Cleaned Up an Old Pipe and It Tasted Horrible!!!!

[redbeard]

I did the salt and alcohol treatment on the bowl and cleaned up the steam with oxy clean and a magic eraser made sure everything came out clean and let it sit for probably 15-20 hours.
The reason it tasted different/bad to me could be that the steam is not the usual type I have been using correct? I usually use the open slot opposed to the two hole style, this one had the two holes.
Only markings on it is, Sunlap and France. Thanks!!
Edit: Corrected capitalization in title, L.

 

[redbeard]

Yes I did that also my mouth tastes soooo bad right now!!!

 

[gwtwdbss]

What kind of alcohol did you use redbeard?

 

[redbeard]

What kind of alcohol did you use redbeard?

I used what I had, some 80 proof vodka. Hope that was ok

Hmm... separate the pipe stummel from the stem and suck air through the stem, then the shank. Does either one taste worse? I'm thinking that if you did everything I mentioned above, the problem may be in the stummel -- either in the shank or the bowl, or both.

Couldn't tell a difference, I threw the steam back in to soak and am repeating the process again with the bowl.
Also noticed the hole at the bottom of the bowl has a gouge that goes clear to almost the center of the bowl!! Thats not good is it, and could it contribute in any way to the taste of it? Perhaps making it burn faster?

 

[seamusjft]

One of the two petes I bought yesterday was like that. Real nasty taste even after cleaning all the conventional methods. I soaked the stem in Milton baby bottle sterilising fluid. Worked a treat.

 

[crpntr1]

Pics??

 

[redbeard]

Pics??

Of the bottom of the bowl? Not ATM, it is soaking with salt and alcohol so it will be a while.

 

[redbeard]

One of the two petes I bought yesterday was like that. Real nasty taste even after cleaning all the conventional methods. I soaked the stem in Milton baby bottle sterilising fluid. Worked a treat.

I may just go with getting a new steam... It has little pits in a few spots, I will try and get a pic of them now.

 

[redbeard]

Can not get the pic to come out since I have to get so close to see them

 

[ssjones]

Sometimes, you just have to smoke thru the ghosts. Eventually, they disappear. Make sure to swap out the shank real well, I find that area contributes more to ghosting than anything else, but I'm not real familiar with twin bore pipes. I use either Everclear or 95% isopropyl alcohol, either seems to work just as well as the other. Be careful not to get any alcohol on the stained briar. I use a good strong Dunhill My Mixture 965 to smoke thru the occasional ghost.

 

[gwtwdbss]

I bought a retort from Cajundad but haven't been home to try it out yet. I had to send a Dunhill Estate to Bradley(Old Cajun) to have it retorted because it had a foul Lakeland ghost. It was awful tasting before hand. Now it smokes fine. There are youtube vids if you want to see how they work. May want to consider one of those.

 

[gwtwdbss]

Good Advice Roth. I will definitely practice and also advise to use extreme caution and have the proper safety equipment on hand(fire extinguisher, protective eye-wear, and gloves) and keep the bottle of grain far far away from the work area.

 

[nsfisher]

One of two things here mate, either the stem is still oxidized and your are tasting it on your lips and tounge, or, there is gunk in the shank of the bowl. If the taste is in your mouth, the problem is in the shank. If the taste is on your lips and tounge, then the problem is oxidation on the stem.

 

[instymp]

I soaked my bad stem in Oxyclean longer than 30 min. more like 12 hours, changed the oxy twice & crap was still coming out. Then stem brush & 151 rum. finally got it.

 

[piperl12]

Red,
I'm going to give you completely different advice. If you are in the first year of pipe smoking and you are committed to this I suggest you go buy yourself a quality new low priced pipe. Smokingpipes has a pile of them for around $50.00 on their web site. Learn to smoke with a new pipe and some quality tobacco. I think estate pipes are great, however most of the guys on the site are buying quality briar pipes that were quality pipes to start with. They have good draw, good grain and due to the fact they were higher dollar pipes to start with in most cases are at least cleaned once in a while. It seems to me jumping into having to clean and restore a no name basket pipe with a complicated system to start with is only going to make your journey more difficult and chance you abandoning the hobby before you see how wonderful it can be. Like the radio show says this is just my opinion, and I am an expert on MY opinion lol. But food for thought. Alternativly if a new pipe is out of the budget you could send it out for one of the guys here to clean for you but no guarantee's the pipe was ever a good smoker. If I had to do it all over again after nearly 30 years of pipe smoking I would start with a quality Meerchaum pipe, a corncob, and an Italian briar from a reputable company. I would have started with a good Oriental blend, or light English and I suspect I could have exponentially improved my enjoyment of pipes in the first 5 years.
Best of Luck!
Rob

 

[redbeard]

Rob,
Thanks for the advice, I wish I could get a new pipe but I am I between jobs ATM. I was given those pipes and had some Christmas money to buy tobacco. I wish I could get me a new meerschaum!!! Lol, and I'm not discouraged.... Just learning :puffpipe:

 

[hans]

Also if you're super broke there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting a few cobs. Especially to boost your rotation to let your pipes rest.