Cleaning a brand new pipe?

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outsider80

Lurker
Oct 17, 2016
2
0
Should I clean a new unused pipe prior to smoking? If so, how? I feel weird putting a stem in my mouth without first cleaning it somehow. I am somewhat of a germaphobe...

 

philobeddoe

Lifer
Oct 31, 2011
7,404
11,575
East Indiana
First off, welcome to the forum outsider80. On a brand new pipe, I always clean the stem with Everclear, just like I would an estate pipe. You have no way of knowing how many different hands and poss. mouths, have touched that stem before it got to you, so treat it like its already dirty. As far as the bowl is concerned, I don't mess with new briar, I simply run a pipe cleaner through the draft hole to remove any possible dust or even wood particles and leave it at that. Also, I pack my first bowl all the way to the top, just like every other bowl. I don't buy into the whole....pack the first few bowls only halfway, the next few bowls 3/4 etc. routine, if that's your bag....cool, but I don't see the sense in it! Just my .02

 

noquarter

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 18, 2015
104
0
I just remove the stem,swab the insides with a pipe cleaner dipped in alcohol and wipe the button with damp paper towel. If the bowl smells a little off, i just swab the tobacco chamber with rum soaked cotton balls and let dry prior to smoking. Welcome to the forums.

 

jabo

Can't Leave
Jan 26, 2016
321
1
Wipe it all out a little. If you're worried about germs, get over it, how many do you think you ingest daily.

 

pruss

Lifer
Feb 6, 2013
3,558
370
Mytown
Welcome to the forums. This is a pretty common question, and you've had some solid replies up top.
In general, treat it like any other device that you're going to purchase and then put in your mouth. Cleaning and sanitizing a new pipe is pretty simple.
1) Remove the stem from the shank and do a quick surface clean of the exterior of the stem with Everclear, or high test alcohol, of your choice.
2) Do a quick wipe of the chamber with a paper towel. If you really want to be cautious then take a pipe cleaner and fold it in half dip it in your alcohol, and do a quick rub down of the walls and bottom of the chamber. Be sure not to get any alcohol on the finished surface of the rim or exterior of the bowl as it can remove or discolour the finish. You can let it air dry, or torch the bowl to remove the alcohol.
3) Replace the stem and run a cleaner dipped in the same alcohol from the button (where your mouth goes) all the way down to the bowl. Do this a couple times.
4) Let the pipe rest for 24 hours for the alcohol to evaporate.
Welcome to the hobby. May you enjoy pipe smoking for a long, long time.
-- Pat
If you're worried about germs, get over it, how many do you think you ingest daily.
Really? That's not very helpful.

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
"I feel weird putting a stem in my mouth without first cleaning it somehow."
So clean it then is the simple answer. What you choose to clean it with depends on how 'dirty' you think it is but generally pure alcohol is the preferred option.
Welcome to the forum by the way :puffy:
Regards,
Jay.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,568
27,070
Carmel Valley, CA
You could also just rinse it out with hot water, outside of stem as well. Towel dry and light up, after running a pipe cleaner through the airway. No alcohol residue or odor, no waiting. The briar will not absorb water unless left for some long time.

 
Aug 14, 2012
2,872
123
After breaking in about 250 pipes, I can report no diseases contracted. I rarely clean a pipe except to run 2-3 cleaners through it during the smoke. If it tastes foul, which is very rare, I remove the stem and clean with a strong alcoholic beverage.

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,699
16,207
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
If I was the worrying kind I'd be more concerned with the content of the smoke I was sucking into my mouth. Do you have any idea tobacco how tobacco is treated during growing and processing? Fertilizers, critter crap, insects and insect parts, human handling, unclean equipment, etc. The pipe and it's cleanliness should be the least of your worries. Barring teeth marks on a new pipe I wouldn't give it a thought. Of course I wouldn't purchase a "new" pipe which shows signs of being "road tested" as it were.

 

hextor

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 20, 2015
642
6
do a general cleaning, they give good advice around here, so take some ponters and enjoy your pipe.

 

tennsmoker

Lifer
Jul 2, 2010
1,157
7
Mucho sound advice here. I do clean a new pipe these days, but in days of yore, I just loaded them up and puffed away.

 
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