So, I finally got my first clay pipe. This may be a ridiculous question: do you clean your clays with pipe cleaners after every smoke, like briars and cobs?
Clay Care
- Thread starter Akoni808
- Start date
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I don’t clean my clay with pipe cleaners. I just wipe the bowl with a damp paper towel followed by a dry paper towel so I don’t build any cake.
I clean ALL my pipes with pipe cleaners
The shank and stem is where most of the funk collect
The shank and stem is where most of the funk collect
I run a pipe cleaner through the stem and wipe out the bowl with a paper towel.
Yep. But the airway on my two clays is smaller than my briars or cobs, so I need to keep pipe cleaners around with smaller gauge wire. These ones work nicely: https://www.smokingpipes.com/access...aning-supplies/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=328251
@PA Piper Mike That's how I do it!
@AroEnglish That's what I do!
The proper way to clean a clay is in a fire or oven. They were simply smoked until they were gross and then tossed in a fire/oven to be burnt clean. If you have a stem blockage , use a piece of wire or straw to clear it and move on. Easy Peasy. Obviously this won't work with clays that have metal fittings or rubber stems.
Done that too! as long as the fire is not raging. You want the end of the fire or you will need a new pipe...
@RustiePyles CPG I'd like to try it if I'm taking part in re-enactment or bushcraft.
@CoffeeAndBourbon Useful to know; I'd like to try the fire clean method!
I think someone put my Pete clay in a fire in the past causing the nickel band to crack. What should one do to clean a clay that’s got a band?
Bury it in the coals of a dying fire and pull it out in the morning, blow the ash off and carry on. I've also tossed em on a clean grill and put the lid on and left em until the grill was out. A good rule of thumb is if the fire is to hot to cook on, it's too hot to put your clay pipe in.
It's funny, I bought a pack of Falcon "extra thin" pipe cleaners for this very purpose. While the cotton bristles are shorter than other pipe cleaners, the wire gauge isn't particularly thin, so they're still a tight fit in my clays!
So I've just had to take note of whatever cleaners work best, like those 9" BJ Longs. Not sure why they would use smaller wire than the regular 6.5" BJ Longs, but it seems to be the case...
if its a campfire just toss em in the coals or bury em under the coals, if it's a grill you can put em on the grill. It really doesn't matter. Clay pipes are fired at around 2000F, campfire coals are somewhere in 300-600F range, your not gonna hurt the pipe.
Pipe cleaner and wipe the bowl with a paper towel here. Seems to keep things clean. I wiped some beeswax on the mouthpiece area to make it more comfortable on my lips.
I haven’t had to do a fire cleaning yet and don’t see needing to do one for a long time.
I haven’t had to do a fire cleaning yet and don’t see needing to do one for a long time.