Stem oxidation
- Thread starter Tommydawg
- Start date
Hi Tommy, you can certainly clean it up. Here is a thread that talks about various techniques and materials to help do so Micromesh “Grits” For Stem Maintenance Not Restoration :: Pipe Repair and Maintenance - https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/micromesh-%E2%80%9Cgrits%E2%80%9D-for-stem-maintenance-not-restoration.90660/
Vulcanite/ebonite will oxidise if exposed to sunlight. Better quality vulcanite will resist oxidation better.
I have a Peterson which I bought new and kept in a cupboard always. It oxidised after less than 18 months. When I tried polishing it with toothpaste, the stem developed a few pits. Obviously very poor quality vulcanite was used.
I have several pipes that are over 100yo and have had no problems maintaining black shiny stems
Acrylic stems will not oxidise. So consider them if micromeshing and oiling stems is not your thing.
I do not mind acrylic stems as I use rubber bits with all my pipes.
I have a Peterson which I bought new and kept in a cupboard always. It oxidised after less than 18 months. When I tried polishing it with toothpaste, the stem developed a few pits. Obviously very poor quality vulcanite was used.
I have several pipes that are over 100yo and have had no problems maintaining black shiny stems
Acrylic stems will not oxidise. So consider them if micromeshing and oiling stems is not your thing.
I do not mind acrylic stems as I use rubber bits with all my pipes.
Once the oxidation is removed there are a couple of things that you can do to slow its inevitable return -- coat the stem after use with obsidian oil (or similar, chapstick also works) and keep it out of sunlight. Some have also had success with jewelry cleaner cloth, plastic cleaner, or toothpaste in keeping the stem new looking.
I've not had good luck soaking vulcanite stems in Oxyclean. The process did not seem to remove much of the oxidation and left the stems with a gritty feeling that I needed to address with micro-mesh anyway.
I've not had good luck soaking vulcanite stems in Oxyclean. The process did not seem to remove much of the oxidation and left the stems with a gritty feeling that I needed to address with micro-mesh anyway.
While you may still want to use micro mesh pads for the final stages, I find La Belle Epoque's Before and After Deoxidizer less destructive as a starting point than most methods. I wrote about my experience using it here. I believe it leaves less pitting than OxiClean.
A quick wipe with mineral oil or Obsidian Oil will vastly slow down oxidation.
Gentlemen, these were all really helpful suggestions. I had mineral oil, and that was perfect for my needs now. Will learn more about the other methods as well. I realized that I’ve been overlooking routine pipe cleaning as part of my learning. I’m an infrequent smoker, and have a few pipes in rotation but I will now start building in general cleaning and maintenance. Thanks…
I keep my vulcanite out of the light. And I'm a big fan of Obsidian oil.
Low quality vulcanite will still tarnish when kept in the dark. You'll either have to live with it and/or engage in regular tarnish removal. Or sell them to those who have a high tolerance for tarnish who say that their vulcanite stems look fine even when kept in the light. Heh.
Acrylic stems stay shiny.
Low quality vulcanite will still tarnish when kept in the dark. You'll either have to live with it and/or engage in regular tarnish removal. Or sell them to those who have a high tolerance for tarnish who say that their vulcanite stems look fine even when kept in the light. Heh.
Acrylic stems stay shiny.
I have one pipe that the stem oxidizes and frankly it just feels like part of the experience to me. Reminds me of your grandfathers pipes.
Some of grandpa's were very high quality. Before I learned to keep hard rubber in the dark, I kept a bunch of my pipes on top of my china hutch. The 4-number Kaywoodie from the 1930s tarnished the least.
took till now from the mid 90's for my current oxidized one to do so. I polish it when it starts getting that sulfur flavor. Toothpaste and baking soda paste works great. It's actually taken a while for it to start up again. And I display it openly always have too.
My method may be frowned upon. I bought a NOS pipe from the 60s with fully oxidized stem(greenish). I wanted to smoke it right away so I did a quick wash in dishsoap to clean out inside dust etc, then took a piece of papertowel and sprayed some windex on it and rubbed the oxidation off ... took about 5 minutes and few folds of the towel. Then I hit it with Butcher Block oil (food grade mineral oil) ; wiped that down and applied some wax. I have to do that periodically but only the part of stem that goes in mouth.
If you're happy with it, it doesn't matter what other people think. Carry on!
I agree. I was just worried some people wouldn't see the efficiency of the windex. You know how some people are more sensitive
Interesting, I may try that sometime. I've not had issues with newly bought pipes but just burn oxidation off of estates.
Just curious how you're making out with the butcher block oil, I picked up some walrus butcher block oil recently and it seems to be working great, not sure why it's not mentioned more for stems.
Do you use regular Windex or the one with ammonia? I'm at the supermarket now and was thinking of picking some up.