Take care of your ebonite

[Isaac]

Now I will be the first to admit that I am not a professional pipe smoker. I’m constantly learning new aspects daily. There is something I wanted to point out about ebonite for those new smokers or someone on the fence about upgrading stem material.

Now I don’t have my pipes in direct sunlight, but a few stems have started to turn the dreaded green. The biggest maintenance I would do is a wipe down of my saliva. Sadly, this didn’t help my efforts to combats oxidation. I’ve have started to use obsidian oil after each smoke, but sadly the green color has set in.

I just placed an order for micro mesh and polishing compound. Seems like a last resort activity that I am now faced with.

maintain those stems!!

Including a pic of one of my stems

 

[Kentos]

I have had good luck using Obsedian oil on my stems to stave off oxidation. After every few smokes I wipe it on with my finger and leave it on. The next day I buff off the excess.

 

[ctr]

A bit of toothpaste and elbow grease to remove light oxidation. Then obsidian oil.

 

[Isaac]

A bit of toothpaste and elbow grease to remove light oxidation. Then obsidian oil.

I’ll give that a go before I start the pads. I also have white polishing compound that should be very mild in abrasive properties.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Many of my old '80s and '90s pipes had oxidized ebonite stems. I read here about soaking them in baking soda and water, and in Oxyclean, and in sanding them with very fine sandpaper, and did all those things plus applying some olive oil as a final step. They look 200% better -- but that was a lot of work. In future I plan to buy only pipes with acrylic stems. A vintage pipe had better have an already-restored stem, and I'll wipe it down after every smoke and oil it frequently.

Since I don't usually clench my pipes for long, acrylic stems are not a problem when I'm smoking.

 

[8 Track]

Toothpaste, Magic Eraser followed by a drop of mineral oil which is far less expensive than Obsidian and completely safe for stems.