Wanting to change a pipe over to another tobacco type

[bludgeoningdeath]

I have an estate pipe that I bought when I first started smoking. Of course being a beginner I smoked a lot of aromatics. I purchased BnB's "Blackberry Brandy" tobacco and smoked that out of it for awhile as well as some cherry blends.
I have since used Everclear with some pipe cleaners but it still has a bit of the aromatic scent in it and now I would like to use the pipe for Virginia and VA/Per blends.
I'm sure this has been posted but how exactly do you do a more thorough cleaning? The type where I see in threads rice or cotton balls are used to suck moisture out of the pipe. It just still has a strong ghost of that darn blackberry brandy...which I found to be gross after awhile.
On a side note. Is there anything you would say about smoking Virginia and VA/Per blends in the same pipe? I wouldn't think the Perique would make that much difference.

 

[fishingandpipes]

RE: pure Virginia vs. va/per - it doesn't make a huge difference. I guess it can, especially depending upon the blend, but I wouldn't worry about it.
Some aros take a long time to get out and you just have to keep smoking the pipe. Supposedly Walker's ozone treatment will fix it, but I think it just takes time.

 

[bludgeoningdeath]

Thanks fishingandpipes. I saw in another forum topic that some people prefer different style pipes for different blends. I wouldn't see how that could make a big difference but I'd honestly never thought about that. This pipe has somewhat of a long stem, around an inch wide in diameter, and the bowl is actually deep. Maybe 2.5 inches deep.

 

[mso489]

I'm not sensitive to ghosting, but maybe break the pipe in anew with Carter Hall until the aro fades, then move to

the newly designated tobacco. I think if you apply too much liquid in purging the pipe, it might foul the cake.

 

[waxmojo]

I have switched from aero's to Va/Vapers on a few pipes. Just smoke them. You may taste some aero for a few bowls but it will go away.

 

[gtclark]

Good advice here - unless you're a "super-taster", I doubt you'll notice it after a few bowls. Now my dedicated latakia blend pipes are a different story - I'd probably have to ream and do a few salt / alcohol treatments if I wanted to re-purpose them, and even that might not work.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I burned several bowls of burly through mine to de-aro it, when I switched my first pipe over. That worked well. But, on the second question, it really depends on the Va that you want to smoke, IMO. If you like those very subtle tea-like notes in some of the lighter Va's as in 109 or some of the light Canadian Va's, then you'll want to dedicate a pipe for it.

The Perique does linger for a while. But, if I'm just burning some Blackwoods or Red Cake, it doesn't seem to matter. The ghost of the VaPer is sometimes a welcome thing.
Michael

 

[bludgeoningdeath]

Thanks for the advice everyone. The gentleman at Cville Smoke Shop warned me about not mixing Latakia in other pipes.
What exactly is the salt and alchohol treatment? What steps do you take?

How often do you recommend doing that? Once a year for a good cleaning?

 

[mrenglish]

You should do the alcohol and salt very sparingly. If you cannot stand the taste of the aro with your VA, you can give it a try.
I don't use salt but put cotton balls in the bowl. Then use an eye dropper with strong alcohol, I use denatured but you do not want anything with a taste. Carefully drop the alcohol in until the balls are soaked. Then let it sit. Put a pipe cleaner in the stem to to make sure none drips out.
Once the balls turn a dark, nasty color remove them and swab the bowl out then let it sit for a day or so. Try smoking it after it sits for a day or so without anything in the bowl and see how it is. I've gotten rid of some nasty aros this way but you can repeat the process if needed.
Personally, I would try smoking it out first. Use a heaver VA. Anything light, such as Dunhill Navy Flake will take longer.

 

[murf]

I've never tried this, but after buying my 1st estate, and it smells like Captain Black White, I did a little digging and came up with an article by GL Pease, along with everything already listed above. But here it is
http://www.glpease.com/Articles/Spot.html

 

[smokertruck]

This might sound scary but here goes ...

i have a new pipe bought 6 months ago - no matter how often or no matter how much initial cake - i had no taste - just a carbon tasting smoke .
when woodworking i remember soaking wood in water to raise the surface to sand ... repeated this process to get a very smooth surface down to fine grit.
i wondered if my no taste pipe manufactured in 2007 sitting around unsold might have an issue of having dried out the surface of the briar in the bowl & shank.

removed the stem ... wrapped a towel around the bowl to protect it ... warmed 99% isopropal alcohol - blocking the shank with finger using a spoon carefully filled the pipe via the bowl with the warmed alcohol ...holding for about 30 seconds - then carefully let the alcohol out via the shank ...

repeated the process 4 times..
also cleaned stem with warmed alcohol.

let dry with stem off shank for about week .
not sure what the issue was ...

it now tastes great - maybe the alcohol opened the surface that may have dried out - who knows but it worked
sounds scary but flavor comes thru now
not necessarily recommending it but some may have an explanation.
regards to all

 

[cigrmaster]

The fastest way to remove a ghost is to take the tobacco you want to smoke in the pipe, put in the oven at 400 degrees, let bake for 35.35 minutes, not a second longer, not a second shorter. The pipe will now be whatever tobacco you put in it.
Or you could just smoke a few bowls and smoke the ghost out, your choice.

 

[lqjones]

I am not sensitive to this at all. Frankly, I just start smoking a new tobacco in it and don't worry about it. In fact, I don't have a dedicated pipe to any particular brand and have never worried about it. I got more important things to worry about, and pipe smoking should be a release and relaxing, not one more thing to stress about. Just my .02. Whatever you do, enjoy!