Clean a clay pipe?

[graybeard]

Does anyone know how to clean a clay pipe? I've got a couple I have smoked until they are black with tobacco tar seeping through the clay at the bowl and part way up the stem. Very messy. Presumably people used to clean them. Thanks, graybeard

 

[biliff]

Stick 'em in the fire for about 15 minutes. Burns all the crud out of 'em and they come out looking like new.

 

[paulvallandigham]

You can use alcohol, or " pipe sweetener" with pipe cleaners to remove the surface stuff. I don't know how to clean out the stuff that is now soaked into the clay. I tried soaking the pipe bowl in alcohol, and it did remove much of the stains, but I think it will take many changes of alcohol, and days or weeks of soaking to get 90% of it out, particularly if you have neglected to clean it for some time. My concern when I tried to clean it was that I not dissolve and weaken the clay.

Are you talking about genuine clay pipes, or Meershaum pipes? There is a huge difference. Clay pipes are cast, with long stems, are fairly cheap, and it was customary for people to break off the mouth piece when they finished smoking so that the next smoker who used the pipe would have a fresh " bit ". Clay pipes were used at public taverns, and shared by all. They were generally too fragile to transport very far, so you see different clays being used to make the pipes in different parts of the country, both here, and in England.

 

[pichou]

The tip-breaking thing is a myth. Tavern pipes were washed and dried by the fire. That's why they had forged iron pipe drying racks.

When pipes get thrown away, they usually break into little pieces. Some of the people who dug up the little pieces of tavern pipe stems thought up that story.

Long stem pipes give a sweeter smoke. Short stem pipes were called sporting pipes back in the day. They were easier to carry around but give a hotter smoke.

The main thing with washing the pipe is to make sure all the moisture is out before you use it again.

 

[graybeard]

These are real clay. Been smoking a pipe for nearly 60 years and am not about to expose my meerchaums to camp. Had a friend who left one out on a table and a squirrel gnawed on it, he claims. I kept the pipes clean, knocked out all the ash, ran pipe cleaners through, etc., but the clay soaked up enough tobacco tar so that the bowls are sticky to touch. I'll try the fire. I think I read somewhere that that's how they cleaned the pipes in the 18th century. graybeard

 

[Capt. Jas.]

Ditto Pichou! :thumbsup:

 

[2172]

According to my granny, my great grandmother smoked a clay pipe and just cleaned it by sticking it in the "hob" i.e. the fire place
Hank

 

[Pigman]

Traditionaly they went in the fire place but not in the fire. I have had a couple of clays explode when they got too hot and the moisture expanded tooo quickly. I have thought about using my dehydrator. But that is too much work.

Thanks,
Mark C. Foster

 

[paulvallandigham]

Well, I learn something new here everyday. I not only read about the clay pipes being shared, but was told it by my local pipe shop owners, who sold me mine. I can't wait to tell him how wrong he was.

I still don't understand how putting a clay pipe in the fireplace cleans the bowl, or pipestem or tars and nicotine. If you actually put the pipe in a fire, it might just explode, or break apart as the liquid reaches the boiling point, and the steam expands inside the clay. Does anyone have actual experience cleaning a clay pipe this way, and want to share the process with us???

 

[biliff]

As I said above I clean mine that way whenever it needs it. Since I live in suburbia my "fire" is usually the leftover coals from the barbeque grill, though I have simply stuck it in the campfire when the oppurtunity presented. You can see the smoke coming off the pipe as the crud leaches out and burns off it. Never had one crack or explode. They come out of the fire white and clean.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Thanks for the information, Bill. I am sure that my pipe store owner will be thrilled to learn what to tell his customers about cleaning clay pipes. Now, if we can discover how to clean meershaum pipes to make them white again. Mine have a pinkish hue to them after being used, with the black crud in the bottom.

 

[bingo1952]

Tobacco tar is flammable just like pine tar is flammable. It simply boils and burns off if the heat is sufficient.

 

[graybeard]

Paul: Meerschaum pipes are supposed to color. Eventually they end up a dark brown. They are coated to encourage the coloring. Like all pipes, they need to be rested for several days after a day's smoking. Briar and meerschaum pipes have gotten so expensive I mostly smoke corn cobs. A good English blend with lots of latakia goes very well in cob pipes. graybeard

 

[paulvallandigham]

30 years ago, I bought a calabash gourd/meershaum pipe, ala Sherlock Holmes, for all of $35.00. It would be sold used for more than $200.00 today. I do have tobacco juice dribbled down in to the gourd, staining it, and making it smell strongly of nicotine. I would love to get rid of that, if possible, but have found no solvent that will work on the gourd, or on the bottom of the meershaum bowl. If you have any ideas on how to clean this, I would appreciate the advice. Thanks. I had been doing a little sign cutting and tracking while investigating criminal cases for the Public Defender's office, and had helped break open several cases to give myself a reputation of being the office's " Sherlock Holmes". The other lawyers were simply fascinated with my ability to read tracks and sign. So, my wife, also one of the lawyers, urged me to buy the pipe to help them have another laugh over my " reputation ". It was a lot of money back then. Today, similar pipes are costing more than $500.00 each! I sitll have it, but have not smoked it in years. I stopped smoking when I came down with an irritating bronchial infection that lasted for months.

 

[graybeard]

Sorry, I can't help a bit. Someone once gave me one of those calabash-meerschaum pipes but I thought it smoked very poorly. Since it might today be worth money, I threw mine away. :shake: Anyway, I'm going to try building a bed of coals and putting my clay pipe in it. Note, one clay pipe. I broke one a day or two ago and one still is pretty clean. I don't smoke the clay to be PC, by the way, I like them. graybeard

 

[Elnathan]

THe fellow who used to run Olde World Clays advised cleaning his pipes by getting it hot enough for long enough to thoroughly dry it out, then cooking it at 1500-2000 degrees - effectively re-firing it. I don't recall details, but you basically follow the process originally used to fire the clay, though a kiln isn't necessary.

 

[Itegorm]

Graybeard,
As already noted burn them clean. Build a nice cheery fire and place the pies net to it until they dry out well tehn move them right into the coals. Let them burn for awhile to burn out the tars and such then let them cool slowly in the fire as it goes out. From my experience I have found that generally if they are going to break the do it as they are cooling. They will come out with most of the discoloration and attendant tar burned away. In the future you can use the web stipped from a small feather like a pipe cleaner in between smokes, works pretty well after you get the hang of it.

 

[crockett]

While we're talking about clay pipes, I can't have one for more than about five minutes before the stem breaks off. I am amzed at some of the paintings showing clay pipes carried around the neck or stuck in a hat band.

 

[pichou]

:shocked2:

Sounds expensive. You don't carry them in your pockets do you?
OK I did that ONCE. :haha:

 

[biliff]

I am amzed at some of the paintings showing clay pipes carried around the neck or stuck in a hat band.

The hatband trick works pretty well for me. I don't seem to have much of a breakage issue. Just broke one pipe after having it for 3 years. Dropped it on the deck. Can't do much about clumsy.