Rancid Residue Caked in the Shank

[PipeIT]

+1 for the cotton balls, this is what I’ve done with good results. I never like the idea of salt, cotton balls simpler and less mess.

 

[Grangerous]

I wash eating utensils with dish soap and have no fear of putting these in my mouth.

I wash my pipes the same way and I rinse them well. They stay fresh and clean.

I don’t anticipate ever needing alcohol or salt or coffee grinds or WD-40 or power drills or….

If I encounter such a pipe that would require such, it’d better have some collector value but someone else can smoke it.

 

[Briar Lee]

I’ve used an entire sleeve of Everclear soaked pipe cleaners on my Lovat, and smoked three bowls of Half and Half.

This pipe has turned from a sour, heavy smoker into a delicious, sweet smoker that delivers all the subtle flavors of Half and Half.

One other bonus, is this straight grain now smokes as cool as if were asbestos. That’s sort of the luck of the draw, but an excellent smoker never gets too hot to hold.

And it would be hard to ask for prettier straight grain.

 

[burleybreath]

Are we talking about neglected pipes? Maybe for years? (Don't judge me.) A very small flat-bladed screwdriver can be used to start scraping on the mortise gunk buildup. You're digging into a corner there (flat-bottomed hole, right angled walls). In my experience, you can use swabs and pipe cleaners till doomsday and they'll still come out brown tinged. A screwdriver deftly applied speeds up the process.

But I'm slowly coming over to the warm water douche method of freshening a pipe. Works instantly, it seems. Have yet to try it on $200+ pipes, but why not? (Cowardice comes to mind, but I'm a big boy now, Mommy.)

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Alcohol is fine for deeper cleanings once every year or so. I still do that when needed, but some warm water at the end of the day will keep this kind of thing from ever happening. I mean, take it or leave it, but it is a lot better than having to figure out how to fix a rancid pipe. An ounce of prevention and all of that.

 

[Zeno Marx]

I’ve used an entire sleeve of Everclear soaked pipe cleaners

Could have saved yourself a couple bucks and a lot of time with a little dish soap and a scrub brush. Work smart, not hard.

 

[beargreasediet]

1. Get yourself some nylon shank brushes to do the heavy lifting instead of boxes of pipe cleaners.
2. A drill bit will clear out surface deposits. I will do nothing for rancid oils that have seeped into the wood
3. Use a boiling alcohol retort flush to really pull out rancid oils and deposits, but be careful not to set yourself on fire.
4. Ask Goergoe Dibos for his method of cleaning out a shank and removing rancid oils and ghosts. It's better that any other method you will learn here.

After hand drilling, de-gunking mortise bottom with George D’s nifty home made tool, scrubbing with hot water/soap, salt and alcohol treatment, and a half-dozen retort passes, I’m still picking up some funk. Not a ghost mind you, just fouling in the shank. Suspect this Poul Olsen was smoked with religious devotion and never cleaned.

Have you used and had luck with multiple retort sessions over time?

Also, I’ve searched @georged ‘s YT feed and come up with no joy on his shank cleaning method. Is this a trade secret?

 

[georged]

Also, I’ve searched @georged ‘s YT feed and come up with no joy on his shank cleaning method. Is this a trade secret?

I ream/shave shank airways with an "exactly the right size" drill bit from a special set made for the purpose (the cutting end is ground to a bullet shape), then do the ganulated charcoal + alcohol thing to pull undesirable yuck from the wood.

No standard set of bits is graduated in small enough increments, btw. The set must be assembled from a combination of inch, metric, and wire guage (numbered) sizes.

 

[beargreasediet]

No doubt you've used the retort method, do you find the charcoal/alcohol method is better, or simply preferable (for obvious reasons...)? And do you often resort to multiple iterations of the charcoal treatments?

Thank you George, as always your willingness to share your wealth of knowledge is MUCH appreciated.

 

[NE Pipeteer]

The nylon brushes with Dawn dish soap and warm water are godsend when dealing with a nasty shank or stem. Some folks that worry about dish soap in a pipe, just think about how you never taste dish soap on your silverware or plates. The key is liberal rinsing with warm water. I will do a final rinse with 99% alcohol after the water rinse to pull the water from the briar. Remember your high school chemistry - alcohol is hydrophilic so it will grab the water and pull it from the briar.

 

[woodrow]

Shank brushes and dish detergent. kosher salt in the stummel. Cotton balls in the shank. Apply iso alcohol.
You can clean the shank again with a small screw driver and get the gunk out.