Any Experience Using Olive Oil to Polish Briars?

[briarfriar]

Over on Reddit, someone thoughtfully uploaded scans of a six-page booklet from 1965 titled "The Rewards of Happy Pipe Smoking" that contains good, solid information and advice for new smokers. And there's this one curious bit of advice offered on the last page:

As your pipe darkens naturally with smoking, you can always keep it looking its best with a little olive oil, applied with your fingers, and buffed with a soft cloth.

I've never heard of using olive oil to polish pipes. Has anyone here ever tried it? What are the results?

 

[cortezattic]

I've heard of it, and some folks here use it. Extra virgin olive oil is slow to oxidize (turn rancid), and its life can be

extended by adding 2% α-tocopherol (ordinary vitamin E from gel caps). It is frequently used to condition the grenadilla

and rosewood from which clarinets are made.
I'm a carnauba wax guy, myself.

 

[mso489]

I understand that olive oil is not a good idea. Even in small quantities rubbed down really well, it

attracts dirt. Bees wax is supposed to have the same problem. I've never used carnauba wax, but

seems to be the most often recommended, although it has to be applied right, and not too much.

A good polishing with a soft rag while the pipe is still warm, but after you do the rest of the cleaning,

will go a long way toward not having to use much else for a long time.

 

[bullbriar]

If you want to use oil, mineral oil is the best bet. Colorless, odorless, and will NEVER turn rancid. Personally, I like to buff on/off carnauba wax. If you really want oil (to darken the pipe, etc), I have never had a problem buffing carnauba over the mineral oil as long as you wait several hours.

Good luck.

 

[estumpf]

In the mid-sixties most of my college buddies simply used the skin oil on their forehead and next to their nose. Sounds gross, but we didn't think much of it. Now I wonder how much salts came with the skin oil, which can't be good. Archivist will insist on wearing white cotton gloves when handling documents because the oils and salts on their fingers damage the paper. Currently I use a polishing cloth like the Dunhill and that does a nice job.

 

[mso489]

I know this is a windmill I often tilt at (at which I often tilt?), but I think a good exercise in pipe polishing

comes with an unfinished briar that you let darken and keep polished just with a cloth (the Dunhill one

sounds good -- I might get one of those). This will give you a baseline on how pipes age and how they

can be rustic without being rusticated necessarily. To some degree, they provide their own upkeep and

age nicely. Perhaps better than I do!

 

[salewis]

I use extra virgin olive oil on my vulcanite stems when I perform my monthly though pipe cleaning. However, I have never even thought of using on my briar since I think that I would close the pores and prevent the briar to breathe.

 

[appointed]

Being on a tight budget, I have used olive oil to clean my briars before and have never had any problems. Some of my briars are estates that are scratched up, so I never bother with them, but I have a few that are smooth and that I think benefit from a bit of shine. I only apply olive oil when I do a deep cleaning, so it is not often that I do so. I only just put a dab on my fingers and wipe it over the pipe and then wipe the oil off. It puts a nice shine on it. I have never had any problems with it going rancid or collecting dust.