Hello all. I keep reading in several threads about Oxyclean, sand papers of various grinds, jeweler’s cloth, micromesh cloth, toothbrush, toothpaste, obsidian oil, power tools buffing with compounds etc.
While I am pretty sure that everything works, I have a different approach and use materials every household has.
I am a knife guy and for quite a few decades I’ve been using lemon to remove stains from my carbon steel knives. I cut a lemon in half and then I rub the blade with the half lemon for a few minutes. The stains go away.
After I sharpen my knives on the stones I polish the edge of the blade with a leather belt. I use the opposite side which is rough no gloss natural leather with no varnish. This is what the old barbers used to do to sharpen the straight razors. No polishing compound needed.
Back to the Vulcanite stems now
I use a magic eraser sponge (dirt cheap from Temu but every market sells it). All you need is a few drops of lemon juice on the sponge and then you rub the oxidized part of the stem . It takes a few seconds up to a few minutes to remove the oxidation, depending on how much it is.
Don’t have a magic eraser? You can use a piece of printer paper with lemon juice. Not glossy paper. The lazy way is a battery operated rotary soft toothbrush with lemon or toothpaste. Toothpaste leaves a rougher surface though. You can also use vinegar or coca cola but it takes more time. Lemon is the king. You can also use citric acid juice or crystalls diluted with water. It's the same as natural lemon. These are acidic and remove oxidation.
Now that the oxidation disappeared we have to polish the stem near the button where the oxidation used to be because the above procedure usually leaves a matt finish.
I rub the stem on the rough side of the leather belt for a couple of minutes. These days almost everybody wears a nylon belt but we old codgers all have leather belts.
We pipe smokers most likely also have a Peterson type leather pipe stand. The inside is rough leather. It’s the same thing like the belt.
Alternatively you can polish the stem with a dry printer paper.
The above is a one-time procedure.
Now that our stem is polished we can apply beeswax to further polish and seal the stem. I use it to waterproof my leather boots. We can also use olive or vegetable oil or butter.
Regular Maintainance.
After each smoke rub the stem with your shirt, a paper tissue or just your fingers. The fingers have some fat on them.
Weekly. Apply Beeswax or natural edible oil. Store your pipes at a dark place.
I promise you will never see oxidation again.
While I am pretty sure that everything works, I have a different approach and use materials every household has.
I am a knife guy and for quite a few decades I’ve been using lemon to remove stains from my carbon steel knives. I cut a lemon in half and then I rub the blade with the half lemon for a few minutes. The stains go away.
After I sharpen my knives on the stones I polish the edge of the blade with a leather belt. I use the opposite side which is rough no gloss natural leather with no varnish. This is what the old barbers used to do to sharpen the straight razors. No polishing compound needed.
Back to the Vulcanite stems now
I use a magic eraser sponge (dirt cheap from Temu but every market sells it). All you need is a few drops of lemon juice on the sponge and then you rub the oxidized part of the stem . It takes a few seconds up to a few minutes to remove the oxidation, depending on how much it is.
Don’t have a magic eraser? You can use a piece of printer paper with lemon juice. Not glossy paper. The lazy way is a battery operated rotary soft toothbrush with lemon or toothpaste. Toothpaste leaves a rougher surface though. You can also use vinegar or coca cola but it takes more time. Lemon is the king. You can also use citric acid juice or crystalls diluted with water. It's the same as natural lemon. These are acidic and remove oxidation.
Now that the oxidation disappeared we have to polish the stem near the button where the oxidation used to be because the above procedure usually leaves a matt finish.
I rub the stem on the rough side of the leather belt for a couple of minutes. These days almost everybody wears a nylon belt but we old codgers all have leather belts.
We pipe smokers most likely also have a Peterson type leather pipe stand. The inside is rough leather. It’s the same thing like the belt.
Alternatively you can polish the stem with a dry printer paper.
The above is a one-time procedure.
Now that our stem is polished we can apply beeswax to further polish and seal the stem. I use it to waterproof my leather boots. We can also use olive or vegetable oil or butter.
Regular Maintainance.
After each smoke rub the stem with your shirt, a paper tissue or just your fingers. The fingers have some fat on them.
Weekly. Apply Beeswax or natural edible oil. Store your pipes at a dark place.
I promise you will never see oxidation again.
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