Using Alcohol and Cotton Balls on Meerschaum

[mingc]

The charcoal runs a risk of scoring a bare meerschaum chamber as well.

What does "scoring" mean here please?

 

[Chasing Embers]

What does "scoring" mean here please?

Scratching

Bristle pipe cleaners will do it as well.

 

[mingc]

Scratching

Bristle pipe cleaners will do it as well.

Oh. You can buy activated charcoal in varying degrees of size. You can also ground them down yourself with, say, a pestle and mortar. I don't think the finer stuff will risk scratching meerschaum.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Oh. You can buy activated charcoal in varying degrees of size. You can also ground them down yourself with, say, a pestle and mortar. I don't think the finer stuff will risk scratching meerschaum.

Both have a hardness of 2 on the Mohs. I'd still use caution when using it.

 

[Snakeseye]

great thread, good to put those common tips to the test sometimes.
how often do you do this kind of cleaning to your meerschaums? or was it just for the experiement?
do you think it potentially slows off further colouring since you pull gunk and maybe some of the tars in the meer out?
what about the shank?

what is your method to clean the shank? pipe cleaners with alcohol?
I am courious in general, but asking because I have a meer that has gotten a bitter offputting taste which I'm not sure how to get rid of. not maybe sources online talk about that.

 

[georged]

Both have a hardness of 2 on the Mohs. I'd still use caution when using it.

You just pour it in, and pour it back out (once the alcohol has evaporated, it's as dry and loose as it was going in).

The only conceivable way to scratch a chamber wall with the stuff would be something like filling halfway, jamming your finger in it, and twisting/grinding.

Which would be a trifle weird, even for someone as obviously anti-social and crazy as a pipe smoker.

A tobacco pipe smoker, anyway.

 

[mingc]

You just pour it in, and pour it back out (once the alcohol has evaporated, it's as dry and loose as it was going in).

The only conceivable way to scratch a chamber wall with the stuff would be something like filling halfway, jamming your finger in it, and twisting/grinding.

Which would be a trifle weird, even for someone as obviously anti-social and crazy as a pipe smoker.

A tobacco pipe smoker, anyway.

Don't give us ideas, George.

 

[Chasing Embers]

how often do you do this kind of cleaning to your meerschaums?

Newly bought, never. On estate pieces before the first smoke.

do you think it potentially slows off further colouring since you pull gunk and maybe some of the tars in the meer out?

Not at all. You want the material to soak up the tar to color.

what is your method to clean the shank? pipe cleaners with alcohol?

Cotton swabs and alcohol.

 

[Snakeseye]

Newly bought, never. On estate pieces before the first smoke.



Not at all. You want the material to soak up the tar to color.



Cotton swabs and alcohol.

Thank you for your answers, I have cleaned the meer which has been giving me an off taste thanks to your advice and I'm just about to test it, I am optimistic.
what I mean about the slowing down of colouring, is that in my head you use the alcohol and pads to clean the meer by pulling stuff out of the meer into the cotton, won't those be the same tars you would want to stay inside the pipe so it will colour? I am only asking to have a better understanding and curious how this all works.

 

[Chasing Embers]

won't those be the same tars you would want to stay inside the pipe so it will colour?

Probably. I would only ever normally do it to sanitize an estate piece but not make a regular practice of it.

 

[Snakeseye]

Probably. I would only ever normally do it to sanitize an estate piece but not make a regular practice of it.

got it, makes sense, I always sanitize my briars the same way, I did feel a bit strange about not doing it on meers - I am glad that it seems like it is a possibility, for future estate meers I will get, thank you for posting about it

 

[jhowell]

I soaked a meer stummel in alcohol for a week with no damage. The full report is here in the forums somewhere.

 

[cshubhra]

I soaked a meer stummel in alcohol for a week with no damage. The full report is here in the forums somewhere.

I vaguely remembered that you did it. I also vaguely remember you did it with water. Since I was not sure, I did not refer to your experiment. Do keep up these … immensely helpful and interesting.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I vaguely remembered that you did it. I also vaguely remember you did it with water. Since I was not sure, I did not refer to your experiment. Do keep up these … immensely helpful and interesting.

The thread was post experiment with no progress photos.

 

[jhowell]

The thread was post experiment with no progress photos.

There was no progress (change) hence no photos. Besides, I can barely operate a computer, much less a camera also <grin>