Deep Cleaned Bowls

[Beowoulf]

I deep cleaned a few bowls last night using cotton balls and brandy and let them sit overnight. The cotton balls had a orange-y tinge to them this morning. The bowls actually smelled GOOD this morning! Not that usual sickening smell of tobacco juice.. I got a few more bowls I'm going to have to do this with. I could be onto something!

 

[sablebrush52]

The SA (salt and alcohol) method has been around for a long time and is a popular way of sucking out impurities. Some people substitute the Kosher salt with cotton balls. It doesn't always work, but worls most of the time. I've used it with satisfactory results. I also use the boiling alcoho retort method for stubborn ghosts which is not for the faint of heart or brain, but which really cleans out a pipe.
George Dibos has a different method that works better than any of the hair brained methods we use.

 

[bullet08]

Properly clean out the pipes immediately after each smoke. If done right, you won't need "deep" cleaning. Or as often.

 

[Beowoulf]

Properly clean out the pipes immediately after each smoke. If done right, you won't need "deep" cleaning. Or as often.

I do a cleaning of the entire airway with pipe cleaners and brandy after each smoke. I also clean the bowl by twisting a Kleenex into it. I have about 8 pipes that I don't know where they came from (I am re-starting piping after a 10 year absence.) Those all merit a deep cleaning I would think. Then there's the matter of polishing everything. This pipe smoking is a lot of work if you want to be meticulous! ;-)

 

[bullet08]

I do a cleaning of the entire airway with pipe cleaners and brandy after each smoke. I also clean the bowl by twisting a Kleenex into it. I have about 8 pipes that I don't know where they came from (I am re-starting piping after a 10 year absence.) Those all merit a deep cleaning I would think. Then there's the matter of polishing everything. This pipe smoking is a lot of work if you want to be meticulous! ;-)

Don't forget the mortise. That's where all the stuff get collected and fouls the pipe.

 

[cigrmaster]

I use moist coffee grounds to get out a ghost. I haven't had to do it in a long time as I haven't bought an estate pipe in years. My last 13 pipes were all Jack Howell commissions so no worries about any ghosts.

 

[Zeno Marx]

I've recently, as in a few months ago, been converted from cotton ball/alcohol to soap, a tube brush, and running water. My first experiment was with an estate Stanwell that was such a disappointment that I was willing to ruin it to find out if soap and running water would work better than two cotton ball/alcohol treatments. That truly foul tasting pipe is now my favorite smoker. I've since done it to a handful of other pipes, a couple of them being my favorite, most coveted pipes. The only downside was having to re-wax them. I started with baby shampoo that I use on wools and delicate clothing, and then have since moved to Bacti-Stat AE that someone gifted me. I know. I know. I wouldn't have believed it safe or recommended until I tried it for myself. I've spent most of my smoking life babying my pipes. I've been wrong all along.

 

[OzPiper]

I do a cleaning of the entire airway with pipe cleaners and brandy after each smoke. I also clean the bowl by twisting a Kleenex into it. I have about 8 pipes that I don't know where they came from (I am re-starting piping after a 10 year absence.) Those all merit a deep cleaning I would think. Then there's the matter of polishing everything. This pipe smoking is a lot of work if you want to be meticulous! ;-)

Worth going to all that trouble to have clean-looking and fresh tasting pipes.

I came back to my pipes after a 25 year hiatus. They definitely needed their first deep clean.

 

[Chasing Embers]

This pipe smoking is a lot of work if you want to be meticulous!

I disassemble mine after each smoke, run a pipe cleaner through the stem and draft hole, wipe out the mortise with Q-tips, reassemble then wipe everything down with a jeweler's cloth. Not really a lot of work and only takes a couple of minutes. The only pipes I've had to resort to alcohol and cotton balls with are estate pieces that weren't kept in good shape.

 

[cigrmaster]

I should have also mentioned that I clean the piss out of my pipes after each bowl. I use soft pipe cleaners for the stem and bristle cleaners for the shank and mortise. I refuse to smoke a dirty pipe. I spend good money on my tobacco and I expect it to taste perfect every time out.