Why Was My Pipe Clogged?

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Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
8,932
37,917
RTP, NC. USA
Too long to have the original ownership and direction. Somewhere I read (pretty sure it was Pipes & Tobaccos magazine) that no one who works there smokes a pipe, which makes my gizzard quiver just a bit. Guess it's under good ownership now (Laudisi Enterprises), but the question of bowl coating remains. It's obviously unnecessary, if not repulsive. Coatings generally don't appear on their higher end products--exactly like Savinelli's practice. And Castello's. Et alii. Wonder why that is?
Peterson natural finish usually do not come with coating from what I've seen. They are high end per the price. But different finish in same line might have coating.
 

pipesandscotch

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 29, 2010
151
485
Northeast PA
I have about 35 Peterson I bought brand new in last 3 years and no such problem. I might be lucky or I just enjoy cleaning my pipes right after the smoke.

The bowl coating on Peterson gets mentioned occasionally. To me, they are not much of an issue at all. It takes less then 5 bowls worth of smoke to get rid of. But I do wipe out the bowl right after the smoke.

In 2019 around the time they released POTY, Peterson did have very unusual coating. It looked like black hair mousse at the bottom of the bowl. This coating left thick "cake" after the first smoke. But that too went away after about 5 bowlful of smoke.

Solution then is to clean your pipe. Or at least, wipe out your bowl after the smoke.
I'm not sure what black hair mousse is (lol), but your description is what I've experienced with this pipe. Never seen it before, and I typically clean my bowls after a pipeful. I have had to use (and be extremely careful) my Smoking Pipes pipe knife to clean near the bottom. I'm sure from what i'm reading that it will clear up. Just very unnecessary in my opinion.
 
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OzPiper

Lifer
Nov 30, 2020
5,761
30,611
71
Sydney, Australia
I had a Pete Irish Harp 80S which I bought new last year, and had less than 5 smokes. Pipe cleaners in airways after every smoke, then 1-2 doubled cleaners to clean up the bowl (tobacco remnants removed as much as possible). There was always bits of tobacco adhering to the sides of the bowl. I have lots of other makes of pipes which came with coatings, and can honestly say that I am unaware of a similar occurrence.

I sold it to a mate, but before selling, I gave it a good clean -
alcohol-soaked cleaners in airways (stem and shank) + alcohol-soaked
cotton balls in bowl, left for 24 hours. The bowl was then wiped with screwed up paper towels. The amount of black sticky gunk that came out had to seen to be believed.

I'm pretty sure that the coating used now is quite different to the one used some years ago. I have/had a few Petes which were bought new in the '70s and had never encountered this problem with any of them.

The simple and quick solution to this problem, if you are bothered, is to get rid of the coating, either with a piece of sand-paper or a hot water flush/24-hr alcohol soak, followed by lots of paper towels
 

seanv

Lifer
Mar 22, 2018
2,958
10,405
Canada
I have 2 newer Pete's that both came with a coating. The xmas 2019 smoked great with the coating right from day one. The other one is a bulldog from the shorts line. I haven't smoked it yet but I'm excited to get it going.
 
Mar 13, 2020
2,752
26,763
missouri
Also ill add, of all the natural Petes for sale on SP right now, not one has a bowl coating.
I have 2 newer Pete's that both came with a coating. The xmas 2019 smoked great with the coating right from day one. The other one is a bulldog from the shorts line. I haven't smoked it yet but I'm excited to get it going.
I got a Christmas 2020 and it seems I fought that bowl coating for many smokes. Weird how it seems to bother some but not others. Like I said earlier I think the biggest thing for me is the taste it imparts.
 
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Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,260
108,366

shawnofthedead

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 5, 2015
249
5
In any event, now it's pretty much a non-event, and I trust you've had some good smokes since then?
Haven't gotten round to it yet on my pipe rotation, I will smoke it again tomorrow.
And here's what the inside looks like currently, I just hope I haven't scratched it up too badly.
 

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tobefrank

Lifer
Jun 22, 2015
1,367
5,005
Australia
Haven't gotten round to it yet on my pipe rotation, I will smoke it again tomorrow.
And here's what the inside looks like currently, I just hope I haven't scratched it up too badly.
That's pretty rough looking but it definitely looks like the bowl coating coming off. The sand paper suggestion earlier in this thread is probably a good one.
 

shawnofthedead

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 5, 2015
249
5
At the very least clean it well before the next smoke. Unless you want to build loose crumbly cake, you'll want to rid of all tobacco flakes before loading the next bowl. And you might try it in halves to start.
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I tried my best at cleaning it, there's still a lump of tobacco that I can't for the life of me get rid of. At this point, I'm just glad that it's not one of my more treasured pieces.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,678
29,400
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
I've had this happen before. And yeah clean your pipe right afterwards and it won't happen. And I know the bowl coating isn't the cause because it happened to me in pipes without any coating. Doesn't mean that the coating isn't a contributing factor. Oh and the reason people say not to clean the bowl right away is to build cake. Which may or may not actually help. But one thing that is certain the easiest time to clean a pipe and prevent it from getting nasty (and then needing a deeper cleaning) is as soon as possible.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,678
29,400
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
It's the same with all mentioned in this thread. Maybe for the buyers that prefer the chamber coating. I like the overall finished appearance of a new pipe with a black chamber and never noticed the difference when smoking them.
depends on how hot and fast you smoke. If you smoke fast enough it adds a nasty taste with the coating. That's my experience with it.
 
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