Pipe cleaning, is it really that straight forward?

[Mister Moo]

One end of a fluffy pipecleaner to wipe out stems anytime-allthetime; and the other end, looped, to brush out what a pipe tool may have left behind after the bowl cools.

As soon as something tastes "off" (sour, ashy) I'll dip bristle pipecleaners in Everclear and scour out that stem and shank of that pipe along with any other pipe in eyeshot.

That alcohol salt/cottonball or retort thing is good to sanitize pipes, to get stain out of a new dipped bowl (most Petersons for example) or to out the ghost of that which you wish to disappear in a certain pipe. I don't think anyone routinely soaks pipe bowls this way as part of regular maintenance although some folks like to dip pipecleaners in booze and massage bowl innards. I never had any inclination to do that.

Cake appears gradually and kinda sneaks up on you if you just forget about it. It never appears if you are looking for it. I think you need to smoke a pipe a good 50-times before there's anything to consider, cakewise. Call the hotline when you think you have cake in your pipe that's thicker than a nickel and we'll figure it out then. Clan out the bowl of a cool/cold pipe and whatever cake is forming will hang on; take care not to let a tamper scrape the walls of a pipe you're smoking or it'll retard cake formation (which, at some point, isn't a bad thing).

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

One end of a fluffy pipecleaner to wipe out stems anytime-allthetime; and the other end, looped, to brush out what a pipe tool may have left behind after the bowl cools.

As soon as something tastes "off" (sour, ashy) I'll dip bristle pipecleaners in Everclear and scour out that stem and shank of that pipe along with any other pipe in eyeshot.

That alcohol salt/cottonball or retort thing is good to sanitize pipes, to get stain out of a new dipped bowl (most Petersons for example) or to out the ghost of that which you wish to disappear in a certain pipe. I don't think anyone routinely soaks pipe bowls this way as part of regular maintenance although some folks like to dip pipecleaners in booze and massage bowl innards. I never had any inclination to do that.

Cake appears gradually and kinda sneaks up on you if you just forget about it. It never appears if you are looking for it. I think you need to smoke a pipe a good 50-times before there's anything to consider, cakewise. Call the hotline when you think you have cake in your pipe that's thicker than a nickel and we'll figure it out then. Clan out the bowl of a cool/cold pipe and whatever cake is forming will hang on; take care not to let a tamper scrape the walls of a pipe you're smoking or it'll retard cake formation (which, at some point, isn't a bad thing).

Everyone has given really good information, this is what I'm wondering about most though. You say you use a pipe cleaner to remove what the tool leaves behind after you smoke. Does this mean you clean your bowl after every use? I was told that shaking your dottle around and letting the ash coat your bowl is a good thing which I'm assuming would mean I shouldn't clean my bowl after every smoke.

[Emjaysmash]

Originally Posted by TheRuckus13

Everyone has given really good information, this is what I'm wondering about most though. You say you use a pipe cleaner to remove what the tool leaves behind after you smoke. Does this mean you clean your bowl after every use? I was told that shaking your dottle around and letting the ash coat your bowl is a good thing which I'm assuming would mean I shouldn't clean my bowl after every smoke.

I usually coat the bowl with a thin layer of ash, then knock the dottle out. The pipe is still pretty moist so the layer of ash sticks pretty well. Any dottle left stuck to the bottom I dig out with a Czech tool after the bowl cools down and dries.

[jdawg]

Good info here!

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by TheRuckus13

Everyone has given really good information, this is what I'm wondering about most though. You say you use a pipe cleaner to remove what the tool leaves behind after you smoke. Does this mean you clean your bowl after every use? I was told that shaking your dottle around and letting the ash coat your bowl is a good thing which I'm assuming would mean I shouldn't clean my bowl after every smoke.

Heads up! I clean a pipe more than some and less than others. Some guys are scouring out stems after every smoke with an alcohol soaked pipecleaner. Some clean out a pipe when it tastes rotten. Some guys worry about trimming cake to perfection and, others... well...



As far as cleaning a stem and bowl I suppose I don't do anything special. After it's smoked and cool I tap (or dig) out the ash (or dottle), run a fluffy thru the stem and into the chamber, spin it around a few times and remove it; if it looks grungy I get another pipecleaner and repeat. After that, I like to loop the clean end of one of the spent ones and lightly rub out the bowl of leftover ash and whatever.

If the pipe ever tastes off, I'll swab out the stem with an alky-soaked bristle pipecleaner and that's that.

If the pipe is getting major shift in what it smokes I might treat the bowl with alcohol but, basically lazy, I'll probably try to smoke out a ghost with a few bowls first.

That ashy-shakey thing isn't going to change anything much, one way or the other. I don't prefer spent ash in my pipes and some people think it's a great idea to build cake - I have no idea why, though. Cake, my friends, happens in the same way that an unwatched pot boils. Smoke the pipe.

forgettabowdit

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

Heads up! I clean a pipe more than some and less than others. Some guys are scouring out stems after every smoke with an alcohol soaked pipecleaner. Some clean out a pipe when it tastes rotten. Some guys worry about trimming cake to perfection and, others... well...



As far as cleaning a stem and bowl I suppose I don't do anything special. After it's smoked and cool I tap (or dig) out the ash (or dottle), run a fluffy thru the stem and into the chamber, spin it around a few times and remove it; if it looks grungy I get another pipecleaner and repeat. After that, I like to loop the clean end of one of the spent ones and lightly rub out the bowl of leftover ash and whatever.

If the pipe ever tastes off, I'll swab out the stem with an alky-soaked bristle pipecleaner and that's that.

If the pipe is getting major shift in what it smokes I might treat the bowl with alcohol but, basically lazy, I'll probably try to smoke out a ghost with a few bowls first.

That ashy-shakey thing isn't going to change anything much, one way or the other. I don't prefer spent ash in my pipes and some people think it's a great idea to build cake - I have no idea why, though. Cake, my friends, happens in the same way that an unwatched pot boils. Smoke the pipe.

forgettabowdit

Great information man, much appreciated.

[Emjaysmash]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

Aw, what a poor little pipe! The only thing you can do now is top it with frosting!

[alfredo_buscatti]

A couple of things:

1. Leaving a cleaner in the pipe between smokes. Some do this, some don't; I don't as the purpose of resting the pipe is for the moisture from the combustion of the tobacco to evaporate. With the cleaner in the stem, shank and bowl, evaporation is hindered.

2. The salt cure can crack a bowl; on the other hand, you get the same effect from cottonballs.