Clearing Smell From Pipe

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1adsarge

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 19, 2016
157
10
NE Nevada
I just got my pipe cleaners in the mail and went to finish cleaning out the nooks and crannies in my pipe. When I pulled it out of its bag, it has a strong burned tobacco smell. Before I put it away for the night on Saturday, I got some damp cuetips and a slightly damp paper towel and wiped the inside and outside out the best I could then let it sit upside down till the following evening to dry and air out. What do you recommend I use to get the smell out? I've heard to use a light amount of everclear on the cuetips and cleaning pipes on the inside. Thanks for your input!
Cheers,

Jared

 

jvnshr

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 4, 2015
4,616
3,868
Baku, Azerbaijan
I do the process below after every 5 smokes to my pipes. It keeps them clean. I use ethanol by the way. If you are looking for some deep cleaning then other members will help I guess, because I am not that experienced.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YRyamTLLYo

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
My procedure for cleaning my pipes is as follows. I let my pipes cool over night then break the pipe down. I will take one or 2 fluffy cleaners depending on size of the bowl and wipe the inside of the bowl and then blow through the shank. I then take either one or 2 brislte cleaners again depending on the size of the shank, double them over and run them throught the shank, first twisting them and then running them back and forth. I will continue with the bristle cleaners until they come out clean. I then take one or two bristle cleaners and run them through the stem. I then take one or two fluffy cleaners and run those through the stem. Many of my pipes have stems that can take two cleaners and some of my pipes have a shank diameter greater than 4mm which can handle two cleaners doubled over through the shanks.
For deep cleanings I use Everclear, shank brush, bristle and fluffy cleaners along with Obidisian Stem Oil and pretty much do the same as above. I have never or will I ever use anything that is not drinkable on my pipes. Isopropyl alcohol has never touched one of my pipes. I also never rub the inside of my bowls with any type of alcohol. When needed I will take a pipe knife and use that to scrap and even out my cake.

 

rigmedic1

Lifer
May 29, 2011
3,896
75
I don't think I could add anything to the afore mentioned processes, as mine are similar. Usually, I clean my pipes once after week of use, but I use pipe cleaners after every few smokes. I also use pipe sweetener instead of alcohol unless I am doing a really nasty pipe, lol. Alcohol cleans them really, really good, but I subscribe to the "seasoning" school of thought, and have dedicated pipes to different styles of tobacco.

On a side note, I have a meerschaum that has a root beer scent in the bowl, and I suspect that it was cleaned with some root beer extract. The pipe is quit delicate, so I have never smoked it, besides, I like the root beer smell, lol. It was a gift.

 

buster

Lifer
Sep 1, 2011
1,305
3
I take a dry paper towel and wipe out the bowl the day after a smoke. After a few smokes I dip a tapered cleaner in rum and run it through the stem.
Not sure if others have noticed this but? After a smoke the bowl will smell ashy? After a few days of rest the smell begins to dissipate. After a week or so it starts to smell sweet and I assume the pipe has rested properly?

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,570
27,078
Carmel Valley, CA
To get the smell out (ghost), I will fill the bowl with salt, then saturate it with Everclear. Let it sit till the salt is dry or nearly so. If it's quite dark, repeat with fresh salt and alcohol.
Then I run warm to hot water through the bowl and out the stem, followed by paper towel drying of the chamber, and pipe cleaners through the stem. Then remove stem and wipe off any gunk. Q-tips to clean out mortise. If very old gunk, a careful digging with pipe tool (not a nail, and nothing with a point)

 

1adsarge

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 19, 2016
157
10
NE Nevada
I got the bowl cleaned up and smelling good but after running a bunch of alcohol soaked pipe cleaners through the stem, it still smells badly. What else can I do?
Cheers,

Jared

 

1adsarge

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 19, 2016
157
10
NE Nevada
What I wrote just above; if already done, try it again!
Does it smoke ok once you got 'er going?
I did this once but still have a smell. I'll do it again. I haven't smoked it but I did take a couple breaths through it and it was not pleasant. I find it hard to believe that it will require this much cleaning after every smoke. Thanks for your help and i will let you know how it goes.
Cheers,

Jared

 

1adsarge

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 19, 2016
157
10
NE Nevada
Ok, after soaking number 2, it is clean but the burned tobacco smell is still there. I can smell it and taste it when sucking air through it. Is it supposed to have a bit of a burned tobacco smell in it? Sorry, I am new to this so I really have no idea.
Cheers,

Jared

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,570
27,078
Carmel Valley, CA
The "soaking" needs hours, maybe days so that what can be drawn out of the briar is extracted into the salt more fully. The salt should turn brown and be dry before emptying and rinsing.
As to an odor drawing through an empty pipe, yeah, I guess there is some, but unless it's really unpleasant, I'd forget about it. And, no, deep cleaning is a sometimes thing, at least the way I keep my pipes. Some I haven't done for over a year.

 

1adsarge

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 19, 2016
157
10
NE Nevada
The "soaking" needs hours, maybe days so that what can be drawn out of the briar is extracted into the salt more fully. The salt should turn brown and be dry before emptying and rinsing.
As to an odor drawing through an empty pipe, yeah, I guess there is some, but unless it's really unpleasant, I'd forget about it. And, no, deep cleaning is a sometimes thing, at least the way I keep my pipes. Some I haven't done for over a year.
Thanks for the clarification on the length of soaking. Maybe I'll do one more tomorrow and let it sit overnight.

 

python

Administrator
Staff member
Apr 8, 2009
3,756
7,251
Maryland
pipesmagazine.com
It is always going to smell like burned tobacco. That is just the way that it is. You are burning tobacco in it. The only time you should have to do a salt/alcohol treatment is if the pipe turns sour or you are trying to get rid of a "ghost" (which is entirely different than a burned tobacco smell).
When you are done smoking the pipe, let it cool and do a simple cleaning with dry pipe cleaners like Cigrmaster explained in the first half of his post. When you are done doing that "simple" cleaning, leave the pipe in a rack or something to dry out for a day or so before putting it in a case.

 

smokertruck

Can't Leave
Aug 1, 2013
423
0
rum is ok but it has water in it - i use rum 151 proof - less water - it has a warning on the bottle "flammable". - squeegee out the excess rum from the cleaner before using it in the pipe so it does not run & ruin the outside of the pipe.

also most have stated that the salt should be kosher salt as it is courser. - not sure of the difference in the outcome only possibly easier to remove - someone can clarify.

 

stvalentine

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 13, 2015
808
13
Northern Germany
I am sorry Jared but I don´t get the problem. I can only second what Bob wrote. If you dont want your pipe to smell of burned tobacco don´t burn tobacco in it. All the stated cleaning procedures are meant for pipes that are really dirty. If you do this on a regular basis to your new pipe it will never develop a proper cake and might even taste funny after several of these thorough cleanings.

Smoking pipes is a smelly business, maybe you want to go for vaping instead? No offense intended though...

 

1adsarge

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 19, 2016
157
10
NE Nevada
I am sorry Jared but I don´t get the problem. I can only second what Bob wrote. If you dont want your pipe to smell of burned tobacco don´t burn tobacco in it. All the stated cleaning procedures are meant for pipes that are really dirty. If you do this on a regular basis to your new pipe it will never develop a proper cake and might even taste funny after several of these thorough cleanings.

Smoking pipes is a smelly business, maybe you want to go for vaping instead? No offense intended though...
No offense taken but pipe smoking is the only sort of smoking I would ever consider. As I have explained before, I am very new to this so I was not sure how strong of a burned tobacco smell should remain in my pipe. That is why I asked about it here so that I know if what I am smelling is a sour pipe, dirty pipe, or what it should normally smell like. I smoked a bowl in the pipe last night and it tasted great so I now know that it will have some sort of burned tobacco smell left, even after a decent cleaning. Thanks again for everyone's input!
Cheers,

Jared

 
My pipes tend to have a wet ashtray smell until it has dried out completely. I am not sure if they have any smell at all when they have set in the rack for a few days. Some tobaccos will leave a more pronounced aroma than others. But, sometimes I notice the smell, most days I don't, because I probably smell like the nasty pipes as well. One thing to keep in mind as a new pipe smoker, you will always smell like a smoker to everyone else. You won't smell it, but everyone else will. So, you might as well relish the stank. :puffy:

 

1adsarge

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 19, 2016
157
10
NE Nevada
My pipes tend to have a wet ashtray smell until it has dried out completely. I am not sure if they have any smell at all when they have set in the rack for a few days. Some tobaccos will leave a more pronounced aroma than others. But, sometimes I notice the smell, most days I don't, because I probably smell like the nasty pipes as well. One thing to keep in mind as a new pipe smoker, you will always smell like a smoker to everyone else. You won't smell it, but everyone else will. So, you might as well relish the stank. :puffy:
Well stated Sir! :mrgreen:
Cheers,

Jared

 

stvalentine

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 13, 2015
808
13
Northern Germany
When I clean an estate pipe they don´t have the slightest smell of tobacco or ash left in them. But smoking it a single time afterwards will leave the pipe smelling again. This is simply normal. A foul smell would occur if you smoke the pipe back to back and never clean it. No good and yuck in my opinion. On the other hand repeated exessive cleaning with alcohol might damage your pipe in the long run.

Use common sense and a lot of pipe cleaners. A pipe cleaner wet with alcohol every dozen smokes or so will keep the stem clean from the inside. If you smoke aromatics you might need to clean your pipe more often.
Despite what many people claim tar or moisture will not penetrate briar more than a milimeter.

 

loneredtree

Part of the Furniture Now
May 27, 2011
569
181
Sierra Foothills
I forgot what tobacco that you use. The smell will vary and in my opinion OTCs will smell worse. However, I have smelled my pipe after using a pipe cleaner and swabbing the bowl with a paper towel. It is rank the first day and less so each subsequent day. After three days, it does not smell bad. After a week, there is almost no noticeable odor at least an unpleasant one. That may account for the seven day rotation. It takes that long to dry out.(after three days I have moistened the bowl and it smells a bit rank again) Have fun.
YMVV

 
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