After how many bowls do you clean your pipe?

[newbroom]

The sludge that comes out of that sump is the most horrifying thing you've ever tasted.

You can't call yourself 'experienced' unless you've slurped some sludge. Tasty lessons. :rofl:

 

[iamn8]

I have some pipes that I clean after every use, ones that I just hate seeing dirty. I also have "beaters" that I clean when/if the mood strikes, maybe a few times a year. I smoke 3-6 bowls per day.

 

[pipeanddrum]

This is all great information. Thanks for sharing your cleaning rituals. The coffee grounds idea is a new one to me and I'll implement it when an appropriate situation presents itself. I'm heading to Ireland in a few months and my mission is to bring a Peterson back from the mother land. I'm considering one of their system pipes. What do you have to say about the benefit of a dry smoke vs. sludge build up in the well balance?

 

[misterlowercase]

"Every sailor delights in the fact that a pipe long smoked without cleaning grows magnificently rank, but, fortunately, among human beings with more pretensions to culture, the process of renovation is undertaken at brief intervals."
Carl Werner

A Textbook on Tobacco

1914

::

 

[shutterbugg]

I run a pipecleaner through mine immediately after smoking, before the tar has time to harden into stubborn deposits. So I have never needed to deep-clean a pipe in my life.

 

[jpmcwjr]

That will change if you smoke the same pipe long enough.

 

[beezer]

First off, I don't keep any cake in my pipes, I allow the inside to carbonize and that's it, no thickness of cake. I use 3 to 4 pipe cleaners per bowl and I wipe out the bowl with a paper towel after every smoke, so I only "clean" the pipes when they start to turn sour, which is only 2 or 3 times a year.

This describes my practice to a 'T'.

 

[judcole]

Pipe cleaners,paper towel wipe,more as needed. Q tips moistened with saliva to clean up the rim.

 

[jerwynn]

After each bowl... pipe cleaners on the interior with a wee drop of alcohol.. a standard pipe cleaner for the stem, which I double one end into a loop to swab the filter-chamber (I'm a 9mm filter enthusiast) and then an extra-fuzzy pipe-cleaner for the stummel. I don't fret a wit about cake but do gently spoon out loose or sticky leaves that were not previously compelled to leave. And then a rub-down with a polishing cloth for all the exteriors.

 

[deathmetal]

...when it smells odd, pour whisky through it and then use fine sandpaper to cut the cake back to a dime's worth... other than that, it's fetishism

 

[pipeanddrum]

I'm grateful for all if this info but it begs another question - to build cake or not to build cake?

 

[deathmetal]

Or the middle path: build some cake (a dime's thickness) and sand down the rest.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

I run a pipe cleaner or two through my pipes right after I smoke them. I keep my cake very minimal in all my pipes. Unless the pipe seems ghosted I rarely do a salt and alcohol treatment in my pipes. By maintaining my pipes after each use, it saves me from having to do thorough cleanings on a regular basis.

 

[mikestanley]

I like a thin cake in my pipes. But, in my experience, some pipes and some tobaccos "grow" cake more so than others. I don't fuss or obsess over it, if it happens, I keep it thin. If it doesn't, it doesn't.
Mike S.

 

[smeigs]

I run a pipe cleaner through the pipe after every smoke, and usually before I load a bowl, just due to the fact that I have a lot of pipes and can never remember when I last cleaned it out a bit. As for a good, thorough deep cleaning, I usually do it 1-2 times a year. With alcohol, pipe cleaners and a good bristle shank cleaning tool. Also, I personally like to leave a bit of cake in my pipes, If the cake gets too dramatic a I will scrape it out but I like to leave a thin wall of cake on my pipes, I feel like it gives the pipe a good seasoning!

 

[pipeanddrum]

Thanks for all the feedback. I run a pipe cleaner down to the bowl and turn it while I move it in and out of the shank. I'll then leave it in the stem to soak up any moisture that might be left. Sometimes I'll leave it in for a half hour before taking it out and doubling it over to wipe out inside the bowl. Sometimes I forget and end up leaving the pipe cleaner in over a couple of days. Is this okay to do or does it prevent the stem from keeping dry?

 

[jpmcwjr]

Leaving the pipe cleaner in the stem inhibits drying, but to a degree that that, after a few days, may be a non-factor.

 

[aldecaker]

@jpm- I've never used wet coffe grounds, but unused dry coffee grounds work like a champ.

 

[pipeanddrum]

@aldecaker, how do you use the dry coffee grounds? simply pour in the bowl? what do they do, take care of ghosting? thanks!

 

[aldecaker]

I've never tried it for real hard-core "ghosting"; for that I've used the usual salt-and-alcohol. The fresh coffee grounds I use for pipes that get that "off" or sour smell to them. I just prop up the pipe, pour the ground coffee into the bowl, and let it sit for a couple days. The result is similar to setting a skunky cob out in the sunshine, it just freshens it up.