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Beowoulf

Can't Leave
Oct 16, 2022
446
7,340
Is it true that you should only smoke a pipe once every 24 hours and clean it each time? In my wanderings, I've seen various references that people have been using their pipes for two or three times in a row - or even for the whole day.

What I have been doing is resting mine for at least 24 hours and cleaning it each time I use it. I have 40 pipes, so finding another pipe to use is not a issue.

What do you do?
 
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warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,699
16,205
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
I smoke a pipe, run a cleaner through it is the draw is getting tight, load, light and smoke. If I'm out working a pipe, briar, may get five to seven or so bowls in a day. Or, I grab and load some Falcon bowls and go with that for the day. Meers? If I'm home can get three or five bowls a day smoked with only a cleaner if the draw is getting tight.

There are no rules nor, will the pipe police police come by your house and slap you silly whatever routine you slowl fall into and works for you. The pipe is a personal experience. It's what ever provides you with a pleasurable smoking experience.
 

Zeno Marx

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 10, 2022
238
1,264
In my experience, in the old days working at shops, most smokers either don't clean their pipes at all or sporadically clean their pipes. It's probably different now with the internet and people following so many rules, but most of our customers didn't even buy pipe cleaners. They'd own one or two pipes and just smoke them all day long, every day. When they ruined a pipe, they bought another one. I knew a couple guys who traveled all day for work, and they'd only bring 3-4 pipes with them. They'd show up at the shop at 5PM on their way home and say they'd smoked this pipe or that pipe a handful of times that day. Those fellas loved their pipes as much as the next person, but they were essentially just smokers.

I've never been someone smoking all day. A pipe or two a day at most, and more often, a handful of pipes per week. Smoking a pipe twice in a day isn't common, but I have no problems doing it. I'm too moody to usually go back to the same pipe.
 

didimauw

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 28, 2013
9,888
31,594
34
Burlington WI

😂
 

TinCup

Can't Leave
Nov 14, 2019
341
969
Indian Ocean
Sometimes I barely wait until a pipe has cooled before I clean it, other times it’ll sit for several days after being smoked before cleaning, still others just get a pipe cleaner before filling the bowl again

(I also regularly fill the bowls of several pipes at once, pop wind cap on (or not) and they can often sit for many days before I get round to smoking each)

Just do what suits you
 
Jan 28, 2018
12,952
134,581
66
Sarasota, FL
Where I grew up, my neighbor would buy an EA Carey and smoke it all day, every day until he wore it out. He rarely cleaned it. That worked for him.

With 40 pipes, i would think you'd generally smoke one, use a pipe cleaner to dry and clean it out, then rest it. I think the pipes are going to smoke best that way. If the situation dictated, I would not hesitate to smoke the same pipe all day for several days running. I certainly wouldn't damage the pipe.
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,759
13,782
Humansville Missouri

😂
This is not one of the major issues of our time, but I’ve long believed an ordinary briar pipe is good for maybe 3,000 smokes if smoked without any thought to maintenance, and three or four times that long if kept clean and rested.

Briar isn’t nearly as porous as meerschaum but it’s not granite, and eventually the pores of the briar get full of the oils and residue of the smoke and the pipe needs retired.

With maybe 200 pipes and a rotation and cleaning ritual I’ll never live to see any of my pipes worn out, but if a smoker tried to, it’s possible.

Rotation and resting and cleaning cannot hurt anything, and if nothing else is an excuse to own and smoke an obscenely indulgent number of beautiful pipes.
 

judcole

Lifer
Sep 14, 2011
7,149
32,911
Detroit
I run cleaners through, as needed, while I smoke. I may smoke multiple bowls in one day from the same pipe; maybe not. Clean at the end of the day. Rest for 10 days or so.
 

pacoats

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 2, 2021
121
105
i always run a cleaner through after smoking, and give the pipe a rest for a day or two before using it again. i'll give them a liquid cleaning every few moths. but i'm only smoking one bowl a day. happily, the pipes seem to be quite forgiving and i'm seeing a lot of variation in how people keep their pipes running.
 
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makhorkasmoker

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 17, 2021
564
1,353
Central Florida
After smoking, I run a cleaner through the pipe while it’s still warm. Then I wipe the stem with a paper towel. Then I wipe out the bowl with the same paper towel. Then, ideally, I let the pipe rest 2-3 days, while I move on to other pipes in the rotation. I find the rest really helps , and at least 2 days is best—probably cause I keep my pipes in a hot and humid garage. That said, when I’m traveling I’ll smoke the same 2 or 3 pipes every day. I’ve never had a pipe “sour” but I do notice the smokes taste better when I get back home and give the pipes longer rests.
 

butsiethesungo

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 3, 2016
103
71
44
Broussard, LA
Depending on the price of the pipe, I may smoke it once then do a quick clean before letting it rest for a day or so.

I have a Rossi that I will smoke back to back with no problems, but I always need to run a pipe cleaner through it especially once I start hearing a gurgle sound to prevent the airway from clogging
 
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Smoke Wagon

Can't Leave
Dec 3, 2022
331
4,560
I generally just run a pipe cleaner through the stem, fold it, and then ream the bowl with that same pipe cleaner after every smoke. I only take a pipe apart every once in a while. I generally smoke a particular pipe a couple times in a given day. I’m not a high volume smoker, so mileage may vary.
 
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