Best Way to Sterilize an Intricate Stem

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martiniman

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 6, 2012
885
2
I just got a Soren from eBay and normally soak the stem in alchohal to clean, then hand buff to bring back the shine, looking at this stem i will never get it back 100%, need advice on getting into crevices for buffing.
KGrHqVqUE-Z4mcLQBPovu7r860_57.jpg


 

nsfisher

Lifer
Nov 26, 2011
3,566
20
Nova Scotia, Canada
I never soak a stem in alochol. Alcohol soaked cleaners is what I use for inside the stem. You are prob. going to have to refurbish the outside of that stem by hand. I do all mine that way anyway.

 

martiniman

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 6, 2012
885
2
just cleaners dipped in alcohol and i'm good to go? I didn't do it to this stem yet, glad i posted here first.

I've only done that with plain black stems and after a bunch of buffing with Bartenders friend i get them back to new.
I got the soak idea from several youtubers.
I just want to make the used pipes as like new as possible.

 

ejames

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
3,916
22
I've had good luck using a soft un-sewn wheel loaded with my finest compound--red jewelers rouge. Use a light touch and hold it against the wheel for just a couple of seconds-keeping it moving. The outer edges of the wheel will get down down into the low areas best. Gotta be careful of the tops of those little ring- ball doohickeys as they will melt. Gotta be patient and let the buffer work or you can ruin the stem real quick like. If you have some Micro-Mesh sheets you may be able to wet sand it down in the low areas first-that way you will have less buffing to do.

I hate that style of stem and also some saddlebit stems because they can be a PITA to buff or sand.

 

martiniman

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 6, 2012
885
2
@ejames

No buffing wheel yet, all done with elbow grease.
Buffer will come soon.

 

photoman13

Lifer
Mar 30, 2012
2,825
2
The first stem I tried to soak in alcohol ended up warped. Maybe soak it in oxiclean for less than an hour and then try and clean it up by hand with barkeepers friend.

 

martiniman

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 6, 2012
885
2
I normally do oxiclean to clean them then into alcohol to sterilize, I don't think oxiclean sterilizes????
For now I'm going back to soaked cleaners.

 

danno

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 5, 2011
184
1
So you got that one!? I had it on my watch list, but decided not to bid due to some others that some sellers have what turned out to be insane reserves on. Definitely a nice pipe for my eyes. I had a chance to get a brand new Soren for like 75 bucks, and I had just bought a killer Castello. Not a bad offset, but what a killer deal.

 

martiniman

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 6, 2012
885
2
ebay over the weekend from Pipestud. Better than it looked and great transaction, fast ship and the only ebayer that actually sent a thank you note, classy.
$35 plus shipping.
Feels great in the hand, i have big mitts and wear a 2xl glove,

 

thebadkitty

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 29, 2012
271
0
Albany, Oregon
I'm far from being an expert, and I don't have anything near that beautiful(nice score!), but In crevices like that I have used a piece of my girl's yarn with Burt's Beeswax to shine deep in them.

 

baronsamedi

Lifer
May 4, 2011
5,688
5
Dallas
I was sitting far from my screen without my specs and I briefly thought you typed you use a YAM. I was like, OK, I wanna see that work. It made a whole lot more sense (and a great idea!) up close. :rofl:

 

kennerth

Can't Leave
Jul 30, 2011
358
1
Nice pipe! For an acrylic stem like that, I would wash and rinse the stem with water. The dry it and then use Everclear or other alcohol for the inside and tip. I give the outside a quick wipe down as well. Rinse and dry again for fun. Then it should buff nicely with some wax and wheel. I would use a cotton string or some thin yarn to get into the final fissures near the globe.

 

ejames

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
3,916
22
I don't see any real reason to soak a stem in alcohol. There are some stems that don't take to kindly to alcohol soaks,especially nylon( some Medico) early ABS (used in some Grabows from the 80's) and some other types of plastics. Vulcanite and Acrylics are not usually hurt by soaking them,but I see no reason for a long soak. If you clean them well inside with alcohol,and wipe them down well outside with a cloth soaked in alcohol it would, I would think, be sterile. Just my two cents worth.

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,637
Chicago, IL
Hydrogen peroxide will sterilize. I'm pretty sure OxiClean just creates hydrogen peroxide

-- but if you catch an incurable disease from having relied on this information, sue Kevin, not me. :rofl:
On second thought, cycle a couple of bowls of Mixture 79 through that baby -- should kill anything living in it! :lol:

 
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