Meerschaum Cleaning

throbinson · Feb 17, 2015

Been looking for a decent how-to when it comes to cleaning meerschaum pipes, but most see geared towards a light cleaning or general maintenance.
I have an estate lot with a meerschaum coming in the mail, and the meerschaum (nice pipe) needs a lot cleaning.
Has anyone tried cleaning one right down to almost white again? With 800-2000 grit sand papers, or very fine steel wool maybe? remove all colour/staining/burnt crud etc and rewax it? I have 0 meerschaum experience, but, would like to make the pipe look like it just came from the factory.

condorlover1 · Feb 17, 2015

Post a picture of said pipe. Because of meerschaums unique make up you cannot remove what has colored the stone itself. It would be akin to trying to remove an ink tatoo using soap and water.

cortezattic · Feb 17, 2015

Someone posted a thread a couple of months ago to discuss how he cleaned and reconditioned a used meerschaum.

Perhaps he will see this and link us back to that thread. As I recall, he removed scratches from the bowl by sanding, but

as Condor said, that doesn't turn the meer white again.
In the meantime, check out Fred Bass's article, Slave To The White Goddess. It has internal links to related articles.

condorlover1 · Feb 17, 2015

@Cortez: Thank you that was the article I was trying to remember the name of in relation to meerschaum. There are a couple of articles in the meerschaum section written by me over the year as well.

throbinson · Feb 17, 2015

Post a picture of said pipe.

Eventually, but as said, it's en route from the seller still. Photo online was enough to know needs cleaned but not as detailed enough to know how much. But I will definitely give that article a read.

throbinson · Feb 18, 2015

Good article, though not much in the ways of cleaning/restoring... kinda the opposite of what I was after. :D
However, the pipe I have coming is the same as that first Peterson, same condition as well with the black at the top and yellow body.

condorlover1 · Feb 18, 2015

Are you sure the pipe was not pre-colored?

throbinson · Feb 18, 2015

Well, again, still en route so not in hand yet, plus also, 0 meerschaum experience so no idea how I'd even know. The lot of pipes vary in make/age... but no idea what year that pipe is. Best I can do is post the eBay photo, actually not bad for detail... seems more dirty than aged, but no idea if the photo was properly set for WB.

buroak · Feb 18, 2015

That looks to be a Peterson made of African meerschaum. You can scrub out the shank with Everclear just as you would a briar pipe. I would remove any cake with sandpaper. If the cake is like that in a briar pipe, you can start out with 220 grit paper. Once the cake is very thin, I progress through 400, 600, 800, 1000, and 1500 grit papers to achieve a smooth tobacco chamber with only a bit of carbon left on the walls. Try not to remove meerschaum as you sand, though it is hard to avoid seeing a bit of white you your papers, especially when trying to sand such a deep bowl.
The coloration you see is probably mostly the factory coloration applied by the pipe maker.

condorlover1 · Feb 18, 2015

Bazinga! Thank you my friend. You have a pre-colored mid 1970s meerschaum pipe probably with nickel silver ring and push in detachable stem. The black color around the bowl was added by the manufacturer for effect and you used to be able to buy similar pipes from most chains of UK Smoke shops normally found outside railway stations. Upon delivery clean up the stem by PM'ing someone like 'shaintiques' as there is a cleaning solution people use for this stuff and then buff the stem. Scrape the inside of the bowl with an iron bladed knife to remove all the crud and then wipe out with a damp kitchen cloth. Wash the pipe in warm water with a small amount of soap and gently scrub with a very soft toothbrush. Rinse off and dry and then polish the metal band with some good quality metal polish. Smoke the pipe and wax with beeswax and see if the pipe will take on any color. Good luck and I hope that helps!

klause · Feb 18, 2015

Erm! Not sure what's going on there, but it looks like someone has seriously butchered what was, once, a beautiful pipe.
That Meer is in the Aboriginal rustication - Peterson did it in briar, as well as meerschaum - and is really very nice to hold and ponder. It looks like someone has tried to accentuate the shaping, or tried to sand it for some bizarre reason. Also, the rim colouring seems a bit OTT. The shank colouring is the only element that looks as it should, by natural colouring from heavy use.
I have one of these, and also the briar equivalents. So, I know for sure that has been messed with. Originally I was wondering why you'd want to remove the colouring back down to the pure white (not possible on a well smoked meer, I believe), and now I see why.
I say, have at it - it'll clean up nicely, and smoke well for you - they're cracking pipes.
The black pipe on the left is drop-dead gorgeous. What is it???

throbinson · Feb 18, 2015

I was mostly after that one, as well as #2 and that #5 (the meerschaum in question).
Seller had them listed as
1. Alpha Hand Made, Israel

2. Alpha Rex

3 Ben Wade, London made

4 Dr. Grabow Free hand

5. K & P Peterson's

6. Dr. Grabow Meerschaum lined
Oddly... no one bid on them but me. Not sure if that was bad or good, but, nice pipes to work on. I won't keep any, I don't collect them... I'll probably never have more than 5 in my collection. I like working on them though which is why I started looking at estate lots online. Fun hobby.

klause · Feb 18, 2015

Looking at this again, the rim darkening, that Condor rightly says is done by the manufacturer, is exaggerated by the strange grey colour of the rest of the pipe, or someone took some enamel paint to it ;-)
Check out this thread: peterson meerschaums
Further down is a beautiful example of what your pipe should look like - it's the second to last pipe, a real cracker.

throbinson · Feb 18, 2015

Weird, was just looking at that. :D
I suspect I may have to work a little creative magic and smooth/round things out a bit and re-wax it when done. I do want to keep the almost cracked looking lines inside the concaved sections.
Hard to know the true colour yet though, since looking at the highlights on the bowls, the blue tone to the light makes me think the WB is set far too cool. I went to school for design and did photography as a hobby so, improper white balance and tone bugs the heck outta me. :D
When it arrives, should be soon since rare time on eBay I find something in Canada, so hopefully not waiting weeks like I usually am. When it arrives, I'll take proper photos and post so we can better see the issues.
I don't want to kill the pipe, but, I have no love for meerschaum, just, 'not my thing' I guess so... willing to experiment and see what works. Upside also is, I assume these were all hand made and all of them are slightly different from one another so, if I have to change it a little, be harder to notice. :D

throbinson · Feb 18, 2015

... side note as well, every time I see one of these online I'm seeing that the nickel/silver rings are often scratched and damaged. Steel wool and metal polish with a buffer/dremel a good idea?
I usually clean up old silver with toothpaste but, it's often in good shape just tarnished... this may need more work.
Stems I'm fine with, got the process down and getting some nice black-glassy looking stems now.

xrundog · Feb 18, 2015

I am not an African Meerschaum expert. But I've had a couple and seen a lot so here's what I think. The rim treatment is called fuming. Be careful cleaning in a fumed area as it does not go very deep. Looks to me like the shank end was maybe fumed too. Hard to tell what's intentional and what isn't. I would not do any sanding on that pipe. Steel wool can discolor it as well.

You can soften rim char with a damped rag over the rim. Then gently scrape away the heavy stuff. I've used stem polish to take off light residue and it works really well and doesn't damage the coloring. It leaves material nice and bright.

Other than a gentle cleaning, I wouldn't do anything to the bowl exterior. A soft damp rag will remove most of the dirt if there is any. I'd concentrate on the inner bowl, band and stem.

That's my opinion based on my experience.

buroak · Feb 18, 2015

xrundog, Are you saying that you would not sand the cake inside the bowl?

warren · Feb 18, 2015

I don't think he was saying that. But, he's the one to provide the answer.
As for me, I use a "Dremel Stylus" to remove cake with sandpaper. I suppose it should go without saying but, I do so very lightly, carefully and not without a bit of trepidation.

xrundog · Feb 18, 2015

xrundog, Are you saying that you would not sand the cake inside the bowl?

Nope. I can see where I may have given that impression though. Sand away inside the bowl.
The exterior seems to be finished in a very specific way. I'd be careful with that.

buroak · Feb 18, 2015

I figured that was your meaning, but I also figured clarification never hurts.

Meerschaum Cleaning

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