Deep Cleaning Cob Pipes
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Consensus? You're adorable!
I've cleaned a cob or two without injury, to me or the pipes. And some fresh air and sunshine from time-to-time can help if you're worried about ghosts or sour pipes.
I've cleaned a cob or two without injury, to me or the pipes. And some fresh air and sunshine from time-to-time can help if you're worried about ghosts or sour pipes.
I haven‘t had to deep clean my cob as yet.
But why should it be any different to deep cleaning a briar or meer ?
My oft stated opinion is the shank and mortise is where most of the
resides - in heavily used pipes/ ones that are seldom cleaned.
Clear spirits and lots of cleaners/ear buds should take care of it.
Should you get an estate with a clogged up airway, then reaming out the crud with small drill bits saves using a whole packet of cleaners.
I deep clean all estate pipes when they arrive.
New and unsmoked pipes are given an alcohol treatment.
If you run a couple of cleaners through the airway after each smoke, then double up the cleaners and use them to scrub the chamber out, you shouldn’t need to deep clean for ages.
If it starts to smoke sour, or you’re getting an “off” flavour, then by all means do an alcohol soak/clean.
It depends on how fastidious you are.
But why should it be any different to deep cleaning a briar or meer ?
My oft stated opinion is the shank and mortise is where most of the
resides - in heavily used pipes/ ones that are seldom cleaned.Clear spirits and lots of cleaners/ear buds should take care of it.
Should you get an estate with a clogged up airway, then reaming out the crud with small drill bits saves using a whole packet of cleaners.
I deep clean all estate pipes when they arrive.
New and unsmoked pipes are given an alcohol treatment.
If you run a couple of cleaners through the airway after each smoke, then double up the cleaners and use them to scrub the chamber out, you shouldn’t need to deep clean for ages.
If it starts to smoke sour, or you’re getting an “off” flavour, then by all means do an alcohol soak/clean.
It depends on how fastidious you are.
Most of my cobs have filter accepting shanks, which I use without filters. Once in a great while, when I sense the need or feel ambitious, I remove the stem and work with Q-tips to clean out the gunk in the shank. Sometimes I use a Butner to remove excess cake in the bowl. Many times I've had to use a tea candle to heat a stem that I've chewed closed, and reopen it.
I do the same with my briars and meers and assorted other woods.
I do the same with my briars and meers and assorted other woods.
Cleaning the stem of a cob should be no different than a briar pipe in my opinion.
I use a pipe cleaner to clean out the stem and wipe down the bowl after every smoke. If it gets to the point that more intrusive cleaning is required the pipe gets trashed and a new one broken out. A cob will normally last me 4-5 years.
That filter area in the shank of a cob is so cavernous .. even a fluffy pipe cleaner hardly touches the sides in there when run through. I used to do like you do, but at some point I was so taken aback by the amount of moisture/tar in there that I began removing the stem after most smokes, folding a pipe cleaner and swabbing it out.
I like to bend and twist a fluffy pipe cleaner when swabbing out the shank with alcohol. In fact, I think I'll do a couple now.
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No need to worry about the stem or mouthpiece if you take it apart and clean it after every smoke.
It's the bowl end of the stem and the area under it that are a major problem and a PITA:
Not even a water rinse cleans that up (BTW, please don't rinse smooth cobs with water).
I have brushes for the shanks, but not even those get all the deposits off.
It's the bowl end of the stem and the area under it that are a major problem and a PITA:
Not even a water rinse cleans that up (BTW, please don't rinse smooth cobs with water).
I have brushes for the shanks, but not even those get all the deposits off.
Moonshine and sunshine is how I do mine (well, Everclear until my buddy runs another batch ). I take care not to soak the glued stem/bowl junction.
What does the sunshine portion do? Also, do you have them sit in indirect sun near a window?
I suspect the fresh air from actually putting the pipe outside does as much, or more, than the sunlight itself.
The dowel stem of a MM pipe is huge compared with the hole drilled in the shank of a briar pipe. It would be difficult to gunk one closed.
The stems are replaceable. They can be cleaned in a basin of soapy water, if you like.
The product was designed to be a working man’s pipe for so long as it didn’t burn a hole in the bottom (they extended and angled the dowel, and later put a dowel plug in the bottom to prolong that) or the cob get so soaked with tars the kernel cells crumbled (they plastered the cobs and later developed new corn hybrids to prolong that). One year of constant use everyday without rotation or resting was and is a good life expectancy for a cob pipe, and for that matter, a briar.
It was all developed long before modern pipe cleaners.
Maybe they used a piece of wire, to clean them way back then?
I use regular pipe cleaners soaked in Everclear to clean my cobs.
Double them up for the shank.
The stems are replaceable. They can be cleaned in a basin of soapy water, if you like.
The product was designed to be a working man’s pipe for so long as it didn’t burn a hole in the bottom (they extended and angled the dowel, and later put a dowel plug in the bottom to prolong that) or the cob get so soaked with tars the kernel cells crumbled (they plastered the cobs and later developed new corn hybrids to prolong that). One year of constant use everyday without rotation or resting was and is a good life expectancy for a cob pipe, and for that matter, a briar.
It was all developed long before modern pipe cleaners.
Maybe they used a piece of wire, to clean them way back then?
I use regular pipe cleaners soaked in Everclear to clean my cobs.
Double them up for the shank.
I clean cobs the same as I would briar. Everclear in my spirit of choice.
It's important to understand why you clean pipes in the first place.
The main reason is pipe smoking leads to a lot of moisture, in-between combusting tobacco in a concave chamber and our disgusting mouths it can cause bacteria and other natural junk to build up. Usually in the stems and shanks.
This is the main reason for letting pipes rest/rotation. It dries them out and helps reduce bacteria build up.
Alcohol is a really easy way to kill any bacteria without damaging the pipes or leaving weird flavors behind. So it's the go to when drying alone inevitably doesn't get everything.
So feel free to run some alcohol dipped pipe cleaners or paper towel through the stems and shanks of even cobs.
Tar and cake build up is a whole other thing you don't really need to worry about until you're farther down the road.
Cobs are the "rode hard and put away wet of pipes" though. Don't feel like you need to baby them at all. Most guys treat them worse than their red headed step children and they smoke just fine.
The main reason is pipe smoking leads to a lot of moisture, in-between combusting tobacco in a concave chamber and our disgusting mouths it can cause bacteria and other natural junk to build up. Usually in the stems and shanks.
This is the main reason for letting pipes rest/rotation. It dries them out and helps reduce bacteria build up.
Alcohol is a really easy way to kill any bacteria without damaging the pipes or leaving weird flavors behind. So it's the go to when drying alone inevitably doesn't get everything.
So feel free to run some alcohol dipped pipe cleaners or paper towel through the stems and shanks of even cobs.
Tar and cake build up is a whole other thing you don't really need to worry about until you're farther down the road.
Cobs are the "rode hard and put away wet of pipes" though. Don't feel like you need to baby them at all. Most guys treat them worse than their red headed step children and they smoke just fine.
I think many pipe smokers are like this about their pipes in general, briars included.
You gave the best explanation I’ve ever heard of as to why we clean pipes, because of bacteria and the natural junk left behind.
I’ve never deep cleaned any of my cobs, apart from running an Everclear soaked pipe cleaner through the stem every few years or so. I do use a dry pipe cleaner every smoke.
My cobs typically get plenty of drying time between smokes so YMMV.
My cobs typically get plenty of drying time between smokes so YMMV.