Are All Pipe Cleaners the Same?

[expatpipe]

I always just buy the cheapest available, but their are many kinds. Are certain pipe cleaners better than others? Some are also advertised as all natural without dyes or whatnot, should I be concerned with buying the cheapest and them leaving something behind in my pipes? Or, is a pipe cleaner just a pipe cleaner?

 

[bootlegbonvivant]

I haven't noticed too much of a difference, however, I will say that I have some pipe cleaners that will leave more lint fibers behind than others.

 

[strongirish]

Ptretty much the same. Some are fluffier than others and some have rough ends to them. I always buy Longs, they are cheap and get the job done.

 

[papipeguy]

I doubt that the brand matters as much as what you want from the pipe cleaner. There are standard, tapered, bristle and long. These are the most popular types. Don't spend more than you have to.

As a side note, I was surfing ebay earlier and I saw "vintage" pipe cleaners being offered. I can't believe that someone would go for them when the basic product has not changed in about 70 years. Oh well.

 

[jimbo]

Not all pipe cleaners are created equal.
I remember having some Peterson brand cleaners years ago that were about as effective as a wet noodle in attempting to put them down a pipe. They would bend and kink even on the most open stems. Very annoying.
Comoy makes some rayon cleaners which supposedly leave less lint than the usual cotton cleaners. I have a package, but don't think they are any better than the cotton Long's.
I try to use the thickest cleaner that will fit down whichever pipe I'm smoking. Standard, thin (Falcon cleaners), thick, or tapered, whatever it takes.
I have tried "coil" pipe cleaners that you can cut off whatever length you want with pliers. A few of my pipes are longer than a standard 6-inch cleaner, so the coiled type comes in handy.
I have heard that some people actually wash and reuse pipe cleaners which I consider odd. :crazy: Pipe cleaners are the cheapest part of pipe smoking and I use them wantonly. Your pipe can't be too clean. :mrgreen:

 

[unclearthur]

I like the Longs. Cheap and effective.

 

[ohin3]

I'm with Strongirish on this one. Longs are cheap, easy to pass through the most difficult of pipes, and absorbant. Best bang for my buck.

 

[pstlpkr]

I buy three different types regular, tapered, and bristle.

There are other brands than those I use, but like Sigmund Freud once said...

"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

 

[abecox]

Dills are the most abundant around here, so i usually use them.

 

[ohin3]

Always have a pack of Dills on hand around here.

 

[puffintuff]

I buy Long's Regular and Brush because that's what they have at the local store.

They work on Peterson P-Lip if you work them in slow.

 

[hilojohnny]

I'm with Lawrence on this one....I can find a use for the regular, regular bristled and tapered bristled depending on what i'm trying to do and the individual pipe.... :D

 

[marmal4de]

I throw my vote to longs also, cheap and effective.

 

[expatpipe]

Thanks, I will keep buying the cheapos that work fine. ::

 

[yoru]

I err. .. use Fuzzy Sticks. . . . They're -really- fuzzy though so I have to go through once before using them and again after with a wire bristle cleaner to first loosen any resin since the pipe cleaner can't, and second to pull out any lint that got left behind.
All things considered though I don't see doling out for the 'real' thing was any better when I did that, so meh.

 

[greggors]

I use them after every smoke, since my pipes never build up I just use the giant bag of pipe cleaners from Walmart's craft aisle.. cheap as borscht.

 

[marmal4de]

I just use the giant bag of pipe cleaners from Walmart's craft aisle.

The colourful ones? How absorbent are they?

 

[greggors]

I get the long white ones, they always come out black so I would say they absorb well. I get the long ones for when I smoke my churchwarden, I just snip them in half to clean any other pipe.

 

[miltiades]

The colourful ones pipe cleaners.

BLITZ system made in Switzerland and the deni clean

 

[lordnoble]

I use Longs for two reasons:

1. They are the most common & cheapest here

2. They're made here which may have something to do with the second part of #1...
-Jason