Meerschaum Care Questions

robwoodall · Jun 21, 2015

Friday I ordered an IMP Smooth Dublin from Smokingpipes.com.

Now I'm wondering how to take care of it.
I want to develop a nice patina, but not if it's going to be a lot of work.
The likelihood of me waxing anything, ever, is pretty slim. Nor am I likely to buy a pair of white gloves to wear while smoking.
I MIGHT be willing to wash my hands before smoking. I might even be willing to hold the pipe in a handkerchief or, more likely, a paper towel.
How delicate are these things, anyway, that they can never be touched by human hands? OK, that last was probably an exaggeration, but how do you guys care for your meerschaums?
Basically, I want mine to look like the ones that condorlover's always posting, but I don't want to put in any effort!

pipesmokingtom · Jun 21, 2015

This post made me smile.
Nice pipe.

klause · Jun 21, 2015

Rob, just smoke it; enjoy it; and, don't worry about it.
'Nuff said.

pipesmokingtom · Jun 21, 2015

You could always dip it in a cup of strong coffee.

jerry · Jun 21, 2015

When I get a new meer, I try to hold it by the stem for the first five or ten bowls, then business as usual! It will color at its own pace - every meerschaum is unique - "smoke it, enjoy it, don't worry about it" is good advice!

robwoodall · Jun 21, 2015

Thanks, guys.
I wasn't too worried, but I do feel better now. I didn't want to be buying a problem for myself!
And, booker, be checking the mail. The pipe and tobacco should arrive any day!

Chasing Embers · Jun 21, 2015

Just don't let it build any cake in the bowl, and don't use any alcohol on it. Smoke the crap out of it, and enjoy!

cortezattic · Jun 21, 2015

If you're holding a warm pipe you might put a fingerprint impression in the wax surface; worse if your hands are dirty. But that isn't the end of the world because you can usually clean up and/or float away the grime with melted bee's wax applied with a natural hair artist's brush. The wax will also speed up the coloring a little.
IMO, what Klause, Jerry, and Chasingembers said is the best advice overall, but you might like reading Fred Bass's articles,

The Meerschaum Pipe Experience, and especially, Slave To The White Goddess.
Here's an interesting thread on meer coloring gone wrong.

warren · Jun 21, 2015

When I first started with the meers I waxed, the pipes, regularly. I decided many years ago that it did nothing to speed or improve coloring and stopped. I do, with a new meer that has not really started to color, handle only by the bit until the bottom of the bowl begins to "tan." I do not wipe the bowl and use a dull pipe blade to remove the residues when the pipe is cool and the "gunk" solid. My belief is that wiping removes the moist "gunk" that the meer is absorbing for color.
I smoke my meers almost exclusively in doors as they tend to shatter when dropped on concrete and rocks. They will suffer a drop on the grass or a dirt surface with surprisingly little damage. Briars tend to acquire dents and character when dropped so it's not such a big deal. At least I cry less.

jpmcwjr · Jun 21, 2015

If I get dirt or hand prints or ash on the outside of the bowl, I just wash it inside and out with hot water. Maybe even a bit of detergent on the exterior. Obviously, no waxing.

robwoodall · Jun 26, 2015

My pipe arrived Tuesday and I'm just now getting around to posting. Here is a picture:

Here are my impressions: It provides a very cool, tasty smoke, which I expected. It's very pretty. I really like the way it looks. There's always something (to me anyway) about the elaborately carved meers, but I really like the "understated elegance" of this one. I probably will buy a more elaborate one at some point.
The walls are VERY thick. I love the way it feels in my hand, but it's very heavy for clenching. I'm not a clencher, but just to hold in my mouth while I re-light it or open a door or whatever, it does get heavy.
However, the thick walls spread the heat well, so it gets all over warm but not hot. I like that because, again, I love the way it feels in my hand. I wonder if the thick walls will slow down the coloring process.
The draw is not badly restricted, but it is tighter than I'm used to. I'm used to the essentially no resistance of a corn cob. Still, it's not bad. It draws freer than my recent Big Ben, and almost exactly like my new Stanwell, so I'm getting used to it.
Altogether, I'm very pleased, I just want to start seeing some color!!!

cortezattic · Jun 26, 2015

The color will emerge very slowly, and changes in appearance are subtle. It will take dozens of smokes to see some change, but many thousands to produce that dramatic meerschaum look. Don't let yourself get neurotic about the color-changing thing. Just smoke it a lot.

warren · Jun 26, 2015

That's a nice looking meer. Coloring it will not be a "lot of work" unless you consider smoking a pipe to be such. Just enjoy and keep the flesh off the stem and bowl for while until you start getting color, not a tinge, color. If you want to feel as though you are participating in the process, wax, use a cotton hankie or glove and all of the other rigamarole some suggest. The mineral will color whether you do all of that or not.
Keeping the inside of the bowl fairly clean will speed the process but, it will still seem like forever, and it nearly always is, until you start getting the deep, chocolate brown which I find satisfying. Could be a reddish brown. Or nearly black.

condorlover1 · Jun 26, 2015

Very nice pipe. Enjoy your new toy my friend!

pipesmokingtom · Jun 26, 2015

Congrats on that. It's a beaut. A lattice billiard is on my wishlist. I keep spending all my pipe money on Tobacco though, so who knows when that will happen.

robwoodall · Jun 26, 2015

Thanks, all!
And, while we're on the subject, does it make any difference what type of tobacco I smoke? Because of the clean taste and lack of ghosting (which doesn't generally bother me, anyway) I've been smoking quite a variety.
I've smoked (in order) Dunhill 965, Old Dark Fired, Frog Morton, Butternut Burley, Frog Morton again, Stokkebye's Vanilla Custard, and more Frog Morton. All tasted really good. Butternut Burley seemed to burn cooler than in my other pipes but the rest were either the same or a little bit cooler.
Also (perhaps obviously) I've been smoking it A LOT. It's a new toy, and I'm not letting it rest as much as I normally do. I haven't noticed any ill effects, but do I need to rest it longer?

pipesmokingtom · Jun 26, 2015

IMO, resting is largely phooey. As long as it's cooled off a bit, load 'er back up and keep on keepin' on!

phred · Jun 26, 2015

does it make any difference what type of tobacco I smoke?

I did notice that smoking Erik the Red as the first bowl in my meer left some interesting reddish lines around the bowl, so I switched over to William the Conqueror for the second bowl... :D
And I actually did pick up a pair of cotton gloves at the drugstore, as I smoke mostly outdoors and thus can't guarantee that my hands are perfectly clean. It's starting to color after just 2 bowls, so after several more I expect I'll stop wearing the gloves (at least until I buy another meer). But for now, if I look like a goof in my own backyard, who cares?
That IMP Dublin's a lovely piece, by the way - may you have much joy of it.

rottingcorpse · Jun 26, 2015

Here's my IMP that I've been smoking for about a month. I'd say about 70 bowls. There's a dark brown color emerging on the bottom right. I smoke everything out of this pipe, but I've been smoking aromatics recently. I read somewhere that aros supposedly color a meer faster. Baki apparently smoked one of his pipes for six months, smoking only Lane BCA, and it developed a nice marble-like patina. You can find his pipe on Google Images. Anyways, I handle my pipe by the stem and rewaxed it once. I melted a small about of wax on the stove and rubbed it on my pipe, and blow dried and rubbed off the excess wax with an old white cotton shirt. As previously stated, keep your bowl free of cake, rewax occasionally, smoke the hell out of it, don't use any alcohol on the bowl, and enjoy! Before you know it, it'll start coloring. You have a very beautiful pipe by the way! Happy smokin'.

Forgot to mention, I'd appreciate it if you'd keep us updated on the coloring, like post pics every now and again. I love seeing progress in meers. Thanks!

robwoodall · Jun 27, 2015

I will post updates. I saw the Meer coloring thread.
Right now, though, only the inside of the bowl shows any change.

Meerschaum Care Questions

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