Refurb an old Meerschaum

[dburrows]

I acquired an old Meerschaum that's actually in great condition - I don't think it was smoked much at all as there is very little coloring other than the beeswax.
The problem is the fact that it's been sitting in an attic for about 30 years. I've cleaned out the stem after soaking it overnight in vodka. Pipe cleaners come out as they went in now. I used q-tips and rubbing alcohol to take care of the shank and they come out clean now.
[edit - hit send by accident] The question is about the bowl. It's musty. Hardly any cake - I was figuring I could ream that but I'm seeing that the alcohol salt treatment should NOT be used on meerschaum. So how do I get rid of this old used wet sock of a scent that comes out of this thing? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

[bootlegbonvivant]

Take a paper towel or cotton balls with some alcohol on it and wipe the bowl out. That should do the trick

Other than that, try a smoke in it and see how it does.

 

[dburrows]

Thanks I was thinking that as well. I've also seen people lining the bowl of a briar with alcohol and burning it out a few times but was a little unsure since it's meerschaum.
Seems most are saying since the alcohol will leech the nicotine & tar, that you want that to stay in the pipe (for the color) but I'm thinking this thing really hasn't been smoked much since the color looks just a tad darker than what you would buy new... If that's the case then the alcohol treatment wouldn't seem to be so much of a problem. I'll post my results.

 

[whvaughn]

This is great, I'm working on cleaning and sanitizing several pipes I recently purchased on ebay. One is a Kaywoodie Poker with Meerschaum lining and I was at a loss as to cleaning the bowl. I have the stem (along with several others) soaking in some high octane white rum (63% alcohol). I'm going to go ahead and try wiping out the bowl with cotton swabs dipped in the rum.
I'm excited about the Kaywoodie- I've always loved Pokers. The only "problem" is that is has a stinger that can't be removed. The stinger actually acts as the tenon and is how the stem attaches to the shank of the pipe. I have a couple of Longchamps that came with the funny "cork screw" type stinger, those were simple to remove. Any thoughts on stingers? I had a Dr. G years ago that had a stinger and always smoked wet and gurgled- I put it down to the stinger but realize it might have been my smoking technique (this has been some 20 years or so ago and that Dr. G was my first pipe). In your experience, does the stinger really do anything (positive or negative) to the quality of the smoke? Would a pipe outfitted with a stinger perhaps be best suited to aromatics (I'm not much of an aromatic smoker, but occassionally smoke them for the room note).

 

[fred]

The use of a doubled over Pipe cleaner with Everclear on it, followed by reaming with a paper towel is a good idea. The ignition of any flammable liquid in a Meerschaum's chamber is not a good idea. Routine maintenance using this technique is a good idea. I also use a sharp blunt tipped knife to trim cake in the chamber, as Meerschaum can have a black, tar-like plaque build up in the bowl, which will impart a bitter quality to the smoke. This is especially a risk for those who smoke heavily cased blends and/or Aromatics. It's a good idea to keep the Everclear off the Pipe's exterior.

 

[spyder71]

I have a question along these lines...

Can I sand the exterior of a Meerschaum pipe? I have a smooth bowled Meer that has scratches on it and seeings how it was only smoked a few times I would like to get them out, if possible, before it colors. A friend of mine is a bee keeper so I can get all the real wax I need to coat the bowl again.

 

[fred]

Yes, you can wet sand with 600 grit to 12000 grit with good results, but it will take years to re-establish the patina that age has brought to this Pipe. Better to use white Beeswax.

 

[dburrows]

Ok, so I used a pipe ream to get rid of all the cake buildup (there wasn't really much there) and then continued wiping it out with paper towels and q-tips dipped in vodka. Once they were coming out mostly clean, I filled the bowl with vodka and let it sit for a few minutes (I used pipe cleaners to block the shank so the vodka didn't drip out). After about 10 minutes or so, I emptied the bowl and continued to wipe it out until the paper towels and q-tips were coming out mostly clean again.
After this process, I lined the bowl with vodka and just let it dry. After all of this the pipe smelled nice and clean. I'm seasoning it with some HH Vintage Syrian and it's smoking great! I think the vodka gave it a bit of a sweet flavor the first half bowl or so.
Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and advice. I'll get a picture or two up here later.

 

[spyder71]

Yes, we love pics!

Thank you Fred

 

[baronsamedi]