How Often Do You Clean Your Pipes?

[bullethead]

whenever the pipes tell me they need to be cleaned.

 

[sablebrush52]

I've even read that some feel that removing the goo is bad for taste.

Goo bad.
Remove goo.
Taste good.
That's why it's called goo.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Harold-
On the weekly cleaning, after the alcohol treatment, you can run warm to hot water through the bowl out the stem, then dry with paper towel and pipe cleaner. Some will howl at this, but it works well in my household. Gets rid of any of the additives to the alcohol, as well as sundry deposits of tars, nicotines, whatever.

 

[haroldt]

JPMCWJR - thanks for the tip. I must admit, I'm one of those that "howled' at the thought of running water through the pipe. If I get the nerve to do so, I'll report back.
Do you do this in both briar and corn cobs??

 

[settersbrace]

I deliberately delayed what was once about an every 3 month ritual of doing my "deep cleaning" as many have described above just to see how far I could take things until I started noticing a difference in my smoking experience. Because I've always been a bit anal about it a "sour" pipe has never really touched my lips at least not one out of my regular rotation. It's been somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 months now with approximately 25 pipes that get smoked in a somewhat orderly rotation.

I have started to notice in the last couple weeks that things were starting to taste "off", especially my EMP which is my everyday smoke. It's not any kind of real sourness but there's a remarkable difference in what I'm used to tasting with my favorite blends. I took one pipe, a LaRocca billiard that smokes great (until recently) and just gave it a quick swab with the OTC pipe sweet juice, (I have not neglected bowl care btw) and loaded her up for a morning smoke. The funny thing is it smoked great! Just like it should had I been not purposely neglecting it.

I intend to start working on the pile in the morning with a boat load of cleaners, Everclear and such but it was a good experiment for me and now I know exactly how a pipe tastes when it's in need of a good, thorough cleaning. I'll also mention that I ALWAYS run a cleaner or two through my pipes after each smoke and make sure they dry properly, bowls get a swipe with a hand made bristle cleaner apparatus that keeps just a thin, smooth and crater free carbon layer intact.

 

[sablebrush52]

Even if you clean the bowl, residue collects in the mortise, and that is the cause of much of the fouling that affects the flavor of the smoke. I always clean out the mortise at the end of a days use.

 

[settersbrace]

Yeah, the fouling is pretty gross although one thing is very apparent. The better the precision on the mortise/tenon fit, the less accumulation of goo or gunk but the fact that I did at least run cleaners through after each bowl didn't really affect the draft hole as far as excessive accumulation goes. Yes, they're dirty but I'm glad I did this little test and it's changing the way I maintain my briar. I'm attracted to the method Jesse follows and starting today, it'll be the SOP I follow.

Edit: Not the garden hose method he listed above, lol, but rather the regimine I've seen posted in the past.

 

[okiescout]

Pretty much what I do, except at times, especially after a salt and Everclear soaking, I rinse the bowl and stem with hot water, then paper towel the chamber, pipe cleaner for the stem.While I have not used hot water to date to do a final cleanse, I believe it might have some very positive results.
Jpmcwjr, I think you are on to something.
I clean my pipes on an old painted desk top and frequently there are spills from residues leaking out of the pipes or dirty q-tips that roll or fall short of the paper and rags. Especially when cleaning estates.
The point is: it is amazing how much easier water removes the old dried nicotine stains on the table than alcohols. I use Everclear for general cleaning and bole sweetening (also sweeten with bourbon sometimes)rubbing alcohol in high strength for retorts. Neither of these removes the goop on the painted table top like plain water. A hot water rinse may be just the thing for a final step when doing a deep clean. I am going to give it a shot.
Thanks, Jpmcwjr!

 

[jpmcwjr]

Hope it works well for you!
And, no, I've not used any H20 on cobs- but I haven't smoked my one cob in a long time. I think cobs would absorb water, not what one wants.

 

[puffndave]

7 bowls? I would not let any of my pipes go for more than 2. I prefer to run my pipecleaners through them while still hot (you do need to be careful removing the stem, but when cleaning hot you can remove more filthy moisture with a dry pipe cleaner before it dries to form gunk). I always remove the stems for cleaning, so that the pipecleaner can travel in one direction only, and then I can turn it around and clean the shank with the clean end. If you do this while pipe is hot, do not leave the stem out for longer than it takes to do your business with the pipecleaner, and then replace it (with care) immediately. Because I have smoked through and cleaned transparent acrylic stems, I have had the experience of pushing the pipecleaner one way, then back out, only to see how much black gunk gets returned to button-level that way - it has even caused the airway to be blocked! This was some time ago, and it may have been before I started cleaning while pipe is hot (I don't seem to have that problem now when I need to go in and back out through a stem to remove hot, gurgling moisture, mid-bowl). Now I suppose that if you get into bristle brushes and alcohol treatments, then perhaps you can get away with going all week between cleanings, but to keep spirits in the house and not drink them can be tough for some people.

 

[stickframer]

Because I have smoked through and cleaned transparent acrylic stems, I have had the experience of pushing the pipecleaner one way, then back out, only to see how much black gunk gets returned to button-level that way - 

Thanks for this!
Regarding cleaning with spirits, I never have any in the house. Also, the one guy I've talked to at a b&m who knows his stuff recommended deniclean, which I have not heard mentioned on the forums.
I'm curious what everyone's take on it is?
It's this stuff deniclean
I've never ordered it online and just now noticed the do not drink warning in all caps. Lol

 

[haroldt]

Stickframer: I'm not certain what deniclean is but 90% rubbing alcohol works fine. If you can find the 92 or 95% that's even better.

 

[allan]

I used to do monthly cleaning on 10 or 15 of my collection but now I'm trying something different
At the end of the day I am taking a bristle cleaner with everclear and cleaning the pipe (s) mortise and bowl, shank included followed by fluffy to try t keep them constantly clean as opposed to waiting for them to foul.
It may not take the place of the full bristle brush routine but I'm going to give this a try.

 

[janosh]

his stuff recommended deniclean, which I have not heard mentioned on the forums.

stickfarmer: I have five bottles of that deniclean liquid and used to clean my pipes twice a week using it. I don't know what it contains, there is no ingredients list on it.



Must contain some sort of alcohol because it's sanitizing the pipe; no color, no smell, no taste (yes, I've tried :D ), that's why I'm using it.

 

[JimInks]

I clean my pipes before I smoke them again. I only salt and alcohol when needed, which isn't that often. Sometimes, I dip a pipe cleaner in Vodka (Everclear isn't sold in North Carolina), and clean the shank.

 

[stickframer]

Thanks janosh. My bottle is entirely in German.

 

[saltedplug]

I used to clean my pipes every 6-12 months. It was a lot of work. I've read that some feel that cleaning them, removing the buildup of tar and other gunk, actually decreases flavor. I don't know, and when I did clean them, I noticed no change. I don't know about a change in flavor, but what I do know is that it's a lot of work. Therefore, until such time as the flavor in my pipes goes south, I think I'll continue smoking those nasty, dirty pipes, dirty,

 

[shroedingerscat]

After every smoke.

 

[mso489]

Wow, this thread has been going on for years! Do some cleaning after each and every bowl. I scoop out the ash and dottle, wipe out the bowl with a paper towel/napkin/tissue, pipecleaner the airway, and polish the whole pipe down briar to stem. That much at least to let the pipe dry and be ready for the next smoke. More thorough cleaning can be done to your own specifications. When you have many pipes -- dozens, scores -- it's easy to let it slide, removing the stems and really cleaning up the pipes, but if you do the regular maintenance, knowing when to do more is easier to tell. There are some real experts here on maintenance and renovation who really keep up with cleaning, so listen to them. But that's my day-to-day. I'm of the minority school that doesn't build cake, just maintaining a thin carbon layer, and this makes upkeep easier too. I just don't find cake an enhancement to smoking.

 

[eduardonogueira]

Nowadays I just use alcohol and water to fully clean my pipes. I realized that pipe cleaners don't really do the job, as many say after each bowl. In fact, pipe cleaners are usually made of polyester and they are quite water resistant, which is the base of the moisture of the tobacco. I do rinse the mouthpiece with water and sometimes pipe cleaner with alcohol. The stem is a mandatory to make it taste good again, depending on the pipe a lot of tar can stick in the stem and it's quite impossible to have a nice smoke out of it. I recommend clean it with swabs instead of pipe cleaners, except for the hole area. I found that is very important to clean the bottom of the bowl, the main cause of sour pipe comes from there. I clean the bottom with cotton swabs and also the walls of the bowl with the highest alcohol concentration I have, when it dries there is not a single smell. Allow the pipe to dry and smoke it again normally, it's not really necessary days for that, only for brand new pipes. As long as moisture and alcohol evaporate completely you're good to go