salt alcohol cleaning
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Well there really is not a set number. The salt when drying will turn brown on top, I do mine until there is very little to no brown anymore. When I clean some estate pipe I got, I like to ream it good, dump cake and rinse with water (no it doesn't hurt it) briar was outside before it became a pipe. I have heard some leave cake in, so that might make a difference. But for me it usually takes 2 or 3 times.
Salt is used because it is not soluble in alcohol, and it traps the dissolved tars and resins released by the alcohol.
The downside, IMO, is that salt is a PITA to clear from the pipe after the treatment. Cotton balls will work just as well
as salt, and they make clean-up much easier.
Personally, having no ghosting problems, I have quit treating the bowl altogether, and now only swab the shank and stem with alcohol.
The downside, IMO, is that salt is a PITA to clear from the pipe after the treatment. Cotton balls will work just as well
as salt, and they make clean-up much easier.
Personally, having no ghosting problems, I have quit treating the bowl altogether, and now only swab the shank and stem with alcohol.
A very hot water rinse before and after salt alcohol, or just alcohol does a lot of good things, and no bad ones.
Agree with the above, as many times as necessary. I personally use cotton balls as I've heard that salt can crack the bowl. In some cases though, cleaning the mortise with alcohol and a Q-tip, and cleaning the stem airway with alcohol and a pipe cleaner will do more for clearing a ghost than salt and alcohol in the chamber. Some ghosts can only be cleared by smoking them out.
I've usually left them over night - but I keep enough alcohol in so the solution is more of a slurry. A year or so ago, I changed to only soaking for a few hours. Recently, listening to the Rob Cooper interview on the PipesMagazine Radio podcast, he made a similar comment and thought more time with the alcohol could do more damage than good.
"Recently, listening to the Rob Cooper interview on the PipesMagazine Radio podcast, he made a similar comment and thought more time with the alcohol could do more damage than good."
That's interesting Al, did he give a reason for this?
Regards,
Jay.
That's interesting Al, did he give a reason for this?
Regards,
Jay.
He did, I can't recall his exact words and deleted the podcast a few months ago. It seemed in sync with my practices, so I continued. I made comment about it on the thread for that podcast, so it's here somewhere.
Cracked shanks due to salt treatment?? excerpts from above.
"Sanding chamber- starts with 100 grit up to 400. Then alcohol. Salt treatment only a couple of hours. Cracked shanks 'a result of over doing it'".
Agreed, BUT, if stem is left in, no danger to the shank over drying which could lead to cracking. I always leave stems in when doing salt treatments.
Now, however, since I started hot water rinses, I've had no need to do a salt treatment at all. Only on a new estate pipe now.
"Sanding chamber- starts with 100 grit up to 400. Then alcohol. Salt treatment only a couple of hours. Cracked shanks 'a result of over doing it'".
Agreed, BUT, if stem is left in, no danger to the shank over drying which could lead to cracking. I always leave stems in when doing salt treatments.
Now, however, since I started hot water rinses, I've had no need to do a salt treatment at all. Only on a new estate pipe now.
I've accidentally left a pipe with salt in it for three days when I forgot I had started the salt treatment. Other than being a little salty the first few smokes I didn't have any real issues.
Repeat as many times till the Brown color disappears, use Kosher salt only, and retort should remove the Ghost. A good HOT water bath and scrub afterwards and you should be good to go
I used to do salt/alcohol treatments and had only limited success, and have not even thought about doing another for years. Seems like overkill, now; but I suppose i'd try it again given a stubborn ghost. I'd much rather ream the pipe down to wood and smoke it a couple dozen times first.
Somewhere between a hot water rinse and a full on salt treatment is filling with damp coffee grounds and letting dry out a day or three.
When you do a water rise, are you submerging the whole stummel in hot water or just flushing the bowl and shank with running water?
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