Musty tasting estate briar pipes.. course of action??

kippstakes · Jul 31, 2014

Just purchased five very nice briar estate pipes. They are great and in good condition, but they must have been stored for many years (or something) because they all have a very musty, old-blanket-from-the-closet taste. Basically the way you'd expect a leaf from a 75 year old book to taste if you stuffed it in your mouth- not that I'm suggesting anyone should try such a thing.

Do you think the professor's booze/salt treatment will suffice, or are there additional steps I can take to get these things sweetened up?
Thanks

tbradsim1 · Jul 31, 2014

The mustiness is in the Shank, not the Bowl, get some good brushes and clean that shank out with alcohol, Q-tip the inside of the shank also, Most the fowl gremlins are in the shank. Last resort is a retort or ozone treatment. The shank treatment will probably get rid of it.

kippstakes · Jul 31, 2014

Thanks for the quick responses. Wow, this forum is excellent.

For the shank, will 90-97% isopropyl work, or do I need everclear?

tbradsim1 · Jul 31, 2014

Iso will work but Everclear is a lot better. Be careful after cleaning don't force stem in as alcohol drys the shank out and you can snap the tendon.

wilson · Jul 31, 2014

What Cajun said, with emphasis on the mortise. Often the tenon is left a bit short of the mortise so that the stem fits flush even if the briar shrinks a bit after the pipe leaves the factory. A lot of nastiness can accumulate there. Many, many Q-tips (soaked in alcohol) may be needed for this.

huntertrw · Aug 11, 2014

Kippstakes:
I inherited my late maternal grandfather's KBB Yelo-Bole Imperial pipe (which my oldest brother had stored for years in his garage with a leaky roof). It was VERY musty, and despite multiple cleanings and salt-and-alcohol treatments musty it remained. In desperation I filled this pipe's bowl and shank with baking soda and let it sit, undisturbed, for 30-days and, voila, no more musty odor!
Subsequently I have used this method to de-ghost certain estate pipes which I have purchased, and found it to work equally well.
Good Luck, and Good Smoking!

woodsroad · Sep 7, 2014

kippstakes, like Bradley and Wilson said, there is most likely a gap in the mortise, and it has filled in with fetid goop. A small flat-blade screwdriver will be of great assistance in scraping it out. If you are a gun owner, you might also try cleaning the shank using a pistol cleaning rod with an appropriately sized bore brush and bore mop. Hoppes #9 is optional. Very optional.
If the mustiness is still there after cleaning/salt/baking soda, PM me and I'll run it through my Ozone Chamber for you.

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