better.

 

robwoodall

Can't Leave
Apr 29, 2015
422
5
I washed a pipe in the laundry, once. I was so embarrassed I didn't even post abut it.
'Course, now I've told on myself.
It was a Grabow Duke. The little one. It wasn't all that great a pipe to begin with, but it survived just fine after it was dry.
Not that I would recommend that...

 

mayfair70

Lifer
Sep 14, 2015
1,968
2
Having just joined, I love the seriousness of discussion here. I'd go for a large bore drill bit. Bowl will be clean as a whistle. JK :) I do the same as you for my briar, pull it apart run paper towel over tenon and pipecleaner through. let it rest till the next day. I have a cob I got a month ago and I never clean it aside from occasion pull apart to blow out moisture or debris

. it is my daily smoker and no issues yet.

 

allan

Lifer
Dec 5, 2012
2,429
7
Bronx, NY
Guys
The best way to thoroughly clean a pipe is to take a hacksaw and slice thru longitudinally; clean the entire pipe gently with a cue tip, then epoxy the pipe back together again.

 

thebadkitty

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 29, 2012
271
0
Albany, Oregon
I love this place. So much. Lol. The best part of this thread, and the worst part, is that I can't find the thread I'd like to find. But then again, it's not my story to tell. Let's just say I'm pretty sure that at least some makes of pipes can take quite a rough cleaning and survive.

 

newfie

Starting to Get Obsessed
Aug 19, 2015
210
0
Shearstown, NL
The best way to thoroughly clean a pipe is to take a hacksaw and slice thru longitudinally; clean the entire pipe gently with a cue tip, then epoxy the pipe back together again.
Actually, a gear clamp (hose clamp) works better. Easier to get apart next time.
In all seriousness:
Your note about the paper towel, for me, would depend on how much cake is in the pipe. If it's a fairly new pipe I don't use a paper towel, but use a twisted pipe cleaner to swab out the bowl. Once a nice cake is formed, or in a Meer where you don't want cake, that's when a firm cleaning with a twisted paper towel.

 

didimauw

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 28, 2013
9,891
31,600
34
Burlington WI
I've found the best way to really clean them good, and get the cake out. When you are done smoking, tap out all of the ash and dottle, grab a butane torch, and continue to smoke the cake, until you are just down to the briar. Delicious.

 

jvnshr

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 4, 2015
4,616
3,868
Baku, Azerbaijan
I've found the best way to really clean them good, and get the cake out. When you are done smoking, tap out all of the ash and dottle, grab a butane torch, and continue to smoke the cake, until you are just down to the briar. Delicious.
wait, you smoke the cake? are you serious? you have to be sick. don't you have to eat that?

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,565
27,068
Carmel Valley, CA
I decided of this routine: I smoke 1 pipe all day (3-5 bowls) then clean all insides with brandy and put it away for a week. Seems to work.
If it works fine for you, it is all good, but many would say smoke other bowls and rest a day.
Once every x number of smokes, pull the stem and clean out the gunk that accumulates in the bottom of the mortise. X is a number between about ten and fifty. A brandied Q tip works fine unless it has hardened.

 
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