Ok, I got the estate pipe off of ebay and its in really nice shape. Not a ton of cake so doesn't look like it was smoked very heavily. Here is the thing though, I'm trying to clean it and dirt just keeps coming out of it. Pipe cleaner after pipe cleaner and q-tip after q-tip. Doesn't seem to be getting much better either. Is there any trick it is or is it really going to take a whole box of q-tips to clean this thing.
Cleaning Estate Pipes
- Thread starter loki993
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Where is the "dirt" coming from? The shank, stem or bowl?.. Sometimes it will take a lot of cleaning if the previous owner never routinely cleaned their pipe... I use a shank brush dipped in alcohol to clean my shanks and stems, prior to using pipe cleaners and q-tips... Just be careful not to take off the finish with the excess alcohol..
Filter pipes,especially if they are smoked without the filter can get really nasty if not maintained. I smoke mostly filter pipes and have gathered a few "specialty tools" for cleaning nasty estates. Once they are thoroughly cleaned all you need is a few Q-tips and a couple of pipe cleaners. I modified a set of cheap clay carving tools to use a scrapers to get out the heavy crud and then the brushes,finishing up with Q-tips and PC's. None of the scraping tools have edges sharp enough to damage the briar.
Are there any bacteria or virus that can actually remain a problem on an estate pipe? The only "germ"
I know of that can live for long periods outside the body is TB. Supposedly, those little devils can lie
dormant in dust between tiles or other similar places. Is this even a consideration, or only for the
germophobic? Just a curiosity, not much of a concern, so far as I know.
I know of that can live for long periods outside the body is TB. Supposedly, those little devils can lie
dormant in dust between tiles or other similar places. Is this even a consideration, or only for the
germophobic? Just a curiosity, not much of a concern, so far as I know.
Alcohol like isopropanol or Ever Clear should kill all bacteria, fungi & viruses. I wouldn't worry about germs from estates. But while we're on the subject, I use retorts. There is nothing so efficient as boiling alcohol in cleaning a pipe. I also use various nylon brushes between retorts while the pipe is still hot. DonDont be surprised at having to use many dozens of Q-tips in the cleaning process. I take the whole thing down to bare wood.
A couple of those brushes look suspiciously like brass instrument mouthpiece brushes to me. If you want it clean a bit faster, a retort works well but you have to watch the stem material as some stem types do not retort well.
if you have removed the visable gunk, you could also try a salt and alcohol treatment. Retorts work well, I never seemed to get the hang of it and was always worried about the stem getting two hot and misforming. The salt and alcohol treatment has worked well for me. If is a grungy estate it might even needed a couple of rounds with the salt and alcohol.
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