Pipe Cleaner Question

spartan · Oct 13, 2011

So the pipe cleaners I have are fluffy pipe cleaners. And the free bundle of pipe cleaners I got are "tappered" I believe is the word so they have tiny metal spikes sticking out everywhere when you grab em. Are these used on a regular basis? Like everytime I clean my pipe should i be using these things? I have just been using the fluffies. I'm afraid the spiky ones will hurt my pipes. Am I just being a wuss?
Use the spikies on my pipes and stems like I do with the fluffies?

Are the fluffies ONLY for moisture control and not really for "cleaning" the inside of the pipe? :roll:

kamikazesasquatch · Oct 13, 2011

I don't know what you should do but those things will wear out your hands if you clean after every bowl like I do. I traded'em in for the fluffies.

eaglerico · Oct 13, 2011

Use them as you see fit. They wont hurt your pipe. The tapered ones are generally for cleaning when the fluffy ones aren't strong enough to get the job done.

yohanan · Oct 13, 2011

Use the fluffy's for your regular everyday cleaning, Use the ones with the bristles which by what you are saying are also tapered for your once in awhile thorough get all the crud and mud out of my pipe cleanings.

seanz · Oct 13, 2011

I find the bristle one better to use as i dont end up with fluffy crap every where.

spartan · Oct 13, 2011

so.... Safe to use on lucite, ebonite, kryptonite, hydraponotite stems? Not gonna scratch the crap out of the mouth thingy or chip it hurt it break it?

fred · Oct 13, 2011

I use a lot of Pipe cleaners keeping these Meerschaums clean, so I keep a lot of them around. Here's my bias: cotton chenille is best... and strip the excess off with your fingers, so you don't get the fluff in the Pipe.
Regular: the mainstay of the lot for me. They can be doubled over if I need to clean a larger draft. If the draft is smaller then I use Dill's or Falcon Pipe cleaners.
Fluffy: good for large drafts and the bowl's chamber.
Bristle: I don't believe they work as well as a shank brush, so I don't use them.
Tapered: To me, they are a multi-function tool that doesn't work as well as regular or fluffy ones, so I don't use them.

spartan · Oct 13, 2011

fred, whats the diff between tapered and bristle? ya lost me there. I thought they were the same.

orko13 · Oct 13, 2011

if u use meersc and if yout pipe becomes dirty use cotton or soft cloth with a drop of after shave lotion

yohanan · Oct 13, 2011

Yes, the bristles are made of nylon or some other semi hard plastic, You can safley use them on your pipes for cleaning the stem and the inside of your pipe. Tapered cleaners are smaller at one end and bigger at the other end, tapered cleaners can either have bristles are just be plain old fluffy.

fred · Oct 13, 2011

The bristle Pipe cleaners, whether tapered or not have those plastic bristles, which scratch the draft and don't really work well. Tapered Pipe cleaners, whether they have bristles or not, have a taper to their diameter along the length of the Pipe cleaner. I use Everclear because it is a tasteless food grade solvent that leaves no residue or flavor after it dries. It absorbs the moisture out of the Block and bit without turning your Pipe into a aroma therapy incinerator.

cyndi · Oct 13, 2011

Tapered are thicker at one end than the other. They are more wedge shaped than normal cleaners.
Bristled are a whole different ball game. They have plastic scrubby spikey appendages much like a baby bottle nipple brush. They come in regular shape and tapered as well.
You can also get both kinds in longer versions.
I like tapered for sticking down the pipe to mop up gurgles while I'm smoking. Regular tipped ones normally don't fit in my little lady pipes.

cortezattic · Oct 13, 2011

Kevin uses pipe cleaners to make 3-dimensional stick figures, like horseys and cowboys, etc.

I think he's working on a pipe cleaner T-Rex. :rofl:

Most of you probably think he earned that Tobacconist's certification by studying about tobacco.

But no, it was for creating a life-sized "pipe cleaner Bette Midler."

It won 1st place and Best Of Show at the Vegas Convention, and they now allow him to display that funky medallion.

spartan · Oct 13, 2011

lol thanks for the clarification everyone.
cortezattic... I believe u just created a "Post your pipe cleaner art" thread haha *wink*
Would be interesting to see how far poeple would go with that haha.

pipetrucker · Oct 13, 2011

Ok, I am among the renegades. I view pipes the same way I do grills. Cleaning just ruins the seasoning. I will swab out a pipe that gets wet but otherwise I clean my pipes once a year whether they need it or not.

igloo · Oct 13, 2011

Tapers have thier place , Try shoving a fat and fluffy chenile down a KW with a stinger and let me know how that works out for you . :nana:

matchstickman · Oct 14, 2011

I use tapered cleaners a lot because I own some pipes, namely my Irish Seconds and a couple of my bigger bulldogs, that have a very large tenon opening, and the bigger end of the tapered cleaners fits nicely into the bigger openings. Then I turn the cleaner around and use the smaller end for swabbing out the inside of the stem. I only use bristle cleaners dipped in alcohol to scrub out the shank of the pipe every once in a while when it collects too much crud. I also use bristle cleaners dipped in alcohol to run through stems of really nasty estate pipes, both to sanitize and sweeten the inside of the stem and to free up any blockages in the airway of the stem.

judcole · Oct 14, 2011

I am a big fan of BJ Long pipe cleaners. They have at least 5 varieties that I know of:
Bristle

Bristle tapered

Regular texture

Regular tapered

Fluffy - same texture as regular, except fatter
I keep the regular cleaners handy for running through my pipe when I am smoking. They are slim and long, easy to use then. I use bristle tapered for cleaning, when I am done with the pipe.

Pipe Cleaner Question

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