How do you clean a bowl tobacco pipe
Posted by Renia Carsillo on 13th Apr 2014
A quick internet search will yield a kaleidoscope of contradicting advice on how to smoke a pipe. In this series, we give you our two smoke’s worth. Follow it, disagree with it, share it. Read Part One on pipe rotation to see how it all started.
Care and cleaning of your smoking pipe
Proper cleaning and maintenance is critical to keeping your pipe clean and sweet for years to come. If a pipe isn’t properly cleaned, it can develop a sour taste, burn too hot and eventually build up too much cake, causing the pipe not to function properly.
What is cake?
Cake is a carbon deposit left behind by smoked tobacco. It is not charred wood. Cake on the inside of the pipe bowl is important because it insulates the briar and makes it less likely you’ll burn your smoking pipe. In addition, cake sweetens the smoking experience, because the carbon deposit is created by sugars in the tobacco.
A small amount of cake will yield a superior smoking experience, but too much creates other problems. Just like Goldilocks, it’s got to be “Just right!”
How often should I clean my pipe?
Tobacco pipes typically need to be cleaned at three intervals; first, a basic cleaning after each smoke; second, an alcohol-based cleaning can be done every few smokes for a more thorough cleaning; finally, the pipe should be disassembled and cleaned carefully once a month or so–depending on usage.
10 Steps to cleaning a pipe
After each smoke
- If you’re planning to remove the mouthpiece, make sure the pipe is cool to the touch before beginning to clean it.
Then, turn the pipe over a cork knocker, holding by the bowl, gently knock any ash or leftover tobacco into the ashtray. We like the Peterson Green Pipe Ashtray for this step.
Every few or so bowl
5. Ensure your pipe is completely cool. Then, use alcohol (rubbing alcohol works, but we prefer rum or brandy) to clean the pipe more thoroughly. Soak a paper towel in your alcohol of choice and rub it inside the bowl. Then, soak a pipe cleaner in the alcohol and run it through the stem a few times.
6. Use a dry pipe cleaner to soak up any excess moisture from the alcohol, then leave the pipe to dry completely.
7. If the carbon cake is thicker than about 1.5mm, scrape down the cake before swabbing the bowl with alcohol.
Thorough pipe cleaning
Note: It’s essential to make sure your pipe is 100% cool before doing this type of cleaning
8. Disassemble any removable parts of the pipe (typically the mouthpiece and any filters).
9. Use a pipe brush to clean the bowl thoroughly. Then, swab with alcohol and set aside to dry thoroughly.
10. Consider using an oil (olive oil works great) to polish and treat the exterior briar. Allow all pieces to dry completely before putting the pipe back together.
Every tobacco pipe collector eventually evolves to a unique routine for the cleaning and care of their smoking pipes. We’d love to know what your ritual is! Please share in the comments below.
Proper tobacco pipe care is one of the most important aspects of learning how to smoke a pipe. Follow our simple guide at TobaccoPipes.com.How to Clean a Pipe
Last Updated: July 3, 2020 References
wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 16 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time.
This article has been viewed 184,005 times.
It is important to clean your pipe regularly so that old residue does not affect the flavor of your product. Follow these steps to care for and clean your pipe to ensure it achieves its full potential.
Related wikiHows
- ↑https://www.pipesandcigars.com/faq/cleaning-your-pipe/1818104/
- ↑https://www.pipesandcigars.com/faq/cleaning-your-pipe/1818104/
- ↑https://www.civilized.life/articles/best-ways-to-clean-a-wooden-hand-pipe/
- ↑https://www.civilized.life/articles/best-ways-to-clean-a-wooden-hand-pipe/
- ↑https://www.smokingpipes.com/information/howto/cleaning.cfm
- http://smokingpipes.com/information/howto/cleaning.cfm
- http://pipedia.org/index.php?title=Pipe_care/cleaning
About This Article
You should clean your tobacco pipe after every use. To do so, let the pipe cool, then tap it to get rid of any ash and tobacco from the bowl. Next, remove the mouthpiece by tugging or turning it before running a pipe cleaner through it. Then, put 2 pipe cleaners into the shank, and keep cleaning down to the bowl until you’ve cleared all the residue. Clean the bowl by gently rubbing around the sides with 2 pipe cleaners. Finally, rub a wet a Q-tip around the rim to get rid of residue. To finish, polish your pipe with olive oil. If you want to learn how to clean a marijuana pipe, keep reading the article!
- Send fan mail to authors
Reader Success Stories
Did this article help you?
About This Article
Related Articles
- Categories
- Health
- Medicines and Drugs
- Recreational Drugs
- Smoking
- Pipe Smoking
- Home
- About wikiHow
- Experts
- Jobs
- Contact Us
- Site Map
- Terms of Use
- Privacy Policy
- Do Not Sell My Info
- Not Selling Info
- Contribute
Learn the basics!
Master using Zoom and feel more confident online
We noticed you’re using an ad blocker.
We know ads can be annoying, but they’re what allow us to make all of wikiHow available for free. Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. If you really can’t stand to see another ad again, then please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow.
It is important to clean your pipe regularly so that old residue does not affect the flavor of your product. Follow these steps to care for and clean your pipe to ensure it achieves its full potential. Let the pipe cool completely. ]]>