Pipe Cleaning Essential Recommendations.

[Franco Pipenbeans]

After buying some estate pipes online, I now appreciate the hit and miss nature of buying from the interweb. What looks like a clean example can soon turn out to be sour - literally in some cases; pictures don’t tell the full truth

After researching pipe maintenance and deoxidisation of the stem etc I was wondering what essential pipe cleaning things do you keep near at hand to look after your pipes?

Do you swear by a drop of scotch and a pipe cleaner after each smoke? A Peterson pipe cleaning cloth once a week? Some Deniclean? A light polish once a month? Nothing at all - just keep pipes in a dark room and only smoke them under red light or after midnight on All Hallows’ Eve when the wind is blowing from the West? Mineral oil with a magic sponge?

I’m sure that some things work well, some are expensive wastes of time and some things are expensive branded alternatives to cheaper options and aren’t worth the money.

I was just wondering what combinations of products you would recommend, if any?

Thanks for your time and your recommendations; it might save us all a few quid in the long run.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I was wondering what essential pipe cleaning things do you keep near at hand to look after your pipes?

Pipe cleaners, paper towels, and Chap Stick.

 

[Streeper541]

Pipe cleaners, paper towels & Everclear. If I wanna deep clean, a brush, a pipe tool, obsidian oil and Decatur pipe polish.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Hot water, paper towel, pipe cleaners, mineral oil.

Always use the least harsh method of cleaning first is my motto.

 

[OldWill]

Soft (i.e., not wire bristled) pipe cleaners, hard carnauba wax and 80 proof vodka, using Everclear only if needed.

 

[romaso]

For estates, a good reamer helps. This is the old Senior style, others have copied it:
Senior Pipe Reamer : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen



I don't use it much with my current collection, just occasionally to smooth out some cake. Works the best of any I've tried. Otherwise, pipe cleaners and sometimes alcohol for the stem airway. I've transitioned to acrylic stems only, which reduces my maintenance. Those little shank brushes are helpful, soaked in alcohol. Pipe cleaners aren't as stout as they used to be.

 

[Chasing Embers]

not wire bristled

Where did you find wire bristled ones? I've only ever seen nylon bristles.

 

[kcghost]

All I use are pipe cleaners.

 

[OldWill]

Where did you find wire bristled ones? I've only ever seen nylon bristles.

I received some several years ago as a freebie with a pipe purchased from P&C. I immediately relegated them to my woodworking shop.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I received some several years ago as a freebie with a pipe purchased from P&C. I immediately relegated them to my woodworking shop.

Makes me even more glad that I stopped shopping there. I use these.

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

Pipe cleaners, paper towels, and Chap Stick.

What kind of chap stick? Will Vaseline do or will it wreck the pipe? I’m thinking you use the chap stick on the stem?

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

Pipe cleaners, paper towels & Everclear. If I wanna deep clean, a brush, a pipe tool, obsidian oil and Decatur pipe polish.

What’s Everclear? I’m thinking it might be called something else over here?

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

Hot water, paper towel, pipe cleaners, mineral oil.

Always use the least harsh method of cleaning first is my motto.

I’ve got some mineral oil on order as we speak. Will that lift the brown oxidation and polish the stem and protect it?

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

Where did you find wire bristled ones? I've only ever seen nylon bristles.

I ordered some wire bristle ones but I can’t remember where I got them from. They are good at getting into the stem because they are tapered.

 

[OldWill]

What’s Everclear? I’m thinking it might be called something else over here?

190 proof grain alcohol, commonly used by professional pipe restorers, but then, I'm not a professional. LOL.

 

[sablebrush52]

When I'm cleaning up an estate, I have my favorite tools:

shank brushes - rather than get the overpriced shank brushes offered at tobacco shots I'll just buy a bottle brush set, as I've found use for different sized brushes in doing cleaning.

pipe cleaners and LOTS of them, tapered bristle, regular, fluffies. White Elephant brand when I need something with a stiff wire spine in it. BJ Longs for the rest.

Alcohol for scrubbing out the gunk. I'll use warm water for maintenance, but for the initial scrubbing out it's alcohol.

paper toweling

cotton balls if I'm going to do an s/a treatment

dental picks for hard to get areas of the mortise

a glass retort for doing a boiling alcohol flush with extreme cases. Not for the squeamish or those who can't stay focused.

glass paper for sanding down the shitty cake in the chamber. Wrap it over a piece of 1/2 inch doweling that's been beveled, or some other shape that is similar

If looking for a reamer, try and find a Pipnet. The Castleford knock off is a cheaply made piece of shit.

Micromesh pads for polishing the stem.

Some use toothpaste, so try other methods before going to the pads.

Simichrome for metal parts and sterling bands

After everything is cleaned and as polished as it's going to get, I'll use either Halcyon or Paragon microcrystalline waxes, literally rubbed on with my hands, no cloths, to add the final luster.

Here's a BEFORE and AFTER:

 

[Donb1972]

I hate when I see a lovely estate pipe that has so much cake built up in it that you can barely fit a pipe cleaner inside ? So a reamer is a necessity. If a pipe has that sour, or stale, taste/smell that hot water won't cure, I use a 151 rum or Everclear(depending on what I want to smoke in it). Pipe cleaners, normal and bristle. And my new favourite tool: micro mesh pads.

 

[Donb1972]

When I'm cleaning up an estate, I have my favorite tools:

shank brushes - rather than get the overpriced shank brushes offered at tobacco shots I'll just buy a bottle brush set, as I've found use for different sized brushes in doing cleaning.

pipe cleaners and LOTS of them, tapered bristle, regular, fluffies. White Elephant brand when I need something with a stiff wire spine in it. BJ Longs for the rest.

Alcohol for scrubbing out the gunk. I'll use warm water for maintenance, but for the initial scrubbing out it's alcohol.

paper toweling

cotton balls if I'm going to do an s/a treatment

dental picks for hard to get areas of the mortise

a glass retort for doing a boiling alcohol flush with extreme cases. Not for the squeamish or those who can't stay focused.

glass paper for sanding down the shitty cake in the chamber. Wrap it over a piece of 1/2 inch doweling that's been beveled, or some other shape that is similar

If looking for a reamer, try and find a Pipnet. The Castleford knock off is a cheaply made piece of shit.

Micromesh pads for polishing the stem.

Some use toothpaste, so try other methods before going to the pads.

Simichrome for metal parts and sterling bands

After everything is cleaned and as polished as it's going to get, I'll use either Halcyon or Paragon microcrystalline waxes, literally rubbed on with my hands, no cloths, to add the final luster.

Here's a BEFORE and AFTER:

THAT is a beauty!

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

190 proof grain alcohol, commonly used by professional pipe restorers, but then, I'm not a professional. LOL.

I presume Scotch or vodka would do in the absence of rocket fuel?

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

When I'm cleaning up an estate, I have my favorite tools:

shank brushes - rather than get the overpriced shank brushes offered at tobacco shots I'll just buy a bottle brush set, as I've found use for different sized brushes in doing cleaning.

pipe cleaners and LOTS of them, tapered bristle, regular, fluffies. White Elephant brand when I need something with a stiff wire spine in it. BJ Longs for the rest.

Alcohol for scrubbing out the gunk. I'll use warm water for maintenance, but for the initial scrubbing out it's alcohol.

paper toweling

cotton balls if I'm going to do an s/a treatment

dental picks for hard to get areas of the mortise

a glass retort for doing a boiling alcohol flush with extreme cases. Not for the squeamish or those who can't stay focused.

glass paper for sanding down the shitty cake in the chamber. Wrap it over a piece of 1/2 inch doweling that's been beveled, or some other shape that is similar

If looking for a reamer, try and find a Pipnet. The Castleford knock off is a cheaply made piece of shit.

Micromesh pads for polishing the stem.

Some use toothpaste, so try other methods before going to the pads.

Simichrome for metal parts and sterling bands

After everything is cleaned and as polished as it's going to get, I'll use either Halcyon or Paragon microcrystalline waxes, literally rubbed on with my hands, no cloths, to add the final luster.

Here's a BEFORE and AFTER:

Crikey ?. That looks great!