School me on Pipe Cleaners

[Briar Lee]

One of the thousand reasons I love Pipes by Lee is every one accepts a standard pipe cleaner from button to bore hole, then I double it and clean the shank.

Most other pipes will do that trick, too. Some few have the hole in the stem so small, it’s difficult to pass a pipe cleaner through, and a few have bore holes too small to double a pipe cleaner. Those I enlarge the bore hole until they do.

A Lee dates from after World War Two and the standard pipe cleaner is older. But I wonder when, the standard pipe cleaner was standardized?

I started with Dill’s Pipe Cleaners because Harry Hosterman used those, and now I buy big boxes of generic pipe cleaners that are bristled and tapered, but all of them are about the size of a Dill cleaner, and most pipes seem made to accept them.

Another thing I wonder about, is whether pipe cleaners were originally metric or produced in God’s Own Imperial Measuremts.

We saved France twice in the last century so we wouldn’t have to use the metric system, but seem intent on using it anyway.

Any history of the pipe cleaner I can learn will be much appreciated.

All I know about pipes I learned myself, and with lots of help from my friends.

 

[telescopes]

Bristol or fluffy. That is the only question that carries any weight.

 

[wolflarsen]

The original version was a chicken feather.
The modern version was invented by John Harry Stebman and Charles Angel in Rochester NY in the early 1900s.

 

[didimauw]

Fluffy! And not tapered.

 

[sablebrush52]

Dirrerent makes of pipe cleaner offer different advantages. BJ Long and White Elephant complement each other perfectly. BJ Long's tapered bristle is wide enough to clean out most shanks and will certainly do the job if doubled over. But, BJ Long's wire core is a flimsy affair that bends and crumples if you look at it wrong. White Elephant bristles aren't quite as wide, nor as abrasive, but the wire core is robust and takes a bit to bend. These are much better for cleaning out the stem airway than BG Longs, and doubled over, do decently well for shanks. Each has its usefulness.

 

[simong]

If 'Dills' we're good enough for Harry Hosterman, then they'd be good enough for me but they don't sell them here.
Kendal, Peterson, Parker etc are good. The Germans also make a good pipe cleaner, Blitz, Vauen, white elephant. The worst cleaners I've had were GQ's & Savinelli's.

 

[ashdigger]

If 'Dills' we're good enough for Harry Hosterman, then they'd be good enough for me but they don't sell them here.
Kendal, Peterson, Parker etc are good. The Germans also make a good pipe cleaner, Blitz, Vauen, white elephant. The worst cleaners I've had were GQ's & Savinelli's.

I love Dill’s for my old pipes.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

How about these?

 

[TheIronMonkey]

For my older pipes with narrow draught holes, Falcon Extra Thin are essential. White Elephant, with their sturdy wires for just about everything else. BJ Longs shed more than I like, but, I still use them (and their Churchwarden length) on occasion, and sometimes the freebies I’ve amassed from various purchases over the years.

 

[Streeper541]

Pipe cleaners...

I loved them in preschool & I love them even more now. What else is there to say?

 

[bullet08]

BJ Long and my Petersons work pretty well together. Then again, really didn't shop for any other cleaners.

 

[MacMarty89]

I will school you on pipe cleaners, Briar Lee, even if it short-dicks every cannibal on the Congo. You buy a massive package of pipe cleaners and shove one of them in the hole.

Damn son, I like you.

 

[warren99]

How about these?
View attachment 165603

I haven't had good experience with Dunhill cleaners. They are flimsy, expensive and sometimes break in two in the shank.

 

[cigrmaster]

Jesse, the BJ Long Bristle cleaner works fine doubled over if you choose the right spot to double it. Too thin you don't get enough schmootz if it is to thick then the wire bends and you have to toss it.
Once a month I run a class on how to properly use the BJ's. It is a minimal cost, a Pre Transition Barling usually covers it.

 

[sablebrush52]

Jesse, the BJ Long Bristle cleaner works fine doubled over if you choose the right spot to double it. Too thin you don't get enough schmootz if it is to thick then the wire bends and you have to toss it.
Once a month I run a class on how to properly use the BJ's. It is a minimal cost, a Pre Transition Barling usually covers it.

Hi Harris,

I bend the Long bristles slightly past middle to get added thickness. Anything else is for dummies. That said, I've been able to clean out stubborn deposits in estate stems that the Long's failed to get, using the softer bristle version of the White Elephant cleaners, which don't score the inner walls. Doubled over, they do an excellent job in shanks because the stout wire core acts like a spring against the sides of the shank airway.

No charge for this information, though your collection of Rads may mysteriously vanish.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Hi Harris,

I bend the Long bristles slightly past middle to get added thickness. Anything else is for dummies. That said, I've been able to clean out stubborn deposits in estate stems that the Long's failed to get, using the softer bristle version of the White Elephant cleaners, which don't score the inner walls. Doubled over, they do an excellent job in shanks because the stout wire core acts like a spring against the sides of the shank airway.

No charge for this information, though your collection of Rads may mysteriously vanish.

Reminds of an old limerick, but we'll keep it clean with pipe cleaners (just like pipes, lol).

There once was a man from Kent,
Whose BJ Long was exceedingly bent,
To save himself trouble, he folded it double,
And instead of coming, he went.

I also use the BJ Longs and the White Elephants, but just learned a couple of tricks in this thread!

 

[mso489]

Currently I'm working my way through a pkg of 100 tapered pipe cleaners. They have their advantages, but for my purposes, I think i prefer the regular ones that are of even thickness. I use bristly pipe cleaners to polish the stem at the bit on Vulcanite and to clear a stem and shank airway when it seems a little restricted, which usually works well.

My local pipe shop proprietor told me that the nylon bristles will not mar the inside of pipe stem or shank material, and I've never noticed any deleterious effect. I just hope the standard brands of pipe cleaners stay in business. They work well and don't shed much fuzz. Cheap craft pipe cleaners are bad news.

 

[Ahi Ka]

I use bj longs or falcons for pipes with a bone tenon. No brand love here, just what I can get my hands on. One thing I’m proud of as a dad is that my kids know why pipe cleaners are called pipe cleaners, and my 3 year old is proud enough to tell everyone at kindy…every time the make something

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

I use bj longs or falcons for pipes with a bone tenon. No brand love here, just what I can get my hands on. One thing I’m proud of as a dad is that my kids know why pipe cleaners are called pipe cleaners, and my 3 year old is proud enough to tell everyone at kindy…every time the make something

Just wait until that kid gets a block of wood to create something in wood shop!

 

[craig61a]

I will school you on pipe cleaners, Briar Lee, even if it short-dicks every cannibal on the Congo. You buy a massive package of pipe cleaners and shove one of them in the hole.

Damn son, I like you.

You will not laugh, you will not cry, you will learn by the numbers…