Using Rubbing Alcohol to Sweeten a Sour Pipe.

[OzPiper]

I use cotton balls - easy to remove, and no mess compared with salt.
And a high proof clear spirit - in my case either a peach brandy (lovely after smell) or vodka.
I don't like using anything I'm not prepared to drink !
Be careful NOT to get the alcohol on the outside of the bowl.
I usually leave it to soak overnight.
I stuff an alcohol soaked cleaner in the shank first.

 

[AJL67]

I wouldn't use rubbing alcohol but I've stuffed the bowl with cotton and saturated it with Everclear, then let it sit for a day. Worked fine.

This has worked for me every time, also a lot easier than cleaning out salt if you do the salt / everclear method.

 

[fireground_piper]

+1 for 95% isopropyl alcohol here and a cotton ball for leaching.

I’ll use 100 proof vodka for quick cleanings.

 

[anotherbob]

I've used rubbing alcohol to good affect on estates but some places like SPC use denatured alcohol. That's actually kind of scary.

They only use that because otherwise Jeremy is going to breaking into the stash. Or at least that is my theory.

 

[instymp]

If I can't drink it it's not going in my pipe.
Just my opinion.

 

[Chasing Embers]

If I can't drink it it's not going in my pipe.
Just my opinion.

You drink tobacco?

 

[OzPiper]

You drink tobacco?

Not quite, but I have a cigar-infused grappa

 

[edger]

I was told by a pharmacist years ago, that rubbing alcohol contains a bitter component that is added to save the lives of desperate alcoholics.
I went in to his pharmacy and stupidly asked for something to "clean my pipes". I guess he thoughtI was making a medical request!
Once we sorted that out, he said that rubbing alcohol,with that additive, might make my pipes bitter, just sayin'.

 

[Buffalo]

In my experience, a sour pipe usually doesn't come from the bowl, but from the stem and stummel/shank of the pipe. @Beast said he smokes a lot of aromatics, which could lead to wetter smokes, gunking up the stummel/shank and the stem. Did you try running a pipe cleaner soaked in either a pipe sweetener or grain alcohol though the stem and then swabbing the stummel/shank with q-tips soaked in the same alcohol?

If the pipe was ghosted and imparting flavors into another blend, then I would recommend that the chamber of the bowl be reamed, filled with cotton/salt/charcoal and then saturated with alcohol.

 

[OverMountain]

Good techniques! Removing finish requires patience and skill.

 

[craig61a]

Post in thread 'Estate Smell, What Is It?' Estate Smell, What Is It? :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion - https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/estate-smell-what-is-it.39716/post-35344674

Well, maybe... RCSTAN who apparently no longer frequents this board seems to have indicated that was the case in 2015. Is he affiliated with SP? Is he just yanking somebody's chain? I don't think you can cite this hearsay as a plausible answer. It is a rather specious argument.

As to whether there is any risk of using said product in the cleaning of a pipe...

As far as I know, once the alcohols have evaporated there might a very very small residual of something. But depending on the manufacturer, there may be residual chemicals of some sort that aren't necessarily good for you depending on what they use to denature the product.

Let's see, tobacco has how many carcinogens in it...?

 

[Chasing Embers]

Well, maybe... RCSTAN who apparently no longer frequents this board seems to have indicated that was the case in 2015. Is he affiliated with SP? Is he just yanking somebody's chain? I don't think you can cite this hearsay as a plausible answer. It is a rather specious argument.

As to whether there is any risk of using said product in the cleaning of a pipe...

As far as I know, once the alcohols have evaporated there might a very very small residual of something. But depending on the manufacturer, there may be residual chemicals of some sort that aren't necessarily good for you depending on what they use to denature the product.

Let's see, tobacco has how many carcinogens in it...?

I'll have to dig it up again, but I posted an email inquiry a while back that confirmed that they still do.

 

[Chasing Embers]

@craig61a

 

[Chasing Embers]

I don't think you can cite this hearsay as a plausible answer.

He was their lead restorer at the time.

 

[Briar Lee]

Title edited for caps. Rule 9 on title formation.

Hello everyone, after reading several threads on dealing with a sour pipe, I soaked my briar pipe in rubbing alcohol for almost 24 hours. I had run out of pipe cleaners and as a result it had gotten very nasty. However after soaking and rinsing it no longer has any sour smell, but I haven’t smoked it yet as it is still drying. I did notice nearly all the cake had dissolved and the remainder had gotten lose and come out with minor tapping. I understood that wouldn’t happen. Any thoughts on why? I smoke primarily aromatics and shouldn’t take too long to regrow a nice cake though so it isn’t an issue just a curiosity.

I only use college punch party grade Everclear, instead of rubbing alcohol to do the same thing.

Drinking only a small amount of rubbing alcohol makes you go blind or maybe dead.

A little ethyl alcohol, has long been endorsed by hillbilly singers!

 

[jpmcwjr]

Alcohol is not necessary for any aspect of cleaning, except for pipes that come in totally abused and smoked with rotten tobacco.

 

[Beast]

After reading everyone’s advice I rechecked the bottle of alcohol. It says 70 isopropyl alcohol, is this the same as rubbing alcohol or was I mistaken?

 

[Briar Lee]

After reading everyone’s advice I rechecked the bottle of alcohol. It says 70 isopropyl alcohol, is this the same as rubbing alcohol or was I mistaken?

Drink just a couple of ounces of wood (isopropyl or rubbing) alcohol and you’ll find out how beautiful heaven must be.

It’s amazing they are allowed to sell it.

Ethyl alcohol takes a lifetime to kill you.

Rubbing alcohol only a few days of torture as you go blind, and die.

 

[ThermionicScott]

After reading everyone’s advice I rechecked the bottle of alcohol. It says 70 isopropyl alcohol, is this the same as rubbing alcohol or was I mistaken?

That's rubbing alcohol. If sniffing an open bottle doesn't kill you, I fail to see how smoking a pipe that has been cleaned with it and left to dry for a couple of days will.

 

[cigrmaster]

If I can't drink it I never use it on my pipe. I am strictly an Everclear man. I use shank brushes, bristle and soft pipe cleaners and will ream a pipe if needed which is not too often. This is what some old guys told me how to do a deep clean and I listened to them.