H
HRPufnstuf
Guest
Alcohol cleanses are performed with both swabs and salt. Are there criteria for using one over the other?
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I use salt, six of one half dozen of another. You can also use activated carbon. It really doesn't matter, you just need to provide a vehicle to trap the liquified tars and oils.
I really don’t look forward to doing any of the above, but when I must, my go to is salt. I don’t know why, but it just is. This hopefully will be an informative thread.
I've tried cotton balls a few times, but I always seem to get the best results with salt and the highest-proof alcohol I can find.
I use salt and think it is more effective than cotton. Never tried activated carbon, sounds like a mess.
I choose salt for mine.
It seems to me that cotton saturated with the solvent, will loosen the gunk and just kind of “hold it” against the saturated surface of the object being cleaned, where salt would “draw” the gunk away.
Think of oil spilled on concrete-stay it with drop a rag soaked in a quick evaporating solvent (brake cleaner or such) on it, then pick it up after the solvent’s evaporated.
Now spray spill with same solvent and put kitty litter on the mixture.
Which one pulls more from the semi-porous surface?
It seems to me that cotton saturated with the solvent, will loosen the gunk and just kind of “hold it” against the saturated surface of the object being cleaned, where salt would “draw” the gunk away.
Think of oil spilled on concrete-stay it with drop a rag soaked in a quick evaporating solvent (brake cleaner or such) on it, then pick it up after the solvent’s evaporated.
Now spray spill with same solvent and put kitty litter on the mixture.
Which one pulls more from the semi-porous surface?
I prefer cotton balls. Less mess. I've noticed zero difference in cotton balls over salt as far as breaking down and softening cake build up. Seems to me the alcohol is doing all the work.
In that analogy, you would have to apply alcohol to the pipe then add the salt. A drop cloth or pig mat works better when applied as you would the cat litter. If it's saturated with a solvent, it's only going to liquefy whatever is beneath it without absorbing much but if applied dry to a mess saturated with a solvent it will absorb more. In the case of a pipe, salt, cotton, or whatever allows the tar to be broken down and wicked away as the alcohol evaporates.
I'm more inclined to use cotton, as that's what works for me. Never felt the need to use salt, though I've never had a pipe need such a deep cleaning. If it's a ghosting issue, the pipe merely gets dedicated to whatever ghost it encompasses, and I smoke on.
H
HRPufnstuf
Guest
In soils, wicking is a function of surface area vs. airspace between particles. Finer particles equates with lower airpace and greater surface area allowing the solution to carry further via surface tension. Cotton has an enormous amount of airspace relative to salt, and lower surface area to allow surface tension to carry dissolved materials. This is why litter or sand is so much more effective than a rag to clean up spills. I'll give salt a try the next time I have a pipe to freshen.
Both salt or cotton balls will do a good job.
Cotton balls are easy to remove and much less messy
I’ve used Coconut Shell Granular Activated Carbon Charcoal and Denatured Alcohol in one of my Gourd Calabash pipes with very good results.
Over the half century I’ve smoked pipes, and most of them used pipes the last thirty years, only a few have been so rank or sour I’ve tried the salt treatment.
In my experience using Everclear and sea salt might, maybe give an old soured pipe a little more life, and make it smokable again, but I’ve never brought back a pipe to where I thought it was an excellent smoker again, with salt treatments.
I probably don’t have another fifty years left to smoke pipes, and I avoid so so and merely acceptable ones.
I think the better plan is to toss that pipe or use it as a decorator and smoke fresher ones. I’m convinced a pipe has a definite lifespan and after it’s completely soured by long use,,,,.it’s all over. Try another pipe.
The exceptions I’ve found are a few old pipes in wonderful condition that are musty from long storage in a basement. Using Five Brothers or Brown Bogie or Kendal #7 for a few smokes might restore all the goodie to a musty (or otherwise ghosted) pipe. For those I avoid salt because I can sort of taste the salt a long time afterwards, or rather I might describe a salted pipe as not being neutral. Instead I soak the musty pipe bowl using cotton bolls and Everclear. You can’t hurt a pipe using cotton bolls and booze but salt can crack old briar.
In my experience using Everclear and sea salt might, maybe give an old soured pipe a little more life, and make it smokable again, but I’ve never brought back a pipe to where I thought it was an excellent smoker again, with salt treatments.
I probably don’t have another fifty years left to smoke pipes, and I avoid so so and merely acceptable ones.
I think the better plan is to toss that pipe or use it as a decorator and smoke fresher ones. I’m convinced a pipe has a definite lifespan and after it’s completely soured by long use,,,,.it’s all over. Try another pipe.The exceptions I’ve found are a few old pipes in wonderful condition that are musty from long storage in a basement. Using Five Brothers or Brown Bogie or Kendal #7 for a few smokes might restore all the goodie to a musty (or otherwise ghosted) pipe. For those I avoid salt because I can sort of taste the salt a long time afterwards, or rather I might describe a salted pipe as not being neutral. Instead I soak the musty pipe bowl using cotton bolls and Everclear. You can’t hurt a pipe using cotton bolls and booze but salt can crack old briar.
