I have a meerschaum billiard that was gifted to me 25 years ago by a dear friend. I rarely smoke it as it has always smoked hot and harshly. When I have revisited it I was smoking va's and va/pers and this pipe always irritated my tongue. I read somewhere that the draw on these pipes can be too restricted and cause a hot smoke. I tried drilling out the delrin insert. Not much improvement. Subsequently, I've been smoking burleys in the pipe lately and it smokes much cooler, but still quite warm. Burleys leave more buildup in pipes than va's so this leads me to the confusing contradictions that I find in researching meerschaum cleaning online.
I found much on cleaning the bowl (no cake buildup)
I found much on cleaning the stem.
However, rarely do the pundits agree on cleaning the airway in the shank! Everclear is either OK or the worst thing you can use. Water is either OK or will soften the meer.
There is no consensus at all.
It would seem to me that a small amount of everclear would quickly dissolve any schmutz and tars and that a quick use of a dry pipecleaner would remove the "offending" alcohol before any harm was done.
HELP! Thanks in advance.
I found much on cleaning the bowl (no cake buildup)
I found much on cleaning the stem.
However, rarely do the pundits agree on cleaning the airway in the shank! Everclear is either OK or the worst thing you can use. Water is either OK or will soften the meer.
There is no consensus at all.
It would seem to me that a small amount of everclear would quickly dissolve any schmutz and tars and that a quick use of a dry pipecleaner would remove the "offending" alcohol before any harm was done.
HELP! Thanks in advance.