Cleaning With Wine?

smokeytay33 · Nov 17, 2013

Hey, all!
I am deep cleaning my pipes for the first time. The flavor is very stale. I only have wine in the house, however. Do you think that using the cotton ball method (putting cotton balls in the bowl and gradually filling the cotton balls up with the alcohol until they are saturated) would work with wine?? I just want the ghost to go away. Thanks in advance!
Smokey : puffy

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kashmir · Nov 17, 2013

I wouldn't use wine, as the alcohol content is very low, at around 14%. What you need is grain alcohol, like Ever Clear, or if not available, then high proof spirits will do, like vodka, gin, rum or whiskey. The higher the alcohol content the shorter it will take to dry. Wine will just make for soggy pipes. I routinely use isopropanol or rubbing alcohol at 91% which is available from most pharmacies.

tbradsim1 · Nov 17, 2013

Smoke go to the Drug store and buy 90.1 ISO Alcohol, I wouldn't use wine, it has a lot of residue and can leave favors you wouldn't want in your pipe.

lostandfound · Nov 17, 2013

Don't use wine Smokey. Find a bottle of Everclear, and if you can't find that, try a high proof rum or whiskey... Such as Bacardi 151, or Wild Turkey.
Some will suggest 91% isopropyl alcohol. Don't listen to them. :lol:

jgriff · Nov 17, 2013

I would doubt it. You'll probably just add a stale wine flavor to the stale tobacco flavor. While I've used 80 proof stuff like Scotch in the past, it's still not enough. You really need full octane 180 proof or above to disinfect. I've had some ghosts that wouldn't be eliminated without reaming to bare wood or ozone.
That being said, if you aren't trying to clean it or really kill a ghost, then try it (with a caveat that you might regret it). Old-timers have done the liquor thing for a while. I suspect wine will sweeten it too but it's going to flavor your next few bowls with that flavor too....and I can't think of too many wine/grape flavored tobaccos (paging Capt Bob)

shayde · Nov 17, 2013

I think the American way would be to use shine. As the alcohol content is rather low, I'd agree with the others that said it might not work and you could just get stuck with a stale wine taste.

peckinpahhombre · Nov 17, 2013

I agree with the view that wine would not be a good thing to use on pipes. I use only 99% isopropyl alcohol on my pipes. The only downside is that the stuff evaporates extremely quickly, so you need to work very quickly.

scrapyardape · Nov 17, 2013

I say go for it.... as long as you are only drinking the wine while you clean.

tarak · Nov 17, 2013

Yup, another vote for,
"Don't do it!!"
I bought a bottle of 90% isopropyl at Walgreens for $5.
+1 on scrapyardape's comment- most definitely considering drinking wine while you clean

Go get 'em Smokeytay.

smokeytay33 · Nov 17, 2013

Haha, thanks for the input, guys! I just want to get rid of the ghost. BUT, I ended up using isopropyl since it was the only other thing I had in the house. And, thanks to scrapyardape and tarak, I broke out the wine and drank while cleaning. :wink: I also de-oxidized my pipe stem! It was my first cleaning. I'll be posting pictures of the difference in a bit! Again, thanks for the input.

tarak · Nov 17, 2013

Good for you smokey.
Just make sure you're using 90% or greater isopropyl- regular old isopropyl is like 50% alcohol and that's probably not high enough- you could damage your pipes.
People do use very strong whiskeys, FYI.
Also, careful with that alcohol on the bowl- it will remove the stain.

smokeytay33 · Nov 17, 2013

Would any of you recommend coating the bowl with honey? I looked through other posts, and found a few that talked about using honey to build a cake. I am not interested in building a cake, but does anyone know if it will help out with the old tobacco taste?

tarak · Nov 17, 2013

I don't think I that will help you there. Thorough cleaning will get you farther.

andrew · Nov 17, 2013

No, if you're going to coat the bowl with honey you do it when it's brand new. Best thing is do a carbon treatment where you use activated charcoal like the stuff you put in aquarium filters and bake it in the oven at a low temperature, you can find the directions somewhere on the site, apparently it works great for getting rid of ghosts, better than anything, besides maybe an ozone treatment.

petes03 · Nov 18, 2013

I definitely agree with these guys, don't use wine! Although I probably should, I don't use isopropyl or Everclear either. I use high proof rum, whiskey or tequila, they've all worked fine for me over the years.

flakyjakey · Nov 18, 2013

"Life is too short to drink bad wine!" or to use good wine to clean pipes!! I use 100% ethanol from the lab.

spartan · Nov 18, 2013

Clean it as best you can, and smoke it with something else until the ghost goes away.
Most ghosts of mine are welcomed friends. If yours is unpleasant im sorry, but depending on your pipe and the ghost... you could be stuck with it for a while. Just smoke it to death with something else.
Usually works...until you get the the veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerry bottom of the bowl. Then it's REMEMBER ME?!
Then again if you're just getting a stale taste, it could be you're not resting your pipe enough, or you've let your tobacco out in the open air too much? ORRRRRRRRRR, you're just used to the flavor and you can't taste it like you once did... If the last one is the problem you need to take a break from it and switch it up with something else for a bit. Revisit later
If you eat nothing but Pizza for a few weeks you'll be begging for something else because it will have lost it's luster. I find the same concept applies with me and tobacco. Maybe it's the same thing you're going through? Who knows.
Let us know what worked!!!
Document everything! : puffy

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