I just got a nice Savinelli estate pipe from Etsy. The first smoke had a very chemically flavor—I suspect it’s from whatever they used to clean the stem. Will this go away, or do I need to do something?
Estate Pipe
- Thread starter OwlTellYa
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Never trust an estate pipe to be cleaned. The airway may not have been cleaned at all or you may be tasting an oxidized stem.
It looked quite clean (photos attached). How do I treat an oxidized stem?
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The part that really need cleaning is the INSIDEs ie the airway
Not just the stem, but the inside of the shank and mortise
If you are getting a funky taste, that's usually where the problem is
If the stem is vulcanite, use alcohol-dipped cleaners
If the stem is acrylic, use cleaners with liquid soap
From the photos, the stem looks fine. I'd look at the mortise closely, there may be built up tar and nicotine there.
Echoing all of the above - I never take anyone else’s word for how clean something is that who knows how much of other people’s spit has inhabited.
Heck, I clean a new pipe as if it were an estate. Factory pipes in particular are pretty dirty by my standards.
I will trust Al (@ssjones) to be honest about the cleanliness of an estate pipe as well as a few members of this board who have gifted me pipes. Past that, I will *always* clean an estate pipe coming to me. I've even needed to do touch ups on pipes from sponsors here. Not anything against them, just my preference.
I cleaned the pipe. The stem was clean inside and out, but there was a lot of buildup in the mortise. But I still get that chemical taste, and it is clearly coming from the stem. (I put only the stem in my mouth, and there’s the taste.) Any further tips?
I’m new to this, so I don’t know how to tell the difference. But the Savinelli website says this pipe comes with a vulcanite stem.
Maybe apply some olive oil and let it sit for some time then wipe? I don't use olive oil for my pipes but I'm trying to think of something it could absorb a little bit to counteract whatever is on the stem and provide some flavor and hopefully become neutral, or if not, and it worked for a better taste, keep doing it? I'm spitballing (no pun intended) it is from oxidation past or leftover from what someone may have used to restore/touch up/clean it?
A small amount of toothpaste on a pipe cleaner and scrub the hell out of the inside of the stem. Then rinse out out with cool water and scrub with dry pipe cleaners.
Bingo.
There are several Ebay vendors you can trust- Etsy, I'm not sure (but this experience tells the tale, right?)
Sellers occasionally lie to us and sometimes they simply don't know. Either way plan on giving your estate thorough cleaning.
Take a small flashlight and hold it to the stem if tou can see light in the airway it's acrylic if not then it's vulcanite.
I have 33 pipes. They all have acrylic stem. No worry about cleaning the exterior. Acrylic stems are like IPA beers: people love them or hate them. I’m in the former group.