Before & After Deoxidizer

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Dec 3, 2021
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Pennsylvania & New York
Any of you familiar with Steve Laug's pipe restoration blog are probably familiar with La Belle Epoque's Before & After Deoxidizer. I was getting tired of using buffing pads to remove oxidation from pipe stems, and I didn't like the fact that I was removing physical material from the stem. I decided to give this syrupy product a try. The pipes below had the most oxidized stems that needed treatment.

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I snipped some pipe cleaners apart to stuff in the stem ends to minimize how much goop got into the airway.

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I put on some Venom Steel Nitrile gloves and put the stems in a resealable food container (which I will use to store the used deoxidizer to use again until it's no longer effective). I poured a bottle of the deoxidizer into the container, covering the stems.

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I let the stems soak for about 45 minutes. I took them out wearing the gloves and wiped them down with some microfiber cloth (I didn't have any old t-shirts or rags). The stems that still had brown oxidation, I put back for another 45 minutes. I repeated one more time for a stubborn few. After scooping as much excess deoxidizer back into the food container, I wiped down the stems with mineral oil (Mark Hoover at La Belle Epoque does not recommend using water with hard rubber). This deoxidizer is sticky and messy. You will want to cover your work area with paper. After using the mineral oil to remove the deoxidizer, I used alcohol to take off the mineral oil. Then I used pipe cleaners soaked in Everclear to clean out the airways.

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I decided not to use any buffing pads on the stems. I rubbed some Obsidian Oil on them, let them sit for 30 minutes and then gave them a little wipe down. While I do appreciate the visual appeal of highly polished, shiny, black stems, I find these kinds of restorations a bit much for my taste. If you look at catalogue pictures of older pipes, many times, they're much more understated. I've seen too many "restorations" gone wrong, where nomenclature and logos have been buffed to oblivion. Coming from book collecting, my approach is more of a preservationist, a lighter touch preferable. I've seen too many retouched dust jackets of Jack Kerouac's On the Road first edition over the years. It's much more refreshing and desirable, to me, to see an unsophisticated jacket, even though the black might be lightly rubbed, than a retouched jet black jacket. So, here are the pipes with their deoxidized stems:

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I'm genuinely impressed with this product. It did no damage to the gold paint on the Barling stem, and I didn't have to sand away material to get these stems cleaned up. My fingers weren't tired from endless sanding with pads. Yes, this stuff is messy, and you have to be careful not to get it in your eyes, but, it really makes cleaning up pipe stems a breeze. I highly recommend its use for cleaning up hard rubber pipe stems.
 
Dec 3, 2021
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40,303
Pennsylvania & New York
After I oiled the stems, they had a modest sheen that's acceptable to me. They're certainly not a piano gloss finish, which I wasn't really looking for, but could still achieve with mesh pads. My biggest concern was getting rid of the oxidation without removing too much material with the pads, which I found was happening on the more heavily oxidized stems. I was getting nowhere with the stubborn stems, and getting tired fingers. This stuff got me to a good starting point that I can take further if I choose to later, and that was a win in my book.
 

OzPiper

Lifer
Nov 30, 2020
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Sydney, Australia
I've been using this product for the past 2 years since reading about it on Steve's site.
It's much kinder to the stems and doesn't remove material like bleach does.

I also use Mark's Fine Stem Polish and Extra Fine Stem Polish followed by Micromesh pads. Then an Obsidian oil finish.

Happy to endorse those products.

As well as his Briar Before and After Restoration Balm
 
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Dec 3, 2021
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I bought the balm as well, but, haven't used it yet. Are the two polishes worth getting? Since you endorse them, I'm guessing yes, but, are they any better than Meguiar's, Flitz, or some others like Scratch Doctor ?
 

OzPiper

Lifer
Nov 30, 2020
5,759
30,568
71
Sydney, Australia
I've not used any of those products you mentioned, so I can't comment on their effectiveness.

I apply a little of the stem polish, rub with fingers, then leave for a few hours.
Followed by Micromesh pads. And a final application of Obsidian oil. I find Micromesh pads are essential to get a polished look.

With the briar Restoration Balm, I start by cleaning the bowl thoroughly with soap and an electric tooth brush. After drying, I apply some of the balm and leave for a few hours for it to soak into the wood. Then Micromesh pads. Finish with a final polish with a soft cloth

I stopped using buffing wheels after a couple of unfortunate incidents where stems and stummels got flung across the room and got damaged.
 
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Dec 3, 2021
4,792
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The method I use stops people from getting anywhere near my pipes !
Nose oil rubbed in in with a finger, and an occasional firm wipe with a paper towel.
That just triggered a memory of reading a DC Comics story from the '60s that featured the superhero, the Flash. There was a bad guy superhero that was stuck in prison that needed two mirrors so that he could generate some frequency between them and vibrate his way out of jail (maybe it was even the Flash; it's been so long, I have no idea). He used ear wax to polish his shoes to create the mirrors so he could escape. I haven't thought about that in eons.
 
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