Soap Stone Pipe Care

pipesmoker99 · Feb 5, 2018

Hi I got a new soapstone pipe. but have questions about care. I got pipe cleaners, and a cleaning tool. The stem is acrylic while the bowl is made of soap stone. how do i clean the pipe?
how do i care for the pipe?
also should i use a microfiber cloth for polishing it?
don't worry i won't smoke bayleaves :D

cosmicfolklore · Feb 6, 2018

We used to have a member who made and smoked stone pipes, but he hasn’t been around in a few years. I would think that you’d just care for it like a meerschaum, except you wouldn’t have to be as delicate, and you could use alcahol.

cortezattic · Feb 6, 2018

I had to look up this one. Never heard of them before. : puffy

:

Supposedly very resistant to heat. If it ever "sours" (and why should it?), I'd think you could bake the bowl in a hot oven, as they say with clay pipes. But that's just a thought -- with no basis in fact.

brightleaf · Feb 7, 2018

Soapstone can be baked and is used in cookware. I would think you could even cure it the way soapstone cookware is cured. I would not coat the inside of the bowl. Here are some steps for curing as found here (I added the words in parentheses): cookstone.com
Preheat the oven at 356°F.(300-350°F)

Put the pan in the oven for 15 minutes. This first step serves to dry off the natural moisture of the stone and at the same time dilate its surface so to better absorb the oil.

Using some protection, take the pan from the oven and put it on a disposable surface. Do not put it on a cold surface.

Grease both the interior and the exterior of the cookware well, including the lid, with seed oil or vegetable fat. (Not coconut oil)

Put it back in the oven for about an hour after greasing it.

Turn off the oven and let the pan cool down to room temperature. (within the oven)

Once cool, wash the pan and the lid to remove the excess oil.

The curing darkens and evenly colors the stone, making it look really nice. It is also supposed to help it handle thermal shock.
The main thing I would recommend is to clean it regularly so that the airway and bowl never require a deep cleaning, it is stone but is soft and can scratch and fracture easily. Alcohol soaked pipe cleaners and paper towels is the most aggressive I would want to be.

Search

Search

Soap Stone Pipe Care

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Site Sponsors

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

pipesmoker99

Lurker

cosmicfolklore

Lifer

cortezattic

Lifer

brightleaf

Part of the Furniture Now