Hot Water Wash?

[jpmcwjr]

I'd add that your problem with the cake was a problem with the cake, not the water. Your cake was soft and crumbly. I've never lost cake from this, though in fairness, I keep cake to a minimum, and what is there is hard and clean.
Fills dropping out in the chamber? Badly filled. Shouldn't be a problem at all unless they're quite deep. Cake will form over them in time. Or was it exterior fills?

 

[pianopuffer]

Cosmic- not really. Once I found the right amount of water from the tap, I made much less of a mess. Before I was literally drowning the pipe but with a little experimentation, I was able to keep the outside dry.
I use a jewelers cloth for these touch ups and save the waxing for a more deep clean.

 

[sablebrush52]

I would disagree that briar is not particularly absorptive. I've watched briar absorb and discharge oil in my early days of refurbishing pipes and smoking. I was surprised at how absorptive it is.

Ever seen cross sections of bowls that have seen decades of use? Images have been published on this forum. Barely any penetration of oils, most of which lie along cracks in the bowls caused by smoking too hot.

 

[badbeard]

I'd add that your problem with the cake was a problem with the cake, not the water. Your cake was soft and crumbly. I've never lost cake from this, though in fairness, I keep cake to a minimum, and what is there is hard and clean.

Burley blends tend to make soft somewhat porous fluffy cake, unlike the hard shiny glass-like cake often seen with Virginia. Even with 1/16" of this cake it was becoming softened and sticky enough to have the paper towel leave bits in the bowl. This is something I've never had occur prior to using this method.

Fills dropping out in the chamber? Badly filled. Shouldn't be a problem at all unless they're quite deep. Cake will form over them in time. Or was it exterior fills?

It was an exterior fill. I knew the fill was there, but it was hidden well enough in the blast to not be obvious at all.

The fill had been totally stable until I began to submit the pipe to hot water rinses. The wax softened, and likely due to the blasted surface there was enough unsealed areas in the pits to allow water to soften the fill enough to fall out.
Now, for any given method espoused as "better" and/or "harmless", the effect of using it would need to be the same or better in cleaning, and the same or less harmful than whatever process was used before it regardless of other variables. You can blame low quality cake, but I never had a single issue with cake doing this prior to hot water rinses. You can also blame a low quality fill, or that the pipe was blasted and had a improper or insufficient wax job for the failure - but given that the fill was stable, and the wax job wasn't even remotely an issue prior to hot water rinse, that too doesn't necessarily stand.

I am not saying that this method doesn't clean or doesn't have any merit, because it does certainly clean better than a plain old pipe cleaner alone. What I am saying is that it is not necessarily going to give desirable results, or even be totally harmless in comparison to more traditional methods. I am just providing those looking to try it with my experience, which on some pipes was good, and on others really not good.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The fill had been totally stable until I began to submit the pipe to hot water rinses.

No telling what some pipemakers or restorers of pipes may be using out there. Not everyone uses the same methods. I'll bet some pipemakers, probably were using horse glue or paste.

But, even so, that's weird.

and save the waxing for a more deep clean.

Yeh, I haven't needed to do a waxing, nor a deep clean, either. I am fairly sure that just running water over the waxed surface isn't removing any wax at all.

 

[hawky454]

I really didn’t see any pros when doing the hot water flush. The water doesn’t really flush anything out except maybe some dottle but I always blow that out anyway. Water by itself is not a good way to rid the pipe of oils and resins but honestly I want those precious oils in there as that’s what seasons your pipe. If it’s not to rid your pipes of the oils and resins than what is it for? I like to build up a good cake and I’ve noticed that putting warm water directly in the chamber the cake rapidly absorbs the water, compromising it in return. Some say, that I must have a bad cake formed but that’s debatable. I also noticed that I had to let my pipes rest longer to get that cake dry again. All in all I don’t think it’s worth it as I prefer a well seasoned pipe.

 

[badbeard]

No telling what some pipemakers or restorers of pipes may be using out there. Not everyone uses the same methods. I'll bet some pipemakers, probably were using horse glue or paste

I grew up in a carpentry family, and spent my early twenties working with a finish carpenter doing the spray finishes for him.

While I am not sure how common this in in pipe making, one of the more common methods for doing natural looking fill, that will take stain the same way as the base wood, is to add a tiny drop of wood glue to the pit and allow it to tack up. You then lightly sand the wood over the pit and the dust will adhere to the tacked glue. Allow to dry and knock it down again with some sand paper, it matches the surrounding wood well.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I could see cake building guys not liking the water thing. Although, I am not totally understanding the love of cake, but, there are lots of things I don't understand.

 

[sablebrush52]

I really didn’t see any pros when doing the hot water flush. The water doesn’t really flush anything out except maybe some dottle but I always blow that out anyway. Water by itself is not a good way to rid the pipe of oils and resins but honestly I want those precious oils in there as that’s what seasons your pipe. If it’s not to rid your pipes of the oils and resins than what is it for? I like to build up a good cake and I’ve noticed that putting warm water directly in the chamber the cake rapidly absorbs the water, compromising it in return. Some say, that I must have a bad cake formed but that’s debatable. I also noticed that I had to let my pipes rest longer to get that cake dry again. All in all I don’t think it’s worth it as I prefer a well seasoned pipe.

What I like about forums is the different points of view that are expressed. I agree with almost none of the above. In my view, seasoning a pipe has little to do with leaving behind a bunch of gunk and oils, but with providing a protective layer so that you're not tasting raw briar in your smoke. 20 seconds of exposure to hot water hasn't affected any of the hard carbon in my pipes. I don't build up thick soft cakes, filled with bits of unburnt tobacco and subject to failure.
What I have found is that the chamber is rid of bitter oils and that the result is a more neutral chamber, which in turn provides me with a more enjoyable smoke as I'm tasting what I'm smoking, not the rancid ghosts of smokes past.
The one issue I've had is that the microcrystalline waxes that I use don't hold up as well and need to be revived.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Sometimes I'm practising this hot water flush with those of my pipes which I'm using most frequently,and yes somehow this water flush does seem to refresh them nicely.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I find all positives and no negatives to rinsing with water. It's natures solvent, after all.
Rinse and ream with a paper towel. It's magical.

 

[luigi]

I always make a mess when I'm trying to clean my pipes with water and hate the smell when water hits the bowl. After wiping it with a paper towel and a pipe cleaner it's much better but it's more convenient for me to just run a dry pipe cleaner through the stem a few times to get rid of the worst, wipe the bowl with a paper towel immediately after a smoke and dedicate more time to it at "seasonal" cleaning. Less messy, less effort, following the traditional way. I'm planning to try this water rinse method in the nearby future though.

 

[badbeard]

I don't build up thick soft cakes, filled with bits of unburnt tobacco and subject to failure.

You are missing out. I like my unburnt tobacco bits.. I like to call it "The Finest English Mottled Cake".

 

[hawky454]

What I like about forums is the different points of view that are expressed. I agree with almost none of the above. In my view, seasoning a pipe has little to do with leaving behind a bunch of gunk and oils, but with providing a protective layer so that you're not tasting raw briar in your smoke. 20 seconds of exposure to hot water hasn't affected any of the hard carbon in my pipes. I don't build up thick soft cakes, filled with bits of unburnt tobacco and subject to failure.
What I have found is that the chamber is rid of bitter oils and that the result is a more neutral chamber, which in turn provides me with a more enjoyable smoke as I'm tasting what I'm smoking, not the rancid ghosts of smokes past

Well, there ya have it! It’s makes sense if you like a more neutral flavor. I like the character my pipes get after years of smoking the same blend in them over and over for years on end. It must come down to your sensitivity levels, I don’t taste bitter oils or rancid flavors in the slightest but I have found that after dedicating a briar to a blend the flavors become much more pronounced than they do in a brand new pipe or a water flushed pipe. Granted, I haven’t been smoking as long as you have so I’m sure I’ll get that rancid taste one of these days but that’s the day I break out my pipe retort. For now I’ll consider it an experiment, I have 3 Savinelli pipes that I bought brand new in 2009 and all I’ve ever done to clean them is run a pipe cleaner through after each smoke. I’ll see how long it takes until those pipes go sour but 9 years with no sour pipes, not bad if I do say so myself.

 

[hawky454]

You are missing out. I like my unburnt tobacco bits.. I like to call it "The Finest English Mottled Cake".

Mmmmm yes, delicious!

 

[cranseiron]

I've been using hot water flushes since learning about them from John. I consider it the best and easiest way to keep a pipe fresh and gunk free. It's my experience that the by-products of combustion are MOSTLY soluble in hot water. Many times I'll run my finger around the bowl after a smoke to loosen dottle and rinse my finger in very warm water. Most of the black stuff pretty much comes off with little effort-- most, mind you, not all. That said, I've never had an issue with briar wood swelling. The water simply isn't in contact with the wood long enough for it to absorb.

 

[lawmax3]

I tried it.

It worked just fine.

Dried it with a hair dryer on cool.

Didn't hurt a thing.

Pipe still smokes great.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I have noticed that the guys at my pipe club that exclusively smoke latakia love their cake. I get it, but it’s just not my experience. And, I bet that getting those ashy cakes wet would make a mess.

 

[derekflint]

IMO, I think a short video of someone actually performing the 'Hot Water Wash' may be needed. The reason I say this is because I think some people are using too much water. Some might be filling up there bowl with water and letting it run out. While others use a smaller stream of water and maybe more of an angle on their pipe so it trickles rite thru. Some say they get no water absorption and yet others say there briar swells up. I don't think everybody's doing it the same.....Also, how long under the water ? One guy's doing it for 15-20 seconds and another guy's doing it for 3 minutes......just my 2 cents....

John ??

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Mostly, I just press the empty bowl under the spigot and turn it on till it flushes through the stem. Usually, the first little bit is brown, but runs clear quickly. Then I quickly turn it off. The whole pipe gets wet, but it’s not soaking in it. Then I wipe it down, ream it with paper and run a fluffy tapered cleaner through it, and vigorously wipe it down from stummel to stem, making it all shiny. It takes all of two or three minutes max. And, it’s all fresh and clean ready to be smoked if I wanted, but mostly I just rack it up, where it will set a few days till I rotate through a hundred or so pipes. From Beckers to Tinskys to Dunhills to GBDs to custom made pipes, they all stay shiny and clean. No problems yet... knock on wood. ::