Shea Butter As A Polishing Material

[TheHellYeah]

Hello everyone,

I had a little bit of shea butter sitting around the house and was thinking about using it a polishing material to recover two pipe stems that are a bit green and have teeth marks.
Do you think it’s a good way of doing it or this might harm the stem or even make them too much glossy?
Thanks in advance!

 

[OzPiper]

Absolutely no idea.

Why don’t you give it a go and report back - success or otherwise

 

[warren]

No toothpaste in the home? That's been my go to for years. From what I've read "shea butter" is a hair care product. Toothpaste will actually clean and shine a bit. Shea butter? Probably only provides a sheen to the surface. Still, per above, give it a go if you wish. They're your pipes. treat 'em as you wish.

 

[TheHellYeah]

I

No toothpaste in the home? That's been my go to for years. From what I've read "shea butter" is a hair care product. Toothpaste will actually clean and shine a bit. Shea butter? Probably only provides a sheen to the surface. Still, per above, give it a go if you wish. They're your pipes. treat 'em as you wish.

I’ve tried toothpaste already but the teeth bites reappear after two or three smokes after. Anyway, I also have some bee’s wax and I read some here that it could also be used. Polishing the stems is not my main concern, but getting rid of the bite marks. I’ve thought about shea butter because it’s greasy but not that much.
If I’ll give it a try I’ll post some pics here.

 

[warren]

To remove bite marks you need grit, the finer the better but, gritty enough to remove material. Otherwise you're just shining up the tooth marks. The best suggestion I can offer is to use less pressure, learn to balance the smoking tool and quit biting it. It's so simple. But, if you are going to bite the stem, the result will be tooth marks. If that's your style, get used to them otherwise you'll soon remove enough material to require a new bit.

The pipe is a tool for delivering nicotine and will reflect it's use. No way around that. Get used to it. Tools show wear.

 

[TheHellYeah]

To remove bite marks you need grit, the finer the better but, gritty enough to remove material. Otherwise you're just shining up the tooth marks. The best suggestion I can offer is to use less pressure, learn to balance the smoking tool and quit biting it. It's so simple. But, if you are going to bite the stem, the result will be tooth marks. If that's your style, get used to them otherwise you'll soon remove enough material to require a new bit.

The pipe is a tool for delivering nicotine and will reflect it's use. No way around that. Get used to it. Tools show wear.

That’s valuable advice there! Makes sense! I bought them second hand and they came like that. I’m not to keen on biting the stems so I just want to recover them a bit! I’ll try that process! Thanks!

 

[condorlover1]

Someone on here years ago asked if KY lube could be used to polish a pipe. Some of the responses he got were hilarious!

 

[FurCoat]

I use heat to smooth out the chatter. Same method @Chasing Embers uses to polish stems with a bic lighter. A final sanding and polish with micro mesh will smooth out what the heat won't pull up.

 

[warren]

hey came like that.

Some pictures might help with the advice. If a lot of material needs to be removed you might be better off getting replacement bits.

 

[ssjones]

If you put any kind of greasy product, food or other, on a stem, its just going to make the stem greasy and will not remove oxidation. Temporarily, it will look shiny.

 

[Waning Embers]

I use heat to smooth out the chatter. Same method @Chasing Embers uses to polish stems with a bic lighter. A final sanding and polish with micro mesh will smooth out what the heat won't pull up.

The lighter will singe the oxidation and can then be wiped away. I bring them to a mirror shine with toothpaste.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

What's everyone's preferred brand of toothpaste for pipe maintenance?