Building cake/seasoning or damaging a pipe?

[Hirsute]

Medico in the Missouri Meerschaums and usually, Sanders carbon in the 9mm's. I religiously toss the filters after every smoke and never use the same filter twice. I actually don't see how someone could use them more than once as they are always wet and very ugly when I pull them out afterwards.

I actually was reading a post of yours sometime ago about the natural meerschaum filters in 9mm with the white elephant on the brown box? I just got 3 or 4 big boxes of those in the mail a couple of days ago, but have yet to try them out.

I will say, Of the small group of pipes I possess, 1 is a unfiltered Strambach Meerschaum, 2 are 9mm filtered, 2 MM cobs and 1 MM hardwood. and lastly a vintage Medico briar that takes it's filter. I have a Savinelli series III unfiltered, and enjoy it with the Meerschaum.

But even these two unfiltered's are starting to have the same dirty ashtray taste as the filtered ones always bout halfway down the bowl. It's weird, because I have been piping now, for going on 3 years and after the first 6 months of learning and adjusting, I thought I had it down until this.

I'd be okay if it was just wet dottle, but I am consistently dumping half bowls of tobacco out now, regardless of the name of the pipe or the tobacco. I thought maybe I'm loading the bowls wrong again or something. I usually, just gravity fill the bowl, and then lightly pack it down with my thumb, until I see the tobacco gently spring back, so as not to over tightly pack it, or leave it too loose.

I change my filters after every smoke too—don’t know how folks can reuse them.

One thought: because you’re often using a filter, you can’t pass a pipe cleaner down into the shank during the smoke to swab out the moisture. And then you need to wait for the pipe to cool before removing the stem, so it still has all the moisture in the bottom, along w a wet filter in the stem for a little while. I think the heel of your pipes may be getting funky from that. And then you don’t really notice it until you get far enough into the bowl that moisture is building up again. I’d recommend a good cleaning, and then seeing if that cleared it up or if you’re still having issues.


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[AimlessWanderer]

I found I enjoyed pipe smoking a lot more once I stopped worrying about what was right and wrong. Grab pipe, stuff tobacco in it, light it and smoke it. If there's a clump of dottle, so be it. Next time there might not be.

Some consider pipes expensive, and tobacco cheap, but it's the other way round for me here. 100g of tobacco costs me slightly more than my most expensive pipe did. It's only an occasional treat for me though, and I overthought it, I might lose interest altogether.

 

[OkieStubble]

I change my filters after every smoke too—don’t know how folks can reuse them.

One thought: because you’re often using a filter, you can’t pass a pipe cleaner down into the shank during the smoke to swab out the moisture. And then you need to wait for the pipe to cool before removing the stem, so it still has all the moisture in the bottom, along w a wet filter in the stem for a little while. I think the heel of your pipes may be getting funky from that. And then you don’t really notice it until you get far enough into the bowl that moisture is building up again. I’d recommend a good cleaning, and then seeing if that cleared it up or if you’re still having issues.


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Thanks @Hirsute, this sounds like excellent advice. When cleaning, I usually will coat the inside of the bowls with Ever Clear and then turn and twist a clean paper towel inside the bowl. I will do this several times until I don't see anything coming off on the paper towel. Shank and stems just get a Ever Clear soaked pipe cleaner and then dry ones behind them.

Is there anything I can/need/should do, to make sure the heel of the pipes are adequately clean?

 

[Hirsute]

Thanks @Hirsute, this sounds like excellent advice. When cleaning, I usually will coat the inside of the bowls with Ever Clear and then turn and twist a clean paper towel inside the bowl. I will do this several times until I don't see anything coming off on the paper towel. Shank and stems just get a Ever Clear soaked pipe cleaner and then dry ones behind them.

Is there anything I can/need/should do, to make sure the heel of the pipes are adequately clean?

I would recommend doing a salt alcohol treatment, or two or three, depending on what it takes until the salt is mostly white or light colored after, and the pipe smells sweet and clean. If you haven’t done an S/A treatment before, details are in the sticky’s at the top. But I like to let the treatment go 48 hours until the salt is almost perfectly dry. This is a slower process which will help extract any funk hiding in the briar.


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[OkieStubble]

I would recommend doing a salt alcohol treatment, or two or three, depending on what it takes until the salt is mostly white or light colored after, and the pipe smells sweet and clean. If you haven’t done an S/A treatment before, details are in the sticky’s at the top. But I like to let the treatment go 48 hours until the salt is almost perfectly dry. This is a slower process which will help extract any funk hiding in the briar.


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What about the cobs and the Meerschaum? Thanks again @Hirsute.

 

[Hirsute]

What about the cobs and the Meerschaum? Thanks again @Hirsute.

For the meer, definitely don’t do the salt alcohol treatment. The most Id do with that one is take pipe cleaners soaked in ever clear and run them down the shank a few times to clean it out. For the cobs, I’d probably recommend the same. The wood in thsose shanks would probably absorb too much alcohol w a salt alcohol treatment and might swell and maybe split. Maybe use the bristle cleaners ion the cob shanks to get more gunk out.


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[Riff Raff]

I found I enjoyed pipe smoking a lot more once I stopped worrying about what was right and wrong. Grab pipe, stuff tobacco in it, light it and smoke it. If there's a clump of dottle, so be it. Next time there might not be.

Some consider pipes expensive, and tobacco cheap, but it's the other way round for me here. 100g of tobacco costs me slightly more than my most expensive pipe did. It's only an occasional treat for me though, and I overthought it, I might lose interest altogether.

We need to get together. I'm in Northants.

 

[Agent86]

What about the cobs and the Meerschaum? Thanks again @Hirsute.

The salt/alcohol treatment may permanently ruin the cob. I would clean the shank per Hirsute's post and also ream the cobs back and put them in the sun(minus the stems) for several hours.

 

[Kentos]

Maybe pick up a brand new cob and see if it smokes any different. If you get the same flavor profiles maybe look elsewhere for a solution?

I have a pipe that i smoke anything and everything in. It sits half smoked in the hot car, then emptied in the morning and repacked. No cleaning, nuthin. It got to the point where it was unsmokable, unsurprisingly.

 

[Agent86]

Maybe pick up a brand new cob and see if it smokes any different. If you get the same flavor profiles maybe look elsewhere for a solution?

I have a pipe that i smoke anything and everything in. It sits half smoked in the hot car, then emptied in the morning and repacked. No cleaning, nuthin. It got to the point where it was unsmokable, unsurprisingly.

Then he would have to break in a new cob...

 

[AimlessWanderer]

We need to get together. I'm in Northants.

I'm not a big pipe smoker, Bill. I ration myself to 25g a month, and some months I don't bother at all. Used to be a heavy smoker, and refuse to go down that path again. It's OK as an occasional treat, but I don't it to become an "interest", if you know what I mean.

 

[Riff Raff]

I'm not a big pipe smoker, Bill. I ration myself to 25g a month, and some months I don't bother at all. Used to be a heavy smoker, and refuse to go down that path again. It's OK as an occasional treat, but I don't it to become an "interest", if you know what I mean.

I understand Al. Well if you ever hit the monthly "Jones" let me know.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I understand Al. Well if you ever hit the monthly "Jones" let me know.

Will do!