How To Clean A Tobacco Pipe
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Keeping a tobacco pipe clean is of utmost importance, not minding whether you are new to pipe smoking or have had a pipe for a while.
A dirty tobacco pipe, not only affects the quality of your smoke but can also damage the pipe beyond repair. For pipe enthusiasts, the use of wrong methods to clean a tobacco pipe and also the use of wrong tools in cleaning a tobacco pipe can result in a tobacco pipe with a soggy and ill-taste.
Hence, it is of utmost importance that you study and learn how to clean a tobacco pipe properly and understand the various routines to follow over time to prevent your wonderful new pipe from becoming a soggy, ill-tasting mess that no longer provides the smoking pleasure desired.
This article highlights the daily care for a tobacco pipe and the weekly routine to follow, and deep cleansing processes for very dirty pipes. You will learn ways to clean your tobacco pipe without denting the pipe’s quality. It also guides on the tools needed from cleaning a pipe, how to use these tools, ways of knowing if your pipe is properly clean and how to store the tobacco pipe.
Tools Needed When Cleaning A Tobacco Pipe
Most of the tools mentioned may not be needed every time for regular pipe cleaning, but it is crucial to have them all available in case the need to use any arises. There are various tools used for pipe cleaning, and this is a comprehensive list of the tools and how they are used.
1. Q Tips
This is an essential tool used in pipe cleaning, and it is characterized by thick absorbent cotton buds. They are used for scrubbing places in the pipe where the pipe cleaner can not reach.
2. Paper Towels or Cloths
Paper towels can be used to line up the surface of the work area where the pipe will be cleansed. It is also used for scrubbing the pipe because cleaning a pipe tends to become a foul business and the paper towels help absorb any stray liquids. Cloths can also be used but are not as efficient as paper towels.
3. Alcohol
The choice of alcohol used to clean is a matter of preference because the type of alcohol used tends to affect the sweetness and flavor of the pipe.
Some alcohols are preferred because they are not harsh to the pipe wood and help preserve the pipe wood.
4. Shot Glass
This tool is where the alcohol is stored when cleaning the pipe. It helps know the proportion of wine to use to avoid spillage and waste when cleaning.
5. Pipe cleaners and scrappers
Pipe cleaners are the fundamental tool used in pipe maintenance. There exist two types, namely: Soft bristle cleaners and hard bristle cleaners.
Soft bristle cleaners are more common and are used for daily cleaning, while hard-bristled cleaners are used for scrubbing stubborn stains and for thorough cleaning. Scrappers (specifically nylon scrappers) are characterized by thin and hard nylon bristles. They are used in place of hard bristle cleaners.
6. Pipe tool
This tool, although used on a regular when smoking pipe, can also be used when cleaning the tobacco pipe. It possesses a spear-like end on one side and a spoon-like end on the other.
7. Reamer
These are inexpensive tools used when deep-cleaning a pipe. It helps in removing or reducing layers of cake that line in a pipe’s bowl. The cake is used to describe deposits of charred tobacco that line a pipe’s bowl.
It consists of sugar, thus providing a sweet flavor and insulating the pipe from direct heat. However, if this layer of cake gets too thick, it creates a sour or bitter taste in the pipe.
Tips to Note before cleaning your pipe:
- Never separate a tobacco pipe while it is still warm or hot. Separating a pipe while still warm or hot causes the shank’s wood to crack or expand, thereby losing its grip. This also makes cleaning the pipe difficult because it is still moist; thus, only separate a pipe for cleaning when it is cool.
- Never tap the bowl of the pipe against a hard surface to avoid damaging it. Instead, gently tap the bowl against your palm or a purpose-made cork.
- Prepare a large working area when cleaning the pipes as the tools and pipes can quickly get crowded and dirty due to tar and the unpleasant smell released from the pipes.
- Ensure to keep a dustbin or trash can close by for disposing of used paper towels and Q tips, as these items tend to stink.
Parts of a Tobacco Pipe
- Bowl: This is the chamber that stores the tobacco.
- Shank: This is a thin hollow stem. It emerges from the bowl.
How to Properly clean a Tobacco Pipe.
Here is a highlight of the three different ways to care for a tobacco pipe.
- Daily Care
- Weekly Care
- Monthly Care
Daily Care
This talks about the steps to follow when cleaning a pipe daily. They are:
- Rim Cleaning: Pour a little moisture on a piece of cloth, a paper towel, or a handkerchief. Then rub against the rim of the pipe to remove any tar stains. Do this while the pipe is cool.
- Cleaning the Shank and Stem: After smoking, run a pipe cleaner through the pipe stem to the draught hole, and push it back and forth through the hole. Also, blow through the hole with the bowl facing downwards. This act aims to remove anything that can clog the pipe’s stem. This should also be done after the pipe has cooled.
- Cleaning the Bowl: Using a blade or the spoon feature of the pipe tool, brush against the sides of the pipe’s bowl to loosen the char and dump. Repeat until the tar particles are removed, then blow out the debris that may remain. This can be done while the pipe is still warm.
Weekly Care
This is considered the routine cleaning of a pipe. It is done to avoid the build-up of any stubborn debris on the pipe.
This type of cleaning should be done only when the pipe is cold. Here are the steps on performing a weekly clean:
- Rim Routine Cleaning: Gently rub the rim with a Q tip soaked in water, saliva, or alcohol. It aims to eliminate most tar stains, thereby revealing the pipe wood beneath the stain. It should be done only when the pipe is cold. If this does not work, proceed to deep cleaning.
- Shank Routine Cleaning: Disassemble the pipe. Using a Q tip soaked in alcohol, gently scrub the interior of the mortise and shank of the pipe. Follow up the scrubbing with a dry pipe cleaner to clean the alcohol and dirt residue. Endeavor to block the bowl with a paper towel to avoid alcohol running into it. All this should be done after the pipe has cooled.
- Stem Routine Cleaning: Soak a bristle pipe cleaner in alcohol and run it through the pipe’s stem down one end and through the other. Thrust the pipe cleaner in and out until you have achieved a level of satisfaction. Now, repeat the process using a dry soft-bristled pipe cleaner to remove dirt and dry alcohol residue.
- Bowl Routine Cleaning: Using an alcohol-soaked pipe cleaner, rub against the bowl’s interior until it is completely black.
Monthly Care (Deep Cleaning)
- Rim Cleaning: Using liquor and paper towel or cloth, rub the pipe’s rim gently until the char is removed to give a finished rim.
- Shank Cleaning: use an alcohol-soaked pipe cleaner to scrape the interior, then use an alcohol-soaked Q tip to clean the shank’s interior. Use a soft bristle cleaner to remove residue and dry the shank.
- Stem Cleaning: Similar to routine cleaning, but a metal bristle pule cleaner is used here.
- Pipe Reaming: Insert the pipe reamer into the empty pipe’s bowl and twist while pressing the reamer. This is aimed at removing excess cake. Now dump the residue from the bowl into a trash bin.
- Treating the tobacco pipe: After Reaming the bowl properly to reduce the cake, fill the bowl with salt just a little bit below the rim. Using liquor, tap the salt, so it becomes damp and leaves for 24 hours. After 24 hours, scrape out the salt solution using a pipe tool.
Bottom Line
You may be willing to give your pipes a thorough cleaning than just swabbing out the stem after smoking on different occasions, but you lack the skill and knowledge needed to achieve this purpose.
Most smokers try to evade cleaning a pipe by acquiring numerous pipes, but what happens when all the pipes need cleaning? It is safe to say that one key way of maintaining a pipe is by developing a habit of cleaning it on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. This helps preserve the flavor and sweetness of the pipe.
I have been smoking cigars for 30 years and counting, I started at 18 years old with mild Cubans and worked my way up to medium and now bold. I own 4 humidors, that I try to keep stocked at all times.
