My Experience with Lbepen Deoxidizer [with pics]

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SBC

Lifer
Oct 6, 2021
1,519
7,243
NE Wisconsin
Deoxidizer.jpg


Of my pipes, five had oxidation worth bothering with. As you can see, the levels of oxidation varied:


Stems before.jpg


I submerged them in the honey-like (in appearance and texture... not smell...) substance for almost exactly two hours:


Stems in deoxidizer .jpg


When I pulled the stems out, they left behind beautifully obvious streaks and clouds of oxidation in the substance:


Oxidation in deoxidizer .jpg


I then wiped them down with paper towel and mineral oil, and was very pleased with what emerged:


Stems after mineral.jpg

(You should scroll up and check that "Before Pic" again.)

Some have speculated that this substance merely masks oxidation. This theory is disproven by the visible discharge of oxidation in the substance.

Others have speculated that this substance, in removing oxidation, must also remove good vulcanite. This does not appear (to the human eye or hand) to be the case. I cannot say with scientific certainty that it is not the case on any scale, but I can say confidently that neither my eye nor my hand can find any indication of this.

Others have said that, even if it removes only oxidized vulcanite, the substance must thereby leave pits or other such irregularities at some scale. To this I can only say what I said above: I neither see nor feel any indication of that. These stems seem brand new and perfectly smooth (apart from some chatter, of course -- I may deal with that later).

I understand the operating assumption of the skeptics:
The material world being what it is, there can be no removal of matter which does not result in less matter.

But perhaps even deeper assumptions about what rubber oxidization is, are off base? Is it a transformation of significant portions of the material? Or is it more like a deeply embedded yet theoretically distinct material which this substance removes with insignificant loss to the "host" material?
I know nothing about vulcanite or its oxidization, so I am not purporting this theory. I am only thinking outside of the box, because my experience with this substance doesn't seem fully explicable in terms of the box.

In any case, I can say with confidence that this works for all practical purposes, and that if there is any loss then it must be insignificant for all practical purposes. I'd use this product again.
 
Last edited:

SBC

Lifer
Oct 6, 2021
1,519
7,243
NE Wisconsin
Do you only get one use per the amount used??

As you can see in the picture, the oxidization is discharged into the solution. According to the reading material which comes with the substance, this oxidization will accumulate over multiple uses, leaving the substance a little less potent than it was the time before.

So it's not an on/off kind of thing -- rather, it's a sliding scale of effectiveness.

Others who've used this on pipe stems have found that it's good for 15 - 20 stems before it's too contaminated and should be replaced.

My cost after shipping totaled about $30, so if it's good for 20 stems, that should average out to about $1.50 per stem.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,623
44,833
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
I tried the stuff on a badly oxidized stem. By oxidation I mean the yellowing that happens with vulcanite, not mouth crud. As per instructions for a badly discolored piece of hard rubber, I left the stem in overnight. It did remove the yellow, but left the stem totally matte. By the time I got done repolishing it, the stem looked great, but, I could have gotten the same results without the Before and After Goo.
 

SBC

Lifer
Oct 6, 2021
1,519
7,243
NE Wisconsin
Did you thoroughly clean the airway on the stems before submersion? Just wondering if the streaky substance left behind could be residual tars, and oils from inside the airway? Really not significant either way. Looks like a good product.

I run a pipe cleaner through a stem immediately after every smoke (of course), but no I didn't do any additional cleaning of the airway other than that.

That would be a plausible theory, but in this case:
  1. I observed the discoloration coming off the exterior of the stems as I pulled them out of the substance.

  2. The substance that filled the airways stayed lodged in the airways till I pushed it out with a pipe cleaner.
But good thought!
 

rigol2000

Lurker
Sep 9, 2023
4
6
Louisiana, USA
I had high hopes for this product but my experience leaves me with beliefs you say are disproven.

I usually sand then buff my stems to a glossy black shine. I bought the Extra Strength Deoxidizer to deoxidize stems without loosing imprints in the stem and to possibly cut down on the amount of work it takes to get to a finished product. If this product were to work, it would leave the imprinted logo intact since it does not remove much vulcanite if at all. But I am finding that while it does seem to remove the surface level sulfur/oxidation, there is still discolored (brown) vulcanite masked by the product and/or the directed mineral oil rinse. Of the stems that returned to black (some did not even after several soakings) they did come out with a black shiny matte finish. The matte finish is made shiny by the oil. If I get the stem wet, with water or even saliva, the brown becomes visible again until the stem dries. Then it goes to a dull matte finish. This shows me that there is still oxidation inside the material that would need to be removed by sanding. If I didn't plan on using the pipe and just wanted a black looking stem, then this would be fine.

Speaking of saliva. On the product bottle, there is no ingredient list, warnings or certifications. It is unknown what this product is made of and there are no assurances it is safe. It looks to have originally been made to restore pens. Was it created to be used on something placed in our mouths? I followed the directions and washed the stems with mineral oil and let drip dry. I also ran pipe cleaners through the airway. When I smoked one of the pipes, right away my tongue and lips began to have a tingling numbness. I stopped right away. This lasted for many hours.

For the price of the product, the mess it created, the sub par results and possible irritation, this was not worth it to me.
 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,920
For the price of the product, the mess it created, the sub par results and possible irritation, this was not worth it to me.

Yup. ^^^^

Sorry you got took.

You're not alone, though. Dealing with "magic" products as a categorical thing is like trying to fill the Grand Canyon with a shovel. People will always believe whatever makes them feel good and to hell with reality.

(For a good example of how far it can go, look up "Zenu" and prepare to be amazed.)

Regarding vulcanite pipe stem surface oxidation, the facts are these:

The INTENDED market for gel deoxidizers is filigree-etched fountain pen barrels, because sanding them is not possible without destroying the thing you're trying to save. Do they work for that application? As much as anything can. The amount of oxidized material they eat away varies from specimen to specimen. (Besides, it doesn't matter since any improvement is better than none.)

Using such gels on a smooth object like a pipe stem, though, is pointless. They are expensive, time consuming, messy, and result in something that MUST STILL BE SANDED BACK TO SMOOTH NO MATTER HOW WELL IT WAS "DE-GREENED", because the chemical leaves a textured surface behind. So why not just sand it to begin with?

The End