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hiplainsdrifter

hiplainsdrifter

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 8, 2012
977
14
This current technique seems to be working well for me, but I wondered what others do.
1. Smoke pipe

2. Stop at dottle or sooner if I get bored

3. Let pipe rest overnight with tobacco

4. Ream ash and dottle out with a stick or bamboo skewer

5. Blow ash out of stem

6. Rest pipe another day
When hiking or otherwise traveling, I modify as follows, but I think the pipe takes longer to rest.
1. Smoke pipe

2. Stop at dottle

3. Ream ash and dottle out with a stick

4. Blow ash out of stem

 
sjpipesmoker

sjpipesmoker

Lifer
Apr 17, 2011
1,071
2
Smoke pipe

Toss out tobacco

use pipe cleaner

let pipe rest until I have another bowl

(which is usually 12+ hours)
I usually don't ream the bowl unless i'm cleaning the pipe, I wipe out the dottle, and sometimes I'd use superfine sandpaper in the bowl...then some pipe spray

 
topd

topd

Lifer
Mar 23, 2012
1,745
10
Emerson, Arkansas
If out and about:
Smoke tobacco to the bottom.

Dump ash, reload and smoke again. All day.

When I get home, switch to fresh pipe and clean all day pipe.

 
bigvan

bigvan

Lifer
Mar 22, 2011
2,192
12
Roth, you ream after every smoke?! So I guess you're not much of a believer in building a cake.
On the other end of the spectrum, hiplains you leave the ash and dottle in the pipe overnight BEFORE you clean it out? It's your pipe, but allowing the juices and "goo" to soak into the pipe overnight seems like the surest way to turn a bowl sour.

 
judcole

judcole

Lifer
Sep 14, 2011
7,177
33,416
Detroit
I smoke until I am done with the bowl, and dump it immediately. I smoke 1 bowl per pipe, per day. I run cleaners through the pipe before it goes back in the rack.

Not sure what the reason would be to leave the ash in the bottom. :puffy:

 
cajunguy

cajunguy

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 22, 2012
756
1
Metairie, LA
Jud and I share the same routine. One bowl per pipe. When finished, dump and clean. I run my pipe cleaner through the stem, clean the mortise area, and go at the chamber with a twisted paper towel to get as much of the funk out that I possibly can. I have no interest in building cake, so I clean the proverbial whistle out of it.

 
cortezattic

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,638
Chicago, IL
My habits are most like Jud and Cajunguy. There's one extra thing: with flakes I dump the ash if I need a re-light past the mid-bowl point; it seems to restore the freshness of the smoke. It could be all in my head, but still, I do it.

 
mick

mick

Can't Leave
Aug 13, 2012
343
0
OK, so obviously I'm new to this and have to ask: what is the risk of not going through the whole cleaning process after each pipe use, other than "not as fresh a smoke"? I've heard things like, "you must take care of your pipe" and some people religiously clean after each smoke and rest it 1-2 days between smokes, etc. In my mind, when I think of stereotypical pipe smokers it's either a grizzled sea captain or Irish folk musician, not someone meticulously getting out their pipe tools and cleaning supplies after each smoke. :lol:

 
cajunguy

cajunguy

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 22, 2012
756
1
Metairie, LA
We all develop our own habits and routines as far as cleaning is concerned. There is no real danger save for a) building too much cake in the chamber (which could potentially crack it) or, b) it becomes so dirty that everything you smoke tastes horrible. Neither of these things are going to happen if you only clean your pipe once a week or whatever.
But, the way I figure, it takes me about 30 seconds to clean my pipe after a smoke, so why not? :)

 
cigrmaster

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
After each smoke here is my procedure.
1. dump any ash and unsmoked tobacco out

2. run 2 pipe cleaners through the stem

3 run 3-5 pipe cleaners through the shank or until it comes out clean

4. take a pipe cleaner, double it and run it around the inside of the bowl getting any loose tobacco sticking to walls. I do this lightly enough as to not take off any cake I am building.

5. Let pipe rest normally 2-3 days, sometimes longer.

6. fully clean pipe with everclear, shankbrush, bristle cleaners, after 6-10 bowls. I used to do it more often but find that if I stick to my routine after each smoke, I can go longer in between the big clean.
In my opinion if you are not building a nice even cake, you are robbing yourself of the benefits of a briar pipe. Cake will dissipate heat which leads to a cooler smoke.

 
hiplainsdrifter

hiplainsdrifter

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 8, 2012
977
14
I choose to not dump dottle immediately after a smoke for the following reason: I theorize that setting the pipe in the rack while it is still burning allows heat to pull some of the moisture out of the stem, shortening the total rest time. Although it could be baloney, the dottle may actually just trap moisture. Heck if I know.

 
billm67

billm67

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 23, 2011
111
12
Camp Hill, PA
I usually dump the ash out in order to let any residual moisture in the bottom dry out. After the pipe has cooled...I will run a pipe cleaner throught the stem and them the wide end of the taper through the bowl.

 
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