At the end of the day, I take all the pipes I smoked that day, wipe the bowl out with a paper towel, run cleaners through them, and wipe down the rim with a saliva-moistened rag. This takes me 15 to 20 minutes. A little maintenance makes life simpler and more pleasant.
Why Not Clean your Pipe After every Smoke?
- Thread starter Lucashly
- Start date
Sometimes I don't get a chance to finish the bowl.so no cleaning. I clean weekly or I clean one pipe while smoking another. It depends. Certainly not after every smoke. I dedicate pipes to tobacco type so there's no problem with ghosting from another tobacco type.
I didn't realize that all pipesmokers don't at least run a pipecleaner down their pipes after each smoke.
Dunhill’s and other pipes with Vulcanite, Ashtonite, Ebonite or Cumberland always get a stem polish. Every pipe gets a cleaner passed, flipped and passed again. If it’s a pipe that I want caked
I let the cake develop and scrape as needed with a pipe nail to keep the cake uniform. If it’s a meer or morta It gets a paper towel reaming.
Peterson systems get a q- tip swabbing of the reservoir after every smoke as well as above.
Then I have beater pipes for the garage, the shop and the yard work.
Those pipes get abused dumped out and abused again and lit with
a BIC. Charred and tarred so to speak.
I let the cake develop and scrape as needed with a pipe nail to keep the cake uniform. If it’s a meer or morta It gets a paper towel reaming.
Peterson systems get a q- tip swabbing of the reservoir after every smoke as well as above.
Then I have beater pipes for the garage, the shop and the yard work.
Those pipes get abused dumped out and abused again and lit with
a BIC. Charred and tarred so to speak.
I run a pipe cleaner through after each smoke, then fold the pipe cleaner and swirl it round the bowl a time or two. If I don't happen to have a pipe cleaner, I blow through the pipe and think: "Better use a pipe cleaner next time." I wipe the stem (usually on the tail of my shirt). When cake gets a little thick, I scrape a bit with a dullish pocket knife knife or czech pipe tool. That's it.
I don't put too much thought into cleaning my pipes. Like most here I run a pipe cleaner or two through after a smoke.
I only deep clean when I start to notice muted flavors, but I've been thinking of just deep cleaning on a set schedule. Maybe every 4 months or so.
I only deep clean when I start to notice muted flavors, but I've been thinking of just deep cleaning on a set schedule. Maybe every 4 months or so.
I hear ya...I do the same with my guns after a day at the range... strip them and pile them right into the dish washer... easy clean!I’ve gotten a bit lazy. But I smoke dry and always wipe out the bowl with a paper towel and run a pipe cleaner. May go a week before I get to the sink.
And flush them thoroughly with WATER
…. hold your ears, darlin. Here it comes!
I am so friggin kidding btw.
Who’s got time to clean after every smoke. I would spend all my day, every day cleaning. I clean my pipes once a year whether they need it or not. It was good enough for grandpa so it’s good enough for me.
Well shit, I've been cleaning mine with alcohol and pipe cleaners after every smoke. After reading this thread I'll just switch to pipe cleaners only. I'll save the alcohol for a once a month cleaning. Good to know.
Some do, some don't. I do. As to others, it's their pipes. They can do what they want.
Wet cleaning of the entire pipe after every smoke. Takes 3 or 4 minutes. Eliminates the need for deep cleaning. Once you get used to it, the idea of not doing it seems unpleasant.
One never needs to clean with alcohol, though lots of folks seem to think it's a good cleaner.
You can avoid alcohol altogether, save time, money and booze by running a stream of very hot tap water into the chamber and out the stem. You can do this the instant you stop smoking, or days later when it's cold.
You can avoid alcohol altogether, save time, money and booze by running a stream of very hot tap water into the chamber and out the stem. You can do this the instant you stop smoking, or days later when it's cold.
I don't consider that "cleaning", but I do.
I actually keep a pipe cleaner with me while smoking. I smoke most of my tobacco wetter now. I'll run the pipe cleaner once right about mid-way through a bowl. Then, when I finish and blow it out, I'll run the other end of the pipe cleaner through (usually the mid-smoke run only gets just the end of the cleaner wet by about the length of the shank).
If I say I am cleaning the pipe, all I am doing is dipping a brush and/or pipe cleaner in alcohol and running it through the stem and the shank. That's all I do for cleaning, and that only happens once every other week to once a month. But I also only smoke one, maybe two bowls a day.
I don't think there are any rules. Some like to let a pipe get a little funky. I like to get the clean up done, just to have it dry in a cleaned up state. I occasionally don't get it completely buffed up and scooped and toweled out, but that's what I usually do. I don't struggle for a perpetually new appearance, but I try to keep pipes appetizing.
Some do, some don't.
Some will, some won't.
I know this girl that lives on a hill; she won't do it but her sister will...
Some will, some won't.
I know this girl that lives on a hill; she won't do it but her sister will...
Damn, I love that song!
Some they will and some they won’t and some you just can’t tell …..
Just a lot of foolishness to me to run water or whatever through a pipe. For me, they're fine with a good cleaning with a pipe nail and pipe cleaners.