I use 151 rum. Cleans the pipes good, plus I use it in my alcohol camping stove, making drinks and it's also a good disinfectant. A lot of uses for the 151.
Alcohol cleaning question
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@ulsterpaddy I recently did my first alcohol clean and, like you, had heard rum or whisky were the best options. However, I too had only cognac on hand and used that. The result was fantastic. My pipes smoked like new afterwards and the cognac gave each of them a very pleasant little kick the next time I smoked from them.
OK, If resurrecting and old post is taboo, Please blame it on me being a newb...
Having read the above stream, how is that you guys are "cleaning" your pipe? You guys are talking about using salt or not using salt, whisky or rum, etc. But, are you actally submerging the bowl in a salt mixture with water? I have been using a pipe sweetener that I bought somewhere and it smells like rubbing alcohol to me. I'm sure it's not loaded with other chemicals like what you would buy at the drug store. I haven't really cleaned my pipes other than using a bristle cleaner and soaking it with the cleaner and rubbuing until thay come out clean. I haven't removed the build up on the inside of the pipe. What I understand from the above is that you guys are cleaning the entire pipe with salt or with your favorite spirit? Thanks for the help!
Having read the above stream, how is that you guys are "cleaning" your pipe? You guys are talking about using salt or not using salt, whisky or rum, etc. But, are you actally submerging the bowl in a salt mixture with water? I have been using a pipe sweetener that I bought somewhere and it smells like rubbing alcohol to me. I'm sure it's not loaded with other chemicals like what you would buy at the drug store. I haven't really cleaned my pipes other than using a bristle cleaner and soaking it with the cleaner and rubbuing until thay come out clean. I haven't removed the build up on the inside of the pipe. What I understand from the above is that you guys are cleaning the entire pipe with salt or with your favorite spirit? Thanks for the help!
Filling the chamber. What I do, is take a q-tip and wrap it in a chunk or saran wrap, then lodge in in the end of the shank so that none of the solution can escape. Then fill it with salt and liquor.
clutch, check out Bob Tate's post on cleaning a sour pipe.
Also check out Bob's video link to routine pipe cleaning in the left hand column of this page.
I use cotton balls to soak the bowl.
Also check out Bob's video link to routine pipe cleaning in the left hand column of this page.
I use cotton balls to soak the bowl.
Ah, always better to ask than to screw the pooch, so they say :lol:
First, there are two issues here--the alcohol type, and the salt-and-alcohol treatment.
As mentioned above, use Everclear or other 90%+ spirit to really clean your pipes. Remember that proof is the % of alcohol doubled--e.g., 90% alcohol/volume spirit is 180 proof. I use Polish rectified spirits of 96% alcohol, or 192 proof. As Fred says, it's anhydrous and will draw moisture out of your bowl and leave no residue. Rubbing alcohol = BAD; there are sulphuric and phosphoric compounds left over from the manufacturing process that do not agree with living things.
EXERCISE DUE CAUTION WITH ALCOHOL. Around your pipes, that is. It can easily strip finish off of the outside of the pipe, as well as the paint in nomenclature (the stampings), and can spot-oxidize a vulcanite stem. It can also flash explosively if the fumes come in contact with burning embers from a matchhead or a dottle. Or if you're playing around with the empty bottle and decide to investigate what happens when you throw lit matches at it. It can also lead to being drunk, but that's for another thread.
The salt-and-alcohol treatment, or a cotton ball if you prefer, is periodic maintenance for your pipe--something you only really need to do occasionally, say every few months to a year depending on how much you smoke and how gunky your tobacco leaves your pipes. It is also a common method for exorcising ghosts from the pipe--'ghosts' being residual odors from past smokes that have become unwelcome, haunting spirits. The process is thus:
Remove the stem from your pipe. Using NON-iodised salt, or a cotton ball, pack it into your chamber. Insert a nice fluffy pipe cleaner in the shank, perhaps capping the end with a cotton swab. Saturate the salt or cotton with your cleaning agent. Walk away for a couple days. Come back, clean it out, repeat if necessary.
The combined process of the alcohol acting as a solvent, evaporation, and capillary action will pull tars and moisture out of your briar. Note that I said BRIAR--this treatment is NOT for meerschaums, corncobs, or brylon. (hehe, brylon).
Or you can use an alcohol retort, and have a clean and uncaked bowl in a few minutes rather than days. But that gets a little more complicated. And you can pretty much kiss your eyebrows goodbye.
For regular maintenance, Everclear or your pipe sweetener are fine. Sounds like you already have that down pat.
First, there are two issues here--the alcohol type, and the salt-and-alcohol treatment.
As mentioned above, use Everclear or other 90%+ spirit to really clean your pipes. Remember that proof is the % of alcohol doubled--e.g., 90% alcohol/volume spirit is 180 proof. I use Polish rectified spirits of 96% alcohol, or 192 proof. As Fred says, it's anhydrous and will draw moisture out of your bowl and leave no residue. Rubbing alcohol = BAD; there are sulphuric and phosphoric compounds left over from the manufacturing process that do not agree with living things.
EXERCISE DUE CAUTION WITH ALCOHOL. Around your pipes, that is. It can easily strip finish off of the outside of the pipe, as well as the paint in nomenclature (the stampings), and can spot-oxidize a vulcanite stem. It can also flash explosively if the fumes come in contact with burning embers from a matchhead or a dottle. Or if you're playing around with the empty bottle and decide to investigate what happens when you throw lit matches at it. It can also lead to being drunk, but that's for another thread.
The salt-and-alcohol treatment, or a cotton ball if you prefer, is periodic maintenance for your pipe--something you only really need to do occasionally, say every few months to a year depending on how much you smoke and how gunky your tobacco leaves your pipes. It is also a common method for exorcising ghosts from the pipe--'ghosts' being residual odors from past smokes that have become unwelcome, haunting spirits. The process is thus:
Remove the stem from your pipe. Using NON-iodised salt, or a cotton ball, pack it into your chamber. Insert a nice fluffy pipe cleaner in the shank, perhaps capping the end with a cotton swab. Saturate the salt or cotton with your cleaning agent. Walk away for a couple days. Come back, clean it out, repeat if necessary.
The combined process of the alcohol acting as a solvent, evaporation, and capillary action will pull tars and moisture out of your briar. Note that I said BRIAR--this treatment is NOT for meerschaums, corncobs, or brylon. (hehe, brylon).
Or you can use an alcohol retort, and have a clean and uncaked bowl in a few minutes rather than days. But that gets a little more complicated. And you can pretty much kiss your eyebrows goodbye.
For regular maintenance, Everclear or your pipe sweetener are fine. Sounds like you already have that down pat.
And, there's the point that marc makes too--it's also a question of personal taste as to how much or how often to clean. There is no rule, except not letting cake form in a meer, really. You'll find out what works for you. :D cheers and happy smoking!
Ya know...I have been smoking a pipe for close to 15 years and I have never had a reason to do any salt and or alcohol cleaning to any pipe that I smoke. The very idea of saturating the inside of a pipe bowl with a stiff cocktail of alcohol brine scares the hell out of me. I have never been a heavy smoker but have smoked as much as a couple of bowls a day in a 7 pipe rotation per week and have never had a pipe go sour or off to the point that I was willing to do something as drastic as pour salt and alcohol in my pipe to clean it. I dunno...the very idea of the salt and alcohol treatment seems drastic to me.
I second everything Romeowood stated in his last post.
Bringing home estate pipes, I especially take major care to make sure the bowls are reamed, cleaned, and no longer obscene. (yes, I meant that) Many times, when I'm restoring estates, I'll do the treatment a couple of times to make sure the residue is minimal and they are thoroughly sanitized. I use sea salt, but I will definitely have to give the cotton ball a try.
Ohin, what are you afraid of? It's not like the pipe will blow up on ya, lol.
Bringing home estate pipes, I especially take major care to make sure the bowls are reamed, cleaned, and no longer obscene. (yes, I meant that) Many times, when I'm restoring estates, I'll do the treatment a couple of times to make sure the residue is minimal and they are thoroughly sanitized. I use sea salt, but I will definitely have to give the cotton ball a try.
Ohin, what are you afraid of? It's not like the pipe will blow up on ya, lol.
Since I don't drink alcohol, I did not have any experience my first time going into a liquor store for something to clean my pipes with. I could not explain to the clerk I wanted something 80 proof or better. Finally I pointed to the small bottle advertized as 99 cents and bought it. 80 proof whiskey, perfect! There is something really weird about a Baptist knowing more about alcohol than a liquor store clerk.
Winton
Winton
Funny thing is, Baptist conventions have HUGE alcohol sales in the hotel rooms. But you're right, a sales clerk in a liquor should definitely know more, lol
I should also mention that in my town, you assume that there is a language barrier. English is not the first language for many people. Seriously, he instisted that 80 proof was 50% alcohol. A quick google search told me everything I needed to know. He also said my town would not allow the sale of 80 proof. Maybe, but he then sold some to me.
Winton
Winton
And I keep meaning to snap a picture of mine. I'll get around to it....
It's super easy (but slightly dangerous). It consists of a 50ml lab glass beaker with a rubber hose attached to it, which you FIRMLY affix to the end of your stem. Plug the bowl with a cotton ball. I use a test tube clamp to hold it over the alcohol lamp. The alcohol boils, the vaporized alcohol shoots into the pipe, cools instantly, then shoots back into the flask carrying all the crud and oil with it. 3-4 times and you're done. If the pipe has a cake that was too hard & thick for reaming, this will render it easy to remove; then retort once more and you have a pipe that's as fresh as the day it was made. The trickiest part is making sure that the seal is tight, as boiling alcohol vapor explodes. Thus, I have no eyebrows, but I consider them vestigial anyway.
I'd venture to say most use Everclear because it has such a high precentage of alcohol, I mean it's almost practically straight alcohol. Pretty much the "proof" is the percentage of alcohol doubled, so 80 proof is about 40% alcohol. Since it's such a higher percentage it works better on removing things like paint from cars or cleaning pipes. I'm pretty sure dubinthedam mentions that he uses a whiskey or rum because of the flavor that gets left in the pipe from the alcohol. So I'd venture to say any kind of hard liquor you enjoy that's around 80 proof or higher would do just fine.
All I own are estate pipes but I've never felt the need to soak them for an extended period. The most I've done is wet a paper towel with everclear and let it sit in the bowl while I worked at the shank and stem with the alcohol, Q-Tips and pipe cleaners. It took a couple of sittings on one of the pipes because it came with 55 years of funk attached.
I've heard too many stories of the salt/alcohol solution trashing pipes so I never did it. I might do the cotton ball/alcohol soak if I had a sour pipe, but no more than that.
Any liquor over 40% alcohol should do the trick and there are some great tutorials on this site for pipe cleaning.
I've heard too many stories of the salt/alcohol solution trashing pipes so I never did it. I might do the cotton ball/alcohol soak if I had a sour pipe, but no more than that.
Any liquor over 40% alcohol should do the trick and there are some great tutorials on this site for pipe cleaning.
How do you keep a cake from forming in a meer? I wipe mine out every time i smoke from it but it is still trying to cake. I used a small knife to remove the cake from my wifes meer because the cake build up in it. I was very careful but there has to be a better way.
Try cleaning the pipe out with a sturdy baby bottle brush and Everclear, loco. Having a brush of the proper diameter for the chamber helps immensely. Clean it all the way back to the white and try to avoid using any sharp instruments that may damage the surface of the stone. Patience and persistence.
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