Do cold pipes always stink?

thomasmartin · May 22, 2016

Hi. After the long winter brake, the warmer days allow me to enjoy my pipes again (in my garden). So I'm back in business. As I was inspecting my pipes collection that rested during winter I was appalled by how bad they smell. They got a routine after smoking cleaning (pipe cleaner trough mouthpiece and shank) in fall and rested open on my pipe rack in my garage. No salt treatment or such. I don't think they taste bad but it is that cold smoke smell that I really don't like and that almost stopped me from lighting one. Should I give them some more attention bevor putting them to winter hype bernardino? Is that nasty smell something you just have to live with (as long as they taste fine when smoked). How much do you give them a salt treatment? Are there other procedures that you recommend?

briarcudgel · May 22, 2016

Clean them well with Everclear or another high proof alcohol with pipe cleaners before resting them. A salt/alcohol treatment might not be bad either.

sallow · May 22, 2016

What do you mean, 'stink'?
Properly cleaned, I think they smell good.

hawky454 · May 22, 2016

What you really need to do is start smoking them all year round. Don't give them a chance to get all stinky! Winter is the best season to smoke!

ahmadothman · May 22, 2016

It also depends on what types of tobacco you smoke.. My dad had two pipes that he left for years and I got them when he passed away.. Both smelled of CB Cherry.. after around 10 years of storage..

xrundog · May 22, 2016

Pipes stink. It's probably the main drawback of smoking pipes. They could have been smoked yesterday, last week or last month. Take a dozen, put 'em in a closed room, and when you come back in later you will smell them. Just keep them someplace where they won't offend anybody's olfactory senses.

But I think cigar butts in an ashtray or open trashcan smell a lot worse.

thomasmartin · May 22, 2016

I had a tenant that smoked around 2 packs of cigarettes each day in the basement flat of my house. He just moved out leaving all walls once white the colour of oak wood. Imagine the smell of that flat. That's how my pipes smell when cold. One have to keep in mind that I rarely smoke down to white ash. There's always some moisture left behind in the bowl that I try to remove with pipe cleaners. Alas, smoking in winter is not possible. I wouldn't know where.

Edit: I only smoke non-aromatics. Lat blends, VA and Vipers. No Burley. I hate Burley.

mikestanley · May 22, 2016

I use 91% isopropyl to give my pipes a good cleaning. Greg Pease talks about using activated charcoal to remove ghosts in pipes. Unfortunately he hears them in the oven but the concept might help you out. The article is called "Out Damn Spot."

Mike S.

mso489 · May 22, 2016

Hmmm. The "cold smoke smell," if I read you correctly, is just the residual of burnt tobacco, and I think many including me find it pleasant. Now if we are talking mold, mildew, or some kind of other non-tobacco smell, that requires the treatments mentioned in earlier posts. But a little burnt Virginia, burley, Lat, or whatever, doesn't stink to me. If you want to sterilize your pipes and have them essentially odorless at all times, go to it. But I think tobacco smell, hot or cold, is pleasant. My opinion.

phil67 · May 22, 2016

Just took a few pipes that I haven't smoked in about 6 months and I can't smell a thing except for a very faint hint of tobacco and actually somewhat of a pleasant smell. No... I never smoke aro's. Of course it might be that my olfactory senses are shot which would make me a prime candidate for working on a pig farm.

samcoffeeman · May 22, 2016

No. Most of mine smell fine but occasionally one will be a bit off. Just had that happen with an old Grabow(1940s). It needs a deep cleaning. Depends on the tobacco you smoke. Make sure to clean the mortise out also. Take the stem out when the pipe cools and swan that mortise. I use a mini screwdriver to scrape the mortise out gently as well.

pipestud · May 22, 2016

Since I sell so many estate pipes each year (over 2,000) I can tell pretty quickly what has been smoked in pipes with a lot of stink. Latakia or grassy Virginia blends with Perique and cheap aromatic blends can really put the skunk in pipes that sit a long time. Sweeter, more natural aromatics and straight Virginia tobaccos leave a wonderful aroma in pipes that have been sitting. I once got in a herd of pipes from the widow of a deceased collector who smoked nothing but McCranie's Red Ribbon for 15-years. He had been deceased for a couple of years by the time I got the box of pipes. When I opened the box the odor was so good that I darned near bought the pipes myself to use as potpourri.

mso489 · May 22, 2016

I think storage has some bearing too. If there is just a slightly increased humidity, like maybe in the garage mentioned in the original post, especially intermittent with heat, even with reasonably cleaned pipes, that might make the tobacco scent a little stale and funky, rather than tobacco-like and pleasant. I've stored pipes for years and had them smell good and smokeable right out of the drawer, but that was stored indoors in moderate temperature and humidity.

jensen · May 23, 2016

I do not understand why the pipes are being stored in a garage.

thomasmartin · May 24, 2016

Because my wife would not tolerate the cold smoke smell inside the house. I must point out, that the garage isn't used for my car anymore. It's more like a hobby-room for me. And I don't see how this could in any way do harm to my collection. The "garage" is not too hot, cold or humid.

cosmicfolklore · May 24, 2016

They have a smell? Eh, I probably can't smell mine over my own tobacco-ey aroma. The smell is just a part of the game. We are smokers, you know.

jessicac · May 24, 2016

When my family found out I started smoking a pipe, they sent me my granddad's old pipes. Unfortunately, he loved lakelands..
took a while to get rid of that stench..

thomasmartin · May 24, 2016

I think loving the aroma of fresh smoke and hating the stench of cold smoke are not mutually exclusive . In fact I have friends that are heavy cigarette smokers who smoke only outside because they hate their house smelling of smoke.

cosmicfolklore · May 24, 2016

There was one forum member who stored his pipe in a rack that was set down into a large tub filled with coffee beans (presumably to appease a wife). The coffee beans absorb smells, or so I am told. The pipes weren't submerged, just in the tub with the beans.
Luckily for me, everyone loves the smells of my pipe in the house. Pipe tobacco is the first thing having to do with tobacco where people will actually set down next to me and tell me that they love the aroma. And, I love the way the smell greets me at the door when I come home. It makes me want to walk over and kiss my pipes and start smoking as soon as possible. I guess everyone is different. But, I don't let people smoke cigarettes or cigars in the house though. Those are nasty.

pitchfork · May 24, 2016

Edit: I only smoke non-aromatics. Lat blends, VA and Vipers. No Burley. I hate Burley.

On a side note, I never could tolerate the Vipers -- they bite me every time. :mrgreen:
But I think I know what you mean about the smoke smell. I've had a couple of estates that had that smell -- it's sort of like stale cigarette smoke. I assume it has something to do with the way they were cared for by the previous owner, but I don't really know what the direct cause is. As noted, a good alcohol cleaning would probably help. So would smoking some burley through them. I suspect that Latakia blends are part of the problem with the pipes I had.
Then there was one pipe I had that I eventually just tossed in the trash. It was an estate -- a really nice French panel billiard, but it smelled like that basement apartment probably smelled, like someone had fumigated the pipe with cigarette smoke. I used all manner of alcohol and even washed the stummel under the tap with warm water and a tooth brush. Nothing would get rid of that smell, so I got rid of the pipe.

Do cold pipes always stink?

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