Cleaning with Alcohol

[stanlaurel]

I had previously looked up what people are using to clean their pipes and I saw that many people don't bother with "pipe sweeteners" but just use various types of whiskey, rum, vodka, etc. I bought some Bacardi 151 and I have been using this by dipping a pipe cleaner in it or by wiping out a bowl with a paper towel slightly moistened with it. Well, the other day I spilled some. I then took the wet paper towel I had wiped it up with and wiped the outside of the bowl. Whoops. I marred the finish of the pipe. It this normal? Do I need to be careful with this stuff? Are there other parts of the pipe that I will damage with it? Do I need to use something else? Do I need to go down to 80 proof? Please advise.

 

[darwin]

Yes that's normal. Alcohol will indeed damage the finish. Many pipes have only a sealing coat of wax over whatever stain is used to color the briar. Alcohol removes the wax and the stain because the stains used are alcohol based. Re-waxing might help but if the stain was affected that is going to show permanently unless attended to by a good restorer. Won't affect how the pipe smokes though.
80 proof will not make much difference. Just don't use alcohol on the outside of a pipe, period. Inside fine, outside not so much. Also if you are wiping out the inside of the bowl each time with alcohol that will impeded the break-in and the usually desirable formation of a carbon cake on the inside of the bowl. After the pipe cools just use a pipe nail to scrape out the leftover tobacco at the bottom of the bowl, Leave it alone otherwise.

 

[raevans]

One other thing to think about. If you use alcohol such as rum, whiskey, etc. you have a couple of potential issues. First, using a flavored alcohol will, over time, leave a ghost taste or alter the taste of your tobacco. Second, by using a lower proof alcohol, you are also running something other than alcohol through your pipe. If you have an alcohol that is 80 proof, (40% alcohol), you still have 60% of something else in the mix. Usually a lot of water, but that means that it will take your pipe longer to dry out after you clean it. If you are going to use alcohol, I would recommend something along the lines of Everclear. That is the highest percentage alcohol that you can get commercially. It has very little water and will evaporate very quickly.
Sorry about your pipe, hopefully it just took off the sealing coat of wax and can be fixed pretty quickly.

 

[Chasing Embers]

If you just wipe out the bowl with a pipe cleaner, you will keep a carbon layer thick enough to enjoy your pipe. I only use alcohol to sanitize estate pipes, or to kill stubborn ghosts. Even then, I use the salt and alcohol method or a retort. I use everclear (200 proof) for those cleanings, and everclear on a pipe cleaner is excellent for degunking draft holes and shanks, just don't make using it in the bowl a habit.

 

[fluffie666]

There is already all the info you need on this thread. My method is to only clean out them shank when my pipe shows the first sign of turning sour. I wet the tip of a bristled cleaner and a regular cleaner. Not much alcohol is needed especially if it's a higher proof spirit. I get all the gunk out of the shank, let it dry for a day or two and it's ready to smoke again. Cobs on the other hand, I don't like any cake build up in those so I clean my cob bowls out with a paper towel jammed in there. My briars, I don't bother cleaning the bowls at all. A good cake build up is a briars friend. It protects the wood and soaks up extra moisture. Hope this helps.

 

[tuold]

I doubt you removed and of the wood stain, just the wax coating. Get some carnauba wax from Amazon.com, rub it on an old piece of cloth and hand buff your pipe back to its former shiney self.

 

[stanlaurel]

Thanks. The same wax that they are selling as wax for cars?

 

[raevans]

No, the carnuba car wax/polish also has other synthetic chemicals added to it. I believe that what you want to get is carnuba wax in block form.

 

[cortezattic]

I think fluffie666's post is spot-on in all respects. I used to be anal about cleaning the bowl of the pipe. Turns out all the foul taste resides in the shank, not the bowl.
ps. In lieu of Everclear I use isopropyl alcohol, and my pee-pee hasn't fallen off yet, so I think it's safe for cleaning purposes.

 

[ejames]

Isopropyl (91%) is all I have ever used for cleaning my pipes.

 

[zekest]

I used Hoppe's 9 once but the residual taste was off putting at best.

 

[tarak]

@zekest did you really use Hoppe's? That's a joke right?!
Isopropyl, 90%. Cheap, easy, contrary to those telling you it will kill you becaues its not food grade- you're not drinking it. You're setting fire to a bunch of fermented leves and then sucking it into your mouth...I wouldn't be worrying about the virtually non-existant remnant of the isopropyl.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Isopropyl Alcohol is metabolised normally in small quantities. Only overexposure is a problem, so just don't drink it or splash it all over yourself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol

LD50 (Lethal dose)

3600 mg/kg (oral, mouse)

12800 mg/kg (dermal, rabbit)

I would have to drink a soda can full to be lethal, and exposure to skin is almost four times less sensitive.

You will start to feel it much sooner though.

Around 15 g of isopropyl alcohol can have a toxic effect on a 70 kg human if left untreated.

 

[darwin]

With a quart of 91% Isopropyl selling for under five bucks using good booze on cleaning pipes is a waste of money unless you're intent on imparting a liquor flavor to your smoke.

 

[brudnod]

A great deal of the bad press about alcohol (non the kind you drink but the kind you use to clean stuff) came for the days of methyl alcohol not isopropyl. Methyl alcohol can cause blindness even in small amounts, liver disease and some forms of hematologic disease. Not encouraging anyone to drink isopropyl but it is relatively safe.

 

[sablebrush52]

I've cut back a lot on my use of alcohol in the shank since I learned that too much exposure to alcohol has a detrimental chemical effect on briar. Over time regular exposure to alcohol can turn your pipe into a wet smoker. I'll use it for a clean up on a filthy estate, and maybe once a year for an annual clean. I use it on the stem airway every time I use a pipe when I clean it at the end of a working day.

 

[ahpui]

I use dark rum, smell nice...

 

[saltedplug]

I've always used Evercleer but am thinking to switch to isopropyl. I haven't cleaned my pipes in over two years (ducking).

 

[delro]

Yeah you need to stop getting booze on the finish aka outside of the pipe

 

[briarguys]

I have never cleaned with alcohol, to be honest I have never cleaned with any type of liquid.