Pipe Reeks After Smoke!!?

[dragospiper]

Hello everyone, this is my first post,
I have smoked cigars for about a year and I decided to try pipes. I bought a Brigham voyageur 165 and some aromatic tobacco and went for my first smoke. I loved it, and I also smoked slow and cool to build a "cake" but.. after smoking, I dumped out the ash and went in my room. Im a college student so the dorm room is not very big, and the smell of burnt aromatic perfume and burn ash quickly filled the room. I had both windows open and the smell would not leave. Even after cleaning the pipe (the stem and everything except the bowl) hours have passed and my whole room still reeked really badly. I was desperate and decided to clean the bowl of the pipe as that was the only thing not cleaned, so I got a cotton pipe cleaner and gently scraped the bowl and now theres no smell. The pipe does not smell at all now and the room is free of the hideous smell. My concern is, will my cleaning method stop a cake from forming which in turn will burn out my pipe faster with time? Please help me and tell me how to clean the pipe so I don't have the smell in my room, while I can still have a cake form in my bowl.
Thank you so much!

 

[philobeddoe]

You might try putting your pipe in a Tupperware container after you smoke it to seal in the smell.

 

[jpmcwjr]

No, cake will build, and it will be good, hard and thin cake...
Enjoy!

 

[dragospiper]

Thank you very much for the suggestion! I have thought of something like that, but wouldn't that trap the airflow and not fully dry out the pipe? Also would wiping the bowl just enough so it won't smell after each smoke not let my cake build, or after it builds ruin my cake at all?

 

[dragospiper]

jpmcwjr Thank you. So doing my method of smoking then cleaning as I have described is good? (if so then I'm very excited to be able to smoke my pipe and not reek my room to the extreme!!)

 

[philobeddoe]

I don't keep any cake in my pipes. Also, I don't advise sealing up your pipe, I was just saying, if the smell bothers you that much, it's one solution.

 

[dragospiper]

Sorry if my questions seem stupid but Im very new to this. (assuming you smoke briar) how do you smoke without burning out the pipes if there is not cake?

 

[warren]

Don't let it worry you. Soon, your room, clothes and hair will reek of stale smoke and you won't even notice it. Nothing to stew over, it's part and parcel of the pipe experience. No one even mentions it anymore when they visit.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Sorry if my questions seem stupid but Im very new to this.

Not stupid at all. I wish there were forums thirty years ago when I started smoking a pipe.

 

[mayfair70]

how do you smoke without burning out the pipes if there is not cake?

Letting the tobacco dry a bit and smoking slowly help a great deal. Also, Briar and Cobs handle the heat VERY well, which is why they are used. Most burnouts are the result of invisible (or nearly so) imperfections in the wood itself. I tend to smoke pretty hot and have never had burnout. I don't allow cake to build up, since a very thin carbon layer usually suffices. Good luck! ::

 

[madox07]

I am of the same opinion as these guys ... cake is ok, but not an exaggerated thick one. As for the smell ... hmmm, that's tricky as you can't enjoy a pipe without having to fire up your tobacco, and thus smoke .. any way, you get the point. Personally I smoke in my den, and sometimes I leave the door open, so the hallway and whatever room which I have forgotten to close the door will quickly get invaded by the smoke. Yes, it smells.. but I wouldn't use the term 'reek'. warren is absolutely right, once you get used to the smell it's no longer an issue, in fact after a long day's work I look forward to my smelly den and lighting up a pipe. If the smell is so unbearable to you, I recommend burning incense - look for the natural incense sticks. I think that it complements pipe quite well, although some people over here (as per previous posts) will disagree. Push comes to shove, get anti tobacco candles, or air fresheners. I think Rubbermaid makes a heavy duty anti tobacco air puff thingy. Smoking with your window a jar or full opened helps as well ... you can use all the products you can get your hands on, if you don't open the window so that part of the smoke is released from your room, it will eventually stain your walls, tapestries, drapes, and whatever else you use for decorations. I have gotten used to this idea as well, after all it's sanitary to get a new paint job on the walls every so often :puffpipe:

 

[cosmicfolklore]

My opinion is that cake sucks, but some guys like it. Warren is also correct in that you just have to get used to the smell. Soon, after smoking enough, you won't smell it much at all. It's just a part of what we do.
But, one thing that I have noticed reducing the smells of some of my most fragrant pipes, was from a suggestion by jpmcwjr. I run some water through my pipes after they have cooled a little and then run a pipecleaner through it. Not all of my pipes, just the stinkiest.

 

[mcitinner1]

What Warren and Cosmic said Plus One. I guess I do smell my pipes, but it certainly is not off putting. It's just part of the game.

 

[mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast]

There's only one cure for smelly pipe and smelly room, and that's Three Blind Moose. ::

 

[dragospiper]

Thank you for all the great answers, you guys are very helpful. Just to make sure you guys understood me, I love the smell of burning tobacco. While I smoke (I smoked in the car) it was great and it smelled wonderful. But after going back to the room, just the pipe itself filled my room with a bad smell. The pipe (after smoking) smelled very bad. So you guys says a thin hard cake is what I should go for, from my understanding. How does a cake really look.. I mean I know what it is now but don't think I know how to tell if one is forming or how it would look.

 

[mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast]

How does a cake really look.. I mean I know what it is now but don't think I know how to tell if one is forming or how it would look.

It starts by looking like thin patchy layers of carbon stuck on the inside of the bowl and then begins to fill in a little over time, or should. You want to build it in the bottom of the bowl first and then allow it to work it's way up the chamber. This is why a lot of people recommend that you break a pipe in with a dozen half bowls of Carter Hall first.
I don't think cake has anything to do with your pipe smell. That's just my opinion though and I certainly could be wrong.

My guess on the other hand is that the pipe came with a bowl coating that has made the pipe smell bad. I've had a number of pipes with poorly done bowl coatings that ruined the taste and smell of the pipe right out of the gate. I sanded out the coating, which helped alleviate the problem.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

With aromatics, it will seem like it is taking forever to make a cake. I am not sure why this is, but most of the goopy aros just don't make very good cakes, and when they do get caked, it is crumbly and just not worth the effort IMO. Virginia cakes are hard and rubbery like linoleum, and latkia cake seems to be like asphalt. Some guys say it enhances the flavor of your smoke, but if you don't like the smell of your cold pipe, why would you want to add that smell to your smoke? I am sure that there is a better answer than that, but...
What I like about Virginias is that the after-smell is more like tea or herbally. You'd think that aromatics would smell good, but they are kind of raunchy, IMO. I don't even like their room notes much. If I smoke an aromatic it is while cooking breakfast or setting on the porch. It definitely doesn't do anything good for the house. A pure Virginia is more natural smelling, and when we all come home after being out for a while, even the wife will say that they house smells like home. And, I smoke all of my waking hours.

 

[warren]

drago: I understood your post. Stale smoke and the other residues smell, reek, stink depending on your nose. After you've smoked in your car for a while have a nonsmoker get in and ask them what they smell? You haven't noticed it but the fabrics in the car are coated with stale smoke. This is why the value of your car has probably gone down in resale value,
You will get used to the reek. Some of us enjoy it, find it reassuring.

 

[sablebrush52]

One of the main reasons I only smoke outdoors is that I don't want my place to stink of stale tobacco. I can sink, but not my home. Stinking goes with the territory. It's part of the mystinque.

 

[warren]

My thoughts exactly. Well, except for the sinking part. Are you smoking in the hot tub? Pool?