How to Exorcise an Entrenched Ghost

[davidsaulmarshall]

Hello all! As the title suggests, I'm in need of some assistance in exorcising a ghost in my Group 3 Dunhill Red Bark from 1973. I'm not sure what the previous owner smoked in this fine piece of pipe history but it has definitely seeped into the walls. All I can smell and taste is perfume (though I'm quite sure it is not Lakeland essence). Anyways, over the past 9 months I've had this pipe, I've both reamed the thing twice and used the salt-vodka remedy twice to no avail. I'm running out of ideas, so I'd thought I'd come here.

 

[lightmybriar]

I have a Dead Root with the same issue, perfume that doesn’t taste like Lakeland. I also have done several treatments and can’t get it out! I will say, in case you haven’t gotten there yet, that most ghosts hang out in the shank, so attack there if you haven’t already.

 

[eslavs]

Using a retort may help.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I've ran across a few perfumed ones. Found out they were used for marijuana and perfume or cologne was used to cover the smell.

 

[donjgiles]

Pack the offending bowl with your warm, damp, leftover coffee grounds. Pack the shank as well. Let it dry out a couple days and give the pipe the old hot water rinse and see if that helps.

 

[mikethompson]

Pack the offending bowl with your warm, damp, leftover coffee grounds. Pack the shank as well. Let it dry out a couple days and give the pipe the old hot water rinse and see if that helps.

Beat me to it Don, I am a big fan of coffee grounds. Just remember to leave them in the bowl for a day or two.

 

[lightmybriar]

Coffee grounds have been helpful on a few of my other pipes, but in my case, my Dead Root is still haunted like an ancient burial ground. Hopefully the OP has some luck with that treatment!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Maybe it is the one kind of ghost that has left the pipe only to benefit from being dedicated to Ennerdale for a while.

I am curious about this perfume smell. I know that some lakelands do use a lot of rose geranium, which gives the ghost a rose fragrance... ::gag::

And, maybe someone is such a "head" that they would pack a huge tobacco pipe full of dope and smoke it... but to then just spray a perfume on it? Is it like a women's or men's "perfume"? Are we talking Channel #5 or Drakkar Noir? English Leather?

I know that Rattray's Bagpipers Dream is Cognac topped, but the combined aroma of the tobacco and the liquor reminds me more of a men's cologne than Cognac. It has left a little of the fragrance behind, but I usually enjoy it.

If we are talking a fragrance has been sprayed on it, you might just use some dish soap and water to try to remove it, then use the coffee grounds and retorts all over again. Just use some small paint brushes or old toothbrushes to scrub it real good.

 

[davidsaulmarshall]

Pack the offending bowl with your warm, damp, leftover coffee grounds. Pack the shank as well. Let it dry out a couple days and give the pipe the old hot water rinse and see if that helps.

I make pourover-coffee every morning, so I think I'll start with this and then move on to a retort if it doesn't work out! Thanks a bunch.

 

[lightmybriar]

Maybe it is the one kind of ghost that has left the pipe only to benefit from being dedicated to Ennerdale for a while.

I am curious about this perfume smell. I know that some lakelands do use a lot of rose geranium, which gives the ghost a rose fragrance... ::gag::

And, maybe someone is such a "head" that they would pack a huge tobacco pipe full of dope and smoke it... but to then just spray a perfume on it? Is it like a women's or men's "perfume"? Are we talking Channel #5 or Drakkar Noir? English Leather?

I know that Rattray's Bagpipers Dream is Cognac topped, but the combined aroma of the tobacco and the liquor reminds me more of a men's cologne than Cognac. It has left a little of the fragrance behind, but I usually enjoy it.

If we are talking a fragrance has been sprayed on it, you might just use some dish soap and water to try to remove it, then use the coffee grounds and retorts all over again. Just use some small paint brushes or old toothbrushes to scrub it real good.

It isn’t like any Lakeland tobacco I’ve tried, and I’ve had a good bit of them. The bowl is down to bare wood and the shank is clean, so it must really have gotten in somewhere good. The stem is flavorless when drawn through separate from the pipe, so that’s been checked. A fun mystery adventure for me haha.

 

[perdurabo]

I've ran across a few perfumed ones. Found out they were used for marijuana and perfume or cologne was used to cover the smell.

My thoughts as well.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I've been wondering... when I first started hearing about ozone treatments, that product called "Ozium" was hitting the shelves, even at cigar shops and The Briary. It actually knocks smoke out of the air very well, and I use it before I return rental cars and before I check out of hotels to mask that I was smoking my pipe. Works like a charm for that. But, I was wondering how many knuckleheads would start spraying pipes with it, thinking that because Ozium is an ozone spray, it would knock aromas out of pipes.

 

[cossackjack]

Like the idea of trying Ozium, maybe sprayed in a sealed container such as a Mason jar. I may try this with a few of my stinkers that are more musty than perfumed.
I have had success packing the stummel in baking soda in a zip-lock bag, though it takes awhile; 1-3 months for a few of my mustiest estate meerschaums. This also exorcised the foulness from an estate gourd calabash.
Good luck.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Like the idea of trying Ozium

Before you try this, maybe try using it in a room a few times. It leaves behind an odor for sure, which may or may not be better than your ghost. I know that I would not want that odor in my mouth.

 

[cossackjack]

Before you try this, maybe try using it in a room a few times. It leaves behind an odor for sure, which may or may not be better than your ghost. I know that I would not want that odor in my mouth.

Will do. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[sablebrush52]

You have a few options, the wet coffee ground treatment mentioned above, the boiling alcohol retort treatment, you can pack the pipe with ground activated charcoal and bake it, or you can send it to Walker Pipe Repair for an ozone treatment.

 

[scloyd]

you can pack the pipe with ground activated charcoal and bake it

Can you explain the baking part? This is new to me and I think others (newbies) might find this interesting also. Thanks.

 

[sablebrush52]

Can you explain the baking part? This is new to me and I think others (newbies) might find this interesting also. Thanks.

IIRC, Greg Pease came up with this one and he describes how he does it on his site. I haven't tried this myself, but as I recall, you buy activated charcoal, break it up, and pack the pipe with it chamber and airway, place it in your oven on a cookie sheet, set the temp for 275˚ and bake if for a few hours. Pull it from the oven and let it cool down, than clean out the activated charcoal and if's good to go. I'd check Greg's site to be accurate.
While the S/A treatment can be hit or miss, even with several applications, I've found the boiling alcohol retort to be quite effective at clearing rancid oils from the wood. You have to be very careful not to cause a fire.
There are a few more deodorizing methods that pipesters have shared, some downright nuts, and I've yet to coat the chamber walls with alcohol and set it on fire, but an ozone treatment might do the trick.
If, after all methods have been exhausted, the pipe continues to be haunted, you may have to accept the simple reality that the pipe is a stinker.

 

[scloyd]

I'd check Greg's site to be accurate.

I'll check it out.

I've found the boiling alcohol retort to be quite effective at clearing rancid oils from the wood. You have to be very careful not to cause a fire.

I think I'll skip this option. Might be out of my league.

Thanks a lot for the response.

 

[mikethompson]