Pipe cleaners are cheap when used with a little whiskey. Many years as a cabinet maker and pipe smoker have taught me that water and wood do not play well together. Yay being said, do what works for you and be willing to accept the consequences...
Not Cleaning the Pipe as Thoroughly
- Thread starter Dmitri1516
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There are no consequences.. do what you'd like, but rinsing a briar pipe will not hurt it.
Cabinets have nothing to do with briar pipes. What lessons have you learned about getting rinsing pipes?
I used a little rum once when cleaning a few pipes, then a little whisky and then I realized I might as well use dollar bills to wipe the inside of the bowls, lol.
I don't consume much, so what I do have in store is valuable to me!
I guess I'm running with scissors using a bit of hot water, but I've got good balance!
I use 2 kinds of pipe cleaners. BJ Long Tapered Fluffy that come 100 to a pack for a couple of bucks and BJ Long Tapered Bristle cleaners that come 80 to a pack for the same price.
I use 2-4 soft cleaners for the stem, 3-4 Bristle cleaners for the shank and mortise. I use the fluffies from the stems and thought they have dirt they are fine for doubling over and wiping out my bowl of any lose tobacco or ash.
I do this after every single bowl of tobacco I have smoked in that pipe. I have found it cuts down on having to do deep cleans with Everclear. I still do that but not nearly as often as I used to.
I refuse to smoke a pipe that has not been cleaned to my standards.
Yes I have issues.
I use 2-4 soft cleaners for the stem, 3-4 Bristle cleaners for the shank and mortise. I use the fluffies from the stems and thought they have dirt they are fine for doubling over and wiping out my bowl of any lose tobacco or ash.
I do this after every single bowl of tobacco I have smoked in that pipe. I have found it cuts down on having to do deep cleans with Everclear. I still do that but not nearly as often as I used to.
I refuse to smoke a pipe that has not been cleaned to my standards.
Yes I have issues.
Understand where you're coming from.
When I started smoking pipes in the '70's I used to puff like a freight train. Smoked hot and wet all the time.
The pipes used to smell and taste rank if not cleaned after each smoke.
As a poor undergrad, I only had one pipe for quite a while.
Pipe cleaners were a much cheaper option than buying a second pipe back then.
Pipe cleaners are super cheap. If you dont want to buy name brand you can buy in bulk some cheaper and lower quality pipe cleaners through the largest online retailer. Someone gifted me some from there. I think it was close to 500. Been working through them and also found other amazing uses around the house for them. Not the best quality but they get the job done.
I run a fluffy cleaner after each smoke and a bristle bent cleaner in the bowl.
I only break it apart when doing a more deep cleaning with alcohol or water. And that is not that frequent.
I find that a cleaner, when the pipe is still hot and tars are soft, is capable of doing the job properly, no need to remove stem and so on…
And when I do, it’s never nasty inside. Always in a good condition.
Never tasted sour…
I only break it apart when doing a more deep cleaning with alcohol or water. And that is not that frequent.
I find that a cleaner, when the pipe is still hot and tars are soft, is capable of doing the job properly, no need to remove stem and so on…
And when I do, it’s never nasty inside. Always in a good condition.
Never tasted sour…
Short of running them through the dishwasher whatever works for you is the best method.
I have heard of smokers successfully washing/rinsing briar without any ill effects. For me, wood is wood and the only time I mix water and wood is to raise the grain for final sanding. Whatever works for you ix fantastic. I choose the more conservative path and we both enjoy our favorite pipe/tobacco combination.
I was hesitate to do the water flushing technique, but I started it a few years ago w/positive results. I use a twisted paper towel to clean the bowl and dry, and then finish with a pipe cleaner. Pipes smell fresh w/minimal cake, which I like. I’ll give them a deep cleaning every month, or so… There is no best practice, but whatever works best for you.
I brought out my 100 year old Sasieni One Dot the other night and smoked it. Soon as I'd had enough I knocked the ash out then put it back in its bag without doing anything else to it.
I keep a tiny bottle of rum at my pipe station, buy pipe cleaners in bulk, and run rum-dipped pipe cleaners through the stem and shank after (almost) every smoking day. Sometimes I have 3-4 pipes awaiting their turn after a couple days, but then I take 5 minutes on a Saturday morning and do the cleaning (giving the vulcanite stems a wipe with obsidian oil) and put them back in their place on the display shelf. That keeps them very clean and smokable. One, or very occasionally, two pipe cleaners are needed. If you run a pipe cleaner through the stem, you should have no issues with running the other end through the shank... There's almost no point in cleaning the stem if you don't clean the shank.
Yeah , people think way too deep into this. Clean out the stem every 4-6 bowls, ream out the bowl as needed and chase the pipe ghosts.I brought out my 100 year old Sasieni One Dot the other night and smoked it. Soon as I'd had enough I knocked the ash out then put it back in its bag without doing anything else to it.
Pipe cleaners can be very expensive in certain countries, I hear.
I still want that pipe ??. It seems to be very happy where it is though. Beautiful old Sasieni.I brought out my 100 year old Sasieni One Dot the other night and smoked it. Soon as I'd had enough I knocked the ash out then put it back in its bag without doing anything else to it.
The only reason I don’t water rinse AS much is that I have some pipes with a nice waxed finish and I am too lazy to want to touch it up. That said, a paper towel, a pipe cleaner, these are used after every smoke.
You can clean the mortise with a straw cleaner and neutral dish wash.
It's easy and cheap to clean.
It's easy and cheap to clean.
I know you guys who are water boys and swear how easy it is. My cake is precious and I will not use water that can destabilize it and turn into mud. My cake is hard and it never flakes off. When it is time it will get reamed with a Senior Reamer and I will keep it to about a dimes thickness. My pipes smoke nice and cool and the flavors are what I expect since I dedicate all of my pipes to either genres or specific pipes.
Are you saying I will get a better smoking experience by using water on the the cake of a Rad Davis Lovat that has had nothing but 2007 Stonehaven smoked in it for a decade?
The old guys who I learned from never used water. They were all about building a nice hard cake because they believed their pipes smoked better. I will trust their judgement and stick to what works best for me.
Are you saying I will get a better smoking experience by using water on the the cake of a Rad Davis Lovat that has had nothing but 2007 Stonehaven smoked in it for a decade?
The old guys who I learned from never used water. They were all about building a nice hard cake because they believed their pipes smoked better. I will trust their judgement and stick to what works best for me.