Stain Removal From Saliva?

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mrjerke

Lifer
Jun 10, 2013
1,323
29
Midwest
Guys, need some help here on this. I noticed when removing rim char with saliva on my Peterson Irish Harp the q-tip was coming back with stain on it. Now mind you this is only saliva, no alcohol was being used. To test my theory i put a little saliva on the stummel and rubbed with a q-tip and it came up dark. Is this normal? Am I taking stain off the rim every time i use the saliva and q-tip to remove rim char? What other options do I have?
Pipe photo...
IMG_1003_zpsdf72415a.jpg

Stummel before saliva test...
IMG_1004_zpsdf6db71d.jpg

Stummel after test with stain on q-tip...
IMG_1005_zpsf4fe6ae0.jpg

It's not doing visible damage to the stain but has me concerned. Thanks for the help!

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,637
Chicago, IL
Are you sure it is stain you see on the Q-tip? It could just be dirty skin oils and smokey tar/nicotine residue.

If it really is stain, then perhaps it's a water based stain; but the saliva doesn't appear to be harming the pipe.

What about cleaning the pipe and giving it a nice coat of carnauba wax or Paragon wax?

 

pruss

Lifer
Feb 6, 2013
3,558
370
Mytown
Hey there Mrjerke!
I have also pulled stain off a pipe when removing rim char with saliva and a tea towel. Stain leeching seems to occur, for me, most often on the outer rim of the bowls when I do this. So I make sure I'm in a brightly lit room when I'm working on bowl rims, and I also alternate between using a wet (with saliva) part of the towel and a dry part of the towel to minimize the amount of 'solvent'. Try switching to a cotton towel from your q-tips and use a little more elbow grease and a little less spit and see if that helps.
I've also found that if I'm careful, a little leeching of stain is hard to notice once I've buffed the pipe up again with carnauba. If the colour gap is obvious (between your rim and the rest of the pipe) you could always lighten the stain, slightly, on the pipe to match. This can get dicey though, so go slowly if you decide to pull stain with acetone and a cotton ball.
Good luck!
-- Pat

 

mrjerke

Lifer
Jun 10, 2013
1,323
29
Midwest
Cortez- I did the test on the stummel in my best attempt to prove it is the stain. You can see the reddish color.
I do plan on throwing some carnauba on there. Just didn't know if this was normal.

 

4dotsasieni

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 6, 2013
756
6
As I've posted on several threads, I've been having a lot of trouble with Peterson's stains lately. One of my pipes, a Zippo edition System Standard, turns my hand red every time I smoke it, and the bowl just keeps getting lighter. Also a lot of stain coming from inside the shank. I've also heard from others that they are having the same problems with Petes.
Obviously, Peterson is having some quality control issues with their stains. The solution? Time, patience, and maybe a little cleaning with alcohol inside the shank and some polish on the bowl.

 

mrjerke

Lifer
Jun 10, 2013
1,323
29
Midwest
Sounds like a good waxing is in order.
Just listened to your podcast 4dot. Very enjoyable. I agree that pipe smoking is a great way to meditate. Doesn't get much better.

 

4dotsasieni

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 6, 2013
756
6
...and now the stain is coming off the bowl of another Peterson that I have had for some time - a System Standard 304. I just finished smoking a bowlful in it and my hands are now "suntan parlor orange." Peterson definitely has some stain issues. :(

 
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