The Lakeland Ghost

[cosmicfolklore]

,was there any residue left after this your shock' treatment?

The pipe and dissolved cake turned the acetone black, like tar. It probably removed some of the stain, but when I hit it with some wax it looked clean and better than it did. It still looked stained, just maybe not as much so... But, like I said, the pipe is beautiful and I smoke it often now.

 

[mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast]

Well... it's getting there. It's better after one alcohol treatment, but I'm going to try hawky's suggestion of using white vinegar tonight. It's funny how ghosts like this work. You fire up a bowl and think maybe it's gone, but by the time the bowl heats up and you get further into it the ghost starts to creep up. I will conquer this beast. I'll go coffee grounds next if the white vinegar fails to exorcise. If there are any priests out there, please tell this ghost to go into the light.

 

[hawky454]

White Vinegar?Is this the ordinary standard strong vinegar often used in preserving pickles or so called white-vine Vinegar?

Yup, that’s the stuff!

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Thanks for the added information on vinegar.

 

[cigrmaster]

Lakeland ghosts are scourge to the pipe community and is a serious issue in my mind. People who smoke them need to declare that fact when selling estate pipes as it is just not fair to us who really despise their flavors.

 

[virginialover]

There should be a new "The Exorcist" movie themed on THE LAKELAND GHOST "insert ominous music here" :evil:

 

[mackeson]

Harris, you make a good point. Any strong ghost should be disclosed. I personally love the lakeland ghost (hence my new signature).

I have 2 pipes dedicated to straight Virginias, 2 to VAPers, and a handful to single blends. Most of my pies are lat/non lat classified though.

I do smoke lat blends in the non lat pipes from time to time because I love the slight carryover. Same with Lakeland blends. I realize that not everyone likes that though.

 

[renfield]

Tobacco ghosts can be bad for sure. Even worse, to me, are pipes that have been “cleaned” with household cleaners by unwitting people who don’t know anything about pipes. Those are some tough ghosts as well and no tobacco seems to mask even the faintest trace of the scents from the cleaner.

 

[mackeson]

Even worse, to me, are pipes that have been “cleaned” with household cleaners

Sounds horrible! Luckily, I've never ended up with a Pine Sol or Mr. Clean pipe, but the thought makes me shudder.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I too like Lakeland blends and their ghosts. A Latakia ghost can be nearly as persistant, and I think those should be labeled in a description as well.

 

[mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast]

Well... hawky, the vinegar helped, but didn't get it completely exorcised. I thought at first, it worked, but in the end the last 2/3 of the bowl was Lakeland city. I even got a remark from my friend that it smelled like soap.
The good news is that I think the white vinegar helped, and with a couple more treatments the pipe will get there and be free of the Lakeland ghost? Maybe? Otherwise, onto coffee grounds.

 

[mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast]

Well... after another white vinegar treatment, the ghost has pretty much been exorcised. At least, enough to where I can smoke the pipe and enjoy it. It still lingers a little towards the bottom on the bowl, but nothing a little smoking of the pipe shouldn't remedy. Thanks for the tip hawky! I really went at it on the second treatment. The first round I carefully used an eye dropper to soak the cotton ball in the chamber. The second round I just poured the white vinegar over the cotton ball to really soak it, and after an overnight soak I pulled out the cotton ball and could feel the pipe was heavier and the vinegar had soaked completely into the briar and all the way to the outer inside walls of the pipe. Some Lakelands must have oils added to them, which is why they ghost so much? I assume the same is true of some aromatic blends? Again, thanks for the tip.

 

[kola]

Hopefully ya got her breathing normal again.
I've never heard of using coffee grounds-always used salt and Everclear 190 proof.
I bought one pipe (a gorgeous 302 Pete Spigot off ebay) that was floral/soap nasty-ass. After 4-5 treatments it still stunk, as did the stem.
It went in the trash.
And yeah, like cigarmaster mentioned, I'd sure wish sellers would give buyers a heads up that a pipe has been ghosted out.

I don't want to have to douche-bag a pipe anymore.
This is why I now try to buy from the guys who take the extra time to clean them up and offer a return if you're not satisfied.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

I recently saw that Smokingpipes.com does give a notice on the description of the estate pipes if there's any ghost persisting

 

[briarbuda48]

Great thread. The Lakeland ghost is the worst of its kind in my opinion. In the past, I just had to smoke them out which took considerably longer than other types of ghosting. I had not read about the vinegar treatment, thank you all. I will try this on my latest Lakeland estates.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

I accidentally ghosted a Savinelli with a Lakeland once. Took 3-4 alcohol/salt treatments and a month of 1Q 2-3 times a week to get rid of it.