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settersbrace

Lifer
Mar 20, 2014
1,565
5
This may or may not be better placed in "pipes" forum but I'm not looking for specific advise.
What I'm curious to know is what are the habits you all follow as it relates to you're pipe cleaning; after a bowl, after several bowls, after several weeks of regular rotation? Also, let me know how many pipes you keep in your actual smoking rotation, not the overall number of pipes you may or may not have. I realize that there are probably many here that have maybe only 1,2 or three pipes (after 3 your too far gone and have 20 or more, like me).
I'll post my routine further down, which is minimal at best and I'm more curious to hear how many different cleaning/maintenance rituals you all have. Don't be discouraged if you feel your're ADD or OCD, I think many of us fall into those categories somwhere along the line as it relates to pipes and pipesmoking so you're amongst friends here. I really don't there's a "right or wrong" here, just differences in opinions. So, let's hear them!

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,769
45,352
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
My maintenance regimen is as follows:
I run a pipe cleaner or two through the airway between bowls. A the end of the day I disassemble the pipe and thoroughly clean out the shank airway and mortise, using as many cleaners as is necessary to remove build up. I use tapered bristle cleaners to scrub out the airway and doubled up fluffies to soak up moisture in the mortise. I wipe down the chamber with a paper towel, or with pipe cleaners. I run two to three alcohol soaked cleaners through the stem. I clean off the stem exterior to avoid crud build up and I use a bit of spit to wipe down the rim to avoid build up there as well. Then I reassemble the pipe and leave it to rest and dry out for a week before using it again.
A rotation is seven days worth of pipes and the actual amount varies depending on whether I use more than one pipe on a given day. I rotate rotations every couple of weeks so that my pipes get a few months off. I find that long term rest benefits my pipes.

 

forest7

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 8, 2014
190
2
I do have 6 pipes now so far and planning to add up to 14 pipes for weekly rotation.

Pipe cleaner is only what I do for cleaning this days but every 6 month will do salt and alcohol treats.

 

kendodan

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 22, 2013
168
0
I lightly clean my pipes after every bowl. I use q-tips to clean the bowl to get a nice, thin but hard cake. I then stick a pipe cleaner in the stem and let the pipe sit for about a day so the pipe cleaner can absorb some moisture. About twice a year I sit down and thoroughly clean all my pipes with some alcohol and bristled pipe cleaners.
I have about 12 pipes and they are all in my rotation. I just smoke whatever pipe I feel like smoking that day with whatever tobacco I want to smoke as well.
Hope that helps!

 

settersbrace

Lifer
Mar 20, 2014
1,565
5
I don't have a set rotation. I have 30+ pipes and they all get smoked now and then, some more than others. Sunday is pipe cleaning day. I think we had this discussion in the last couple of weeks.
A man without a shillelagh is a man without an expedient.
Humor me Warren, I must have missed that thread, in fact I know I did. Lol.

I'm already seeing a wide arc in preference's in just a few posts so let's see where it goes. I'm always up for learning new things.

 

jkrug

Lifer
Jan 23, 2015
2,867
8
I have about 20 pipes of which 15 are smoked regularly. I try to smoke my way through the whole rotation without doubling up but that doesn't always happen. After each smoke I run a couple pipe cleaners through the stem and then fold one in half and swab out the chamber with it. I then wipe the entire pipe off with a micro fiber cloth and put it in the rack to rest until next time it is called upon.
After 10 or so smokes I'll strip the pipe right down and do a good thorough cleaning to get rid of all the nastys and keep it fresh. :puffy:

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,459
I clean the ashes out with a scoop; wipe out the bowl with a paper towel/tissue; pipe cleaner the air way; polish off the entire pipe with a cleaning cloth; let it cool. Any more cleaning is done when the pipe is completely cool, whatever is needed. I have more pipes than a person would ever need. Funny how we all say "about" how many we have, like we can't count. And I don't have a strict count either, but probably about 70 by now. One guy at the local pipe shop, and also Jerry Lee Lewis, report having 200, so that makes me feel a little better. These have been collected over almost 40 years, but mostly in the last five I admit. How did this happen? Ha-ha.

 

freakiefrog

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 26, 2012
745
2
Mississippi
After every bowl the ashes get dumped, and the stem gets 2 pipe cleaners. I like to ben my cleaners into a "Z" shape on the end sticking out of the bit. This lets me use it like a handle to twist the cleaner in the stem. Then the bowl gets two pipe cleaners doubled over and wiping out the bowl. This soaks up an moisture in the bottom and loosens any un-burned tobacco and knock loose any ash that is stubbornly hanging on. Then back on the rack the pipe goes.

 

settersbrace

Lifer
Mar 20, 2014
1,565
5
Sablebrush has a routine very similar to what I followed for some time but have modified the practice quite a bit in the last year.
I have several pipes in my rotation that are estates and more than one have replacement stems and because of that I'm hesitant to take apart a pipe like that after a smoke and cool down for fear of it getting loose. I've experienced it before and I don't like fiddling around trying to get them tight again. I have roughly 14-21 pipes in rotation in the warm months because I smoke 2-3 bowls a day in my briars, beyond that, I'm smoking cobs. I never smoke more than one bowl in my briars on any given day.
When a bowl is done its 99.9% of the time just ash so I discard and run a cleaner through twice and rack it with a cleaner in to absorb any moisture it can. I don't leave the cleaner in for more than an hour as I feel it's done all it can do in that amount of time. I'll take a spit soaked tissue or paper towel and clean the bowl rim, wipe the pipe down with a handi-wipe impregnated with briar-wipe and rack it until it's turn comes round again.
Deep cleaning I do on need basis these days. The pipes will tell me when it's time. At that point I drag them all out and pretty much do as Sablebrush describes. I check the cake on all the bowls and if needed, I trim it back with a Castleford reamer. I use pipe sweetener and occasionally high proof alcohol during the process. It's a chore that is enjoyable and it's nice knowing I've pushed the reset button again.
I've become a proponent of minimizing the number of times I remove the stems on all my pioes, new, old, high end, low end it matters not. I like classic shapes, mostly straights or 1/4 bents at the most with only one full bent in my collection. Getting a cleaner through to the bowl is never an issue, I realize that's not always the case for everyone. I've seen guys take Castello giants apart right after a bowl has been smoked and swab them out. These gents have decades on me so who am I to question? I believe that each of us has to develop a routine that works best for the individual and we all learn from our and each other's mistakes. Feel free to critique.

 
Mar 30, 2014
2,853
78
wv
After I smoke I run a pipe cleaner through and insert and leave the next. Fold another in half and swab the bowl. Then that pipe is placed in the "Sunday" pile. That's the day all pipes I've smoked get a general cleaning. If one starts to get a little stinky, I'll run a cleaner through with some alcohol. Deep cleaning maybe a couple times per year. I have a large rotation so they have plenty of time to dry out. I have a short list of pipes that I smoke the hell out of, which need a more thorough cleaning more often.

 

brudnod

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 26, 2013
938
6
Great Falls, VA
My "Sunday pile" is in the garage where I do the cleaning. They get cleaned anywhere between several hours later up to several days later.

 
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