How Do You Refresh a Pipe?

[maxx]

I may have over-smoked one of my pipes. Is this possible? My first pipe, I smoked multiple times, daily, when I got it, and it seems to my simple palate to give me a less flavorful smoke than the others. Is there a way to refresh it? I'm going to avoid it for a while and see if I still feel this way (I may be only imagining a difference). Any tips and advice?

 

[brass]

It just may need a a good deep cleaning. There are multiple threads with instructions so I want repeat them in detail here. Suffice to say, break your pipe down when cold, used brushes and pipe cleaners with a whiskey with high alcohol content, e.g, rum or scotch, and keep cleaning until you can pass a cleaner that comes back out clean. Don't get any alcohol on the finish. Wipe out the bowl and you're done.

 

[newbroom]

I just ordered a retort kit, and I'm going deep on all my briars. After the mishap I had last week resulting in a horrible tongue coating, I've decided to do what I can to avoid a repeat of that calamity.

Look on youtube for retort...if you don't know what I'm talking about. It seems to be the best way to clean out the stem, shank, and heel of your pipes.

The bowl itself is probably not a problem, but the salt/alcohol treatment or baking soda...helps that .

 

[settersbrace]

Just take your pipe apart, get a pile of bristled and fluffy cleaners and some high proof alchohol like Everclear. Scrub the inside of the shank and stem until the cleaners come out clean being careful not to get the alcohol on the briar finish. If you have a thick cake built up it will need reamed back and I'd have someone with experience to do that. Alcohol retorts and such have there place but a slightly over smoked pipe isn't one of them. Save that work for crusty old estates. Let your pipe dry out and give it some rest between smokes and your deep cleaning can get stretched out.

 

[aldecaker]

Dry baking soda will pull a lot of nasty smells out of a stinky shank.

 

[buroak]

maxx, If after you have finished cleaning as per the above advice you still feel that your pipe is not fresh, try sending it to Mike Myers at Walker Pipe Repair for ozone treatment. So long as you have cleaned your pipe and trimmed the cake, ozone will do an amazing job of freshening your pipe. I have sent formerly nasty, ghosted estates through his ozone chamber and received back pipes that literally smell "fresh".

 

[saltedplug]

rest it

 

[dulgunz]

maxx, just what all the other members here are saying, rest it. Starting out I had the same issue, I had only one briar and smoked it a few times daily. It became foul within a couple of weeks. I now have a little bigger collection where I only smoke a single pipe maybe once a month. I also do a thorough cleaning of the pipe every time it is smoked once it cools down. This may be overkill, but I will always have a fresh pipe no matter which one I reach for.

 

[maxx]

I let it rest, cleaned the stem with 101 proof Old Ezra 7 Year Rare Old Bourbon, and that did the trick. By the end of the week, I'll have six Briars and two Cobs, so that'll help me letting pipes rest.

 

[dulgunz]

Awesome, hopefully you wont have that problem anymore.

 

[tobyducote]

Good job...

 

[gloucesterman]

I hope you don't reserve that Bourbon just for your pipes

 

[foggymountain]

Like people, a looong rest.

 

[danimal]

I only smoke my pipe once a month if that but it is starting to get sour these tips above ? Will they help a sour pipe? Or should I invest in the liquid pipe sweetener that I see around?

 

[baronsamedi]

I only smoke my pipe once a month if that but it is starting to get sour these tips above ? Will they help a sour pipe? Or should I invest in the liquid pipe sweetener that I see around?

Just clean by soaking some cleaners in rum or whiskey and cleaning it with those until they come out clean. Then let the pipe dry for a couple of days. No need to buy special sweeteners.
If pipe cleaners aren't enough for the bowl you can clean the bowl by soaking a twist of paper towel in the whiskey and twisting it into the pipe, then doing the same with a dry paper towel.

 

[danimal]

Thanks that did help a lot. I am not really sure if it was sour or another tobacco had ghosted,but wither way this helped.

 

[rsavage]

Good Read. Since I am a Bourbon Drinker. I love this tip.

 

[brownpeter335]

Nice thread! As a pipe smoker this is very useful to me. Thanks a lot for this.