I want to use the salt and alcohol method to clean out one of my pipes but i live in Ohio and Everclear alcohol is illegal. I can get 91% Isopropyl Alcohol but i have heard that using it can be harmful. Is this true? And if it is what else could i use?
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Pipes Magazine » Pipe Repair and Maintenance
Using isopropyl alcohol to clean your pipe.
(18 posts)-
Posted 4 months ago #
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I was actually debating this sort of thing some months ago. I have cleaned a couple of pipes with isopropyl and still smoke them. They havent killed me yet. I have found that Everclear is best when it is available, however if you go to some places online you can get pipe sweetener which will do essentially the same thing as Everclear of isopropyl and is made specifically for that purpose. I know pipes and cigars sells a bottle of the stuff but I cant remember what it is called. You can actually also use any kind of high proof alcohol as well, such as Bacardi 151 or any other kind of rum, gin, or vodka.
Posted 4 months ago # -
I've used isopropl alcohol for years, never had a problem. Just make sure you let the pipes sit long enough for it to evaporate before you smoke them.
Posted 4 months ago # -
This comes up a lot, with at times heated debate. FWIW, I've used both and can't tell the difference afterwards. Both are just as effective.
Al
Posted 4 months ago # -
Isopropyl 91% is all that I use.
U.S.M.C. (SEMPER FI)Posted 4 months ago # -
I use 99% Isopropyl for S/A treatments and stem and shank cleaning, and have never had any issues. As previously said, just make sure the pipes sit for awhile before you smoke them. It also goes without saying, keep it off the finish. Use an eye dropper to put the alcohol in the bowl if you can.
Matt. I'll have my House the same as my metal and my coffee, thanks.Posted 4 months ago # -
Needing a bottle of sweetener is a good excuse for a trip to the baccy shop. That is why it has been taught in my house that sweetener is most effective way to clean a pipe!
Posted 4 months ago # -
We've beat this to death here LOL. I think the bottom line is use what works best for you.
I'm of the "use only what you can drink" school of thinking on this. Everclear is best, but I can't find it in my state, so I'm using Bacardi 151 Rum.
Some say Everclear and 151 Rum are expensive to use. That may be true if you clean estate pipes for a living, but a "fifth" (750 ml) bottle of either of them will last a very long time -- a 5-10 years or so for me.
I don't think Isopropyl Alcohol is a totally bad idea, if you use the 90%+ stuff (ask the pharmacist for the highest alcohol percentage they have for sale -- stay away from the normal "rubbing alcohol" on the shelf). As others note, use sparingly and let it dry well. If, like me, you can still smell or taste the medicinal alcohol and don't care for it in your pipe, you can always switch to 151 rum and use the other alcohol as a disinfectant for insect bites, to clean wounds, clean contacts on electrical equipment, etc.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Hardly being an expert in the matter, I've read on line somewhere that whiskey isn't bad. I have a bottle of Jim Beam I'm using (sparingly) to clean out the pipes every so often. I really don't like this brand of bourbon to drink (I prefer Maker's Mark or Michters) and it seems to clean out the stem and bowl holes quite well. I can tell this because after I do an initial cleaning with a bristle and soft pipe cleaner and I think its clean, the bourbon coated cleaners remove quite a bit more residue.
Allan
Posted 4 months ago # -
Before I bought my bottle of Everclear, I used rum in my salt treatments. Rum worked well and sweetened my pipe.
“Apples for walking, and a pipe for sitting.”
― Samwise GamgeePosted 4 months ago # -
It is all I have EVER used, except once in awhile I will dip a stem in Brandy
If at first you don't succeed, have another bowl.Posted 4 months ago # -
I like Ezra Brooks as a sweetener. It can be a lot of fun cleaning pipes.
"Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put." Winston Churchill
Posted 4 months ago # -
Thanks for the input everyone, I now know what I am going to use.
Posted 4 months ago # -
I love how he doesn't say what it is, classy move!
"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time."
Mark Twain - Eric (taerin): nickname (username)Posted 4 months ago # -
I think what all the "experts" agree on is this:
Use HIGH % alcohol. Whiskey and brandy, for example, can sweeten a pipe, but it only has 40% to 45% alcohol so it doesn't clean as well, nor evaporate as well as high proof stuff such as Everclear, 151 Bacardi, 90%+ medicinal.
Posted 4 months ago # -
I've been having good results using pipe cleaners dipped in rubbing alcohol. Works great on stems, but I don't have any vulcanite stem pipes any more, can't be certain about how it does.
Posted 4 months ago # -
151 Bacardi here
Posted 4 months ago # -
I have used Everclear and 91% iso and after it has time to dry I can tell no difference between the pipes cleaned with everclear and the ones cleaned with the iso.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.Posted 4 months ago #
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