Need help cleaning pipes.

[puffintuff]

I know there's a lot of info on how to clean pipes online. Just wanted to see what works best for the forum members. I have a few estate pipes that need some help on the Briar and stem. Appreciate any help.

 

[unclearthur]

First step would be to ream back either to a thin cake or clear back to wood, depending on the individual pipe. Cotton balls stuffed in the chamber and soaked with everclear following a serious shank reaming and scrub would be your next step. Once the pipe is decent then it's time to move on to cosmetics. Which would be one heck of a long post. This should get you started though.

 

[johnnyrebel]

If your pipe has a metal piece on it, try using toothpaste and rub it with a paper towel or a nice soft rag. Thats how i got all the tarnish off my pipe. It shouldn't hurt the pipe either if you happen to get it on the stem and things. Dont hold me to that though!
Any advice on really good cleaning of stems without the bleach bath? I have a filter piece that i can't seem to get off, so i was wondering if theirs a good way to soak that and sanitized without that method? Maybe stuff a paper towel against the lip so the alcohol doesn't run out, would somthing like that work for soaking/ sanitizing the stem?
Also, any good methods of reaming without a reaming tool?

 

[collin]

Forget it.

 

[collin]

Oh sorry, I just read the title of the thread and thought you wanted someone to come over for a few hours work.
Do you mean cleaning the exterior of the bowl and stem or interior?
Exterior; sometimes you can get by with a cotton cloth, some spit, and a lot of elbow grease,.....and sometimes you gotta get out the 0000 steel wool.
Interior; sometimes, depending on the ghosts involved, just a reaming and alcohol wash. If it's pretty crappy you might end up sanding down to the wood and starting over, sweetening with Kosher salt and Everclear, filling holes with pipe-mud and painting with a mix of sour-cream/powdered-charcoal/buttermilk.

 

[puffintuff]

johnnyrebel, just polished the stem with toothpaste and it worked pretty good.
Tommy, talking about the exterior, trying to get the shine and wood grain back. Im gonna pass painting with a mix of sour-cream/powdered-charcoal/buttermilk.
unclearthur, I'll try the everclear if I don't drink it all.

 

[fred]

Estate Pipes will teach you more about Pipes, if you choose to clean

them up. For Meerschaums, it's a bit different, but much of it is

applicable to Briar.

http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/put-that-in-your-pipe/the-thrill-of-the-hunt-a-guide-to-estate-meerschaums/

 

[unclearthur]

To start on the exterior, if it is a real nasty greasy feeling pipe. I give it a serious scrub with a nylon brush and Simple Green. Any dish soap would work though. This will get rid of decades of hand grease and dirt as well as any wax that may have been left on it. Rewaxing is in order then.

 

[puffintuff]

unclearthur, what exactly do you mean by rewaxing ? Any special wax ? Anything else you could add to this part of the clean up ? Thanks.
Wayne

 

[flipflopsandshades]

I have been actually considering buying a lot of pipes just to clean them up and "practice" for when my original pipes need a good cleaning.

 

[puffintuff]

Wax on, wax off, grasshopper. You must be one with the wood. Much "practice".

 

[unclearthur]

I use carnauba wax that I apply with a buffer. Renaissance wax is one alternative. There are several good waxes that you can apply by hand. Restoring estate pipes can be a lot of fun and an inexpensive way to get pipes you could never afford to buy new.

 

[triprolo]

How long do you allow the pipe to sit and dry if you retort with everclear before you can smoke it?