I have a couple old Comoys, that are 65 and 85 years old, respectively. They are pristine and I keep them that way with the exception of oxidation inside the vulcanite stems. I clean them out with cleaners and everclear until the cleaners come out clean, but still get echoes of the oxidized rubber taste from time to time. Any good solution to get rid of the taste, and prevent it from coming back every couple months? Thanks!
Oxidation Inside Stem Fix?
- Thread starter mikefu
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Soak a churchwardens pipe cleaner with water, and twist one end around a sink faucet. Coat the cleaner with a mild abrasive such as Barkeepers Friend, and insert the other end of the cleaner into the stem. Holding the pipe cleaner end tautly, slide the stem up and down the cleaner until clean.
After that full cleaning, you may be able to prevent trouble later by a hot water flush down the bowl and out the stem, drying right after, following most every smoke.
I use Meguiars Plastic polish(it's a super mild abrasive) on a bristle pipe cleaner. Then, more bristle cleaners with alcohol to clear. A whitening-agent toothpaste, or similar would also work.
The advice offered is excellent. I had an oxidation problem on the outside of an estate pipe gifted to me. I'd polish it to smooth if not shiny, but with every smoke it went to full gritty gray. This is a Thompson Cigar house pipe stamped Thompson and West Germany, a really nice hunk of briar but not heavy for its size. Since I wanted the pipe in rotation but had no need to preserve its integrity, I had the stem replaced with a tortoise shell acrylic. In this case, that was the right fix for me. It's an option.
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