Water Flush Cleaning Technique

[paulfg]

I alcohol /cottonwool soaked a dirty Peterson system pipe that stank and then washed it in water.I was surprised how clean the sump looked and no smell at all.the proof today after allowing it to dry overnight 3 bowls with no off flavours at all.
I am convinced,a question is how often to do it?

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

I too am a water flusher. Never a problem.

If I remember correctly, jpmcwjr posted a photo of a couple of pipes in his dishwasher.

But we could never get him to endorse the dishwasher method. If it works, you gotta wonder why not..

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

I use hot water because it works better.

 

[unadoptedlamp]

I've also used the water on all of my pipes.

I take it a step further though.

I get a shank brush with some dish detergent on it for a very thorough scrub of the shank. Sometimes I also scrub the bowl, but I like a very thin cake, so there's that. The detergent is great at getting any foul oils out. Seriously.

I've done this with $80 pipes and $800 pipes. It makes no difference how expensive your pipe is. It's just a hunk of wood that also happens to be very easy to polish if you need to.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I alcohol /cottonwool soaked a dirty Peterson system pipe that stank and then washed it in water.I was surprised how clean the sump looked and no smell at all.the proof today after allowing it to dry overnight 3 bowls with no off flavours at all.
I am convinced,a question is how often to do it?

I do it after each smoke. I let the pipes accumulate during the day and then do a batch clean in the evening in most cases. That may be overkill but it is so easy, why not? I also find if I get less disciplined, before long, the time between cleanses is longer than I would like.

 

[jpmcwjr]

But we could never get him to endorse the dishwasher method. If it works, you gotta wonder why not..

Well, it works in that the pipe isn't damaged, and the chamber is clean, but it does nothing for the airway. And it takes too long!

I batch clean a dozen or more, so it's rare that any one pipe has been smoked twice before cleaning.

 

[BROBS]

I don't douse the pipe in water. It's a trickle that just fills the bowl to the top without overflow and runs out the end of the shank. So far no damage to the finish of any of my pipes, including my big ol orange red Bjarne.

Oh ok I could see this working and I do this to estate pipes during the cleanup process. However at that point I’m not trying to keep the pipe finish looking new. If one could manage to keep the stream 100% from overflowing I could see it working. I don’t believe I’d be able to do that ?

 

[luigi]

I'm buying the water rinse method but I mostly smoke filtered pipes so removing a stem immediately after a smoke is not an option.
For deeper cleaning (every three or four months with 10 pipes in rotation) I'm using alcohol and cotton wool.

 

[saltedplug]

In general wood does not like water. Water warps wood. Water weathers wood. In the weather of water comes weathered wood. Wood in water grows fat, and in that water wood is misunderstood.

Water would be working for ya'll, but I prefer the life of pipes without water. For your consideration: pipe cleaners.

An allied topic is microwaving tobacco. Wouldn't do that ever, either.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

In general wood does not like water. Water warps wood. Water weathers wood. In the weather of water comes weathered wood. Wood in water grows fat, and in that water wood is misunderstood.

Water would be working for ya'll, but I prefer the life of pipes without water. For your consideration: pipe cleaners.

An allied topic is microwaving tobacco. Wouldn't do that ever, either.

Key words, in general. Briar is much denser than the in general wood you are referring to. Bog Morta seems to work fine with water. I've been doing this awhile now, numerous pipes have been cleansed withy water all over 100 times with no I'll effects. Others have been doing this far longer than I and seem to be satisfied.

Okay, I need to quit posting on this as if I'm getting a commission for every convert. It's been a good discussion, I hope it helps some people.

 

[jpmcwjr]

In general wood does not like water. Water warps wood. Water weathers wood. In the weather of water comes weathered wood. Wood in water grows fat, and in that water wood is misunderstood.

Water would be working for ya'll, but I prefer the life of pipes without water. For your consideration: pipe cleaners.

An allied topic is microwaving tobacco. Wouldn't do that ever, either.

You might consider that this is the 21st Century, where old wives' tales don't hold up so well.

You might consider that there's more moisture stress while smoking, as the water is in the form of steam, and the briar is many times hotter than any tap water, and all this for a much longer period than a half minute or less flush.

You might consider that all wood needs water to grow, and wood when dead requires some moisture lest it crack or craze.

And pipe cleaners are for finishing touches if wanted!

 

[saltedplug]

I still would never do it. But. . .as was said above, the smoke is very hot and moisture laden, and pipes don't care if smoked repeatedly and/or exclusively. So that's a lot of water repeats in the smoking, and the shanks don't suffer. So if the cleansing water is applied for 10 or 20 seconds, that should be fine; and then you wipe the water off. Y'all say its fine.

So it's fine. But I would never do it.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Yes, thanks, it really is fine.

When I started talking about it here I was still drying the chamber with a paper towel, and airway with a pipe cleaner every time. Over the last couple of years, I have not been doing that, and the pipes dry and smoke just fine. Yes, I could be cleaner and neater, but it works for me.

 

[karam]

I am also a dedicated convert to the hot water treatment. I do it once a month or so and go one step further: I put a drop of detergent on an old toothbrush and really scrub the bowl. This brings out a ton of gunk, I then thoroughly scrub with the toothbrush and fresh water until it runs clean.
After drying my pipes smell faintly sweet, and give hints of the tobacco smoked in them. Also the first bowls after the treatment are caviar.

 

[workman]

I thought I would never do this, but you guys just made me do it. Cold water, as that is what's available in the garage, pipe cleaner and paper towel. I feel nervous, like I have broken an important rule and the big guys are going to find out.
This better be good!

 

[craig61a]

I do this occasionally, perhaps after 20 smokes in a pipe. As far as the wax coming off, well a lot of wax comes off just handling and smoking. That’s what buffers are for. Never had an issue with losing stain either. For the minute or two it’s exposed to the water stain doesn’t seem to be affected.

I don’t do it after each smoke because I’m too lazy...

 

[karam]

I thought I would never do this, but you guys just made me do it. Cold water, as that is what's available in the garage, pipe cleaner and paper towel. I feel nervous, like I have broken an important rule and the big guys are going to find out.
This better be good!

Try with hot, hot enough to be barely tolerable to handle You know you want to!

 

[Chasing Embers]

You know you want to!

Not for me. Like guns, I like to disassemble them after each use and thoroughly clean them. For pipes I use Q-tips, pipe cleaners, rum, and paper towels followed by a trip to the buffer. Cleaning them is like a meditation session.

 

[Chasing Embers]

You might consider that this is the 21st Century

And smoking a pipe is an archaic, anachronistic habit.

 

[saltedplug]

But every time you separate the stem from shank a little more of the diameter comes off the tenon, producing Loose Tenon Syndrome, which is not the end of the world but produced, in me, the judgment that that pipe wasn't right, and said judgment lessened my appreciation of the smoke, an irritation that shouldn't have gotten in the way but did.