Funky Smelling Meerschaum

[shillelagh3]

I have a skull-shaped meerschaum pipe my wife got me a few years ago, and I'm a little concerned about it. I don't smoke it often, mainly because it has a questionable smell coming from it when I smoke it. I've smoked two or three different tobaccos in it and I've also smoked the same tobaccos in other briar pipes. I don't get the same "aroma" from them in the briars. The scent is not overpowering, and only noticeable to me, but I'm embarassed to admit that I keep smoking a pipe that faintly smells like a septic tank. I keep hoping it'll go away with use. Any possible explanations?

 

[marmal4de]

That pipe needs an exorcism!

 

[ichbinmuede]

Well it could be that it'll go away with a few more smokes. It could just be the extra wax they used finishing it getting bumped away. Another thing you could try would be to just get a cotton cloth, wet it a little (water or spit either will be fine) and use it to wipe out the bowl. That last bit of advice was given to me by a fella who's been smoking meerschaums longer than I've been alive so I trust him.

 

[cortezattic]

I believe our own Bob Tate had this problem; and I don't think it was ever solved.

My theory is that the raw block from which it was carved was stored in close proximity to a dead fish.

It is also possible that the raw blocks were stored on the shop floor and "marked" by a dog or cat, IYKWIM.

 

[fatman]

Shill, I'm no Meer expert by any means, but some meers are just plain cheap! If you want a great meer made in BLOCK...(there is a diff), check out ALTINOK's meers. You're not the first I've heard say that they have a nasty smell emitting their meer and it just didnt go away! I have a real cheap one, or should I have said an inexpensive one, but I didnt buy it to smoke, but to have as it's a H-D design.

 

[lonestar]

Did your wife buy it new ? Seems odd to suddenly develop something like that, but if it was an estate pipe I could see it holding an old funky smell.

 

[fred]

Beeswax and solvents that the Carver used on Block Meerschaum Pipes should

go away after the first few smokes of a new Pipe. Another possibility is that

the Pipe isn't Block but pressed Meerschaum. If the Pipe is an estate, then

it could have been used by a previous owner to burn aroma therapy oils...

Bob can tell you the story of his stinky Meerschaum.

 

[cortezattic]

[bump]

 

[unclearthur]

To avoid Meerschaum funk. DO not carry one in a shoulder holster!!!!!

 

[seakayak]

I bought a Peterson meerschaum in Savannah GA back in th '70s and it smelled like a paper mill for several years and through many bowls of tobacco. I really didn't mind the odor, but it was clearly there for some time. Eventually, the meerschaum will tobacco-ize itself, but it could take quite a while.

 

[lonestar]

Seakayak, if you're referring to anything close to the way the paper mills down here smell, you're a man with a strong strong stomach.