I've never cleaned a meerschaum pipe in this condition before. I did my usual alcohol soak overnight, and 80 years of grunge came pouring out. Anyhow, it's been a couple days now and my pipe still reeks of alcohol. I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of that smell. I'm sure smoking it would take care of the problem, but I don't fancy inhaling partially combusted isopropyl alcohol. Thoughts and remedies? UPDATE Problem solved. I baked it at about 120 for a while, baked it some more, did the salt and everclear sweetening trick, baked it some more, and waxed it. I packed it with McClelland Aurora tonight and gave it a whirl, and it was a fabulous performer. Don't you just love that gradiated ring around the lip of the bowl? I love that. The only real sign that this thing is as old as it is.
I thought about that, too, but I'm hesitating due to the special nature of the bowl. It's a medico sterling, so it has a sterling silver overlay with a clear acrylic coating. I guess I can try 100 degrees for a while. That can't possibly hurt it, right?
Okay, I baked it at 170 for 2 hours with the door cracked (my IR thermometer read 118 on the pipe) and most of the smell has been driven off. I Soaked the bowl and the stem in mild dish soap in the warm oven for a hour, and rinsed them thoroughly. The onlything I can smell/taste is a sort of a "wet mineral" essence, you know that smell, like a clean river rock. I think it'll go away once the bowl dries out. The pipe is beautiful! I'm going to take some rouge to the sterling silver part, and once I've polished the detailing and buffed the bit, I'll put up some pics!
You soaked it with isopropyl? Icky... I've only heard of people using vodka or other high % grain alcohol (eg. Everclear). To clear the flavor you should try packing the bowl with coarse salt (kosher or sea salt) and enough grain alcohol to moisten it. Prop it up and let it stand that way for 12-14 hours, then rinse it and let it sit for a day or two. Granted, this is a technique I've only used with briars thus far, but I don't believe salt or 50% grain alcohol will harm meerschaum, and it's definitely safer than isopropyl. Oh, and don't use soap or other cleansers with porous materials like meerschaum. You'll never get it all out.
Starting to freek out a little here.... All this heavy duty pipe cleaning stuff is new to me. I started about 40 years ago. Still got my 1st good pipe, given to me by my uncle on going off to college.Got a few more, had one made in Italy. I was under the impression that you never "cleaned" a pipe. Sure, run a pipe cleaner or rag through it, maybe ream the bowl every year or so but this chemical stuff is new to me.
Well, some people say you never clean a coffee pot, but I don't particularly agree with that on either. The salt & vodka method is to clean a pipe that has taken a bad flavor. Ever smoked a blend that you didn't like and then couldn't get the residual taste out of your pipe? That's how you fix it.
Ha.... I've been on Peterson's straight Virginia blend pretty much sence I switched from Flying Dutchman as a kid. I hate change.
Well, it all came clean. It looks and smells brand new with not a hint of tobacco, soap, or isopropyl residue. If the weather clears off, I'm looking forward to a bowl of aurora tonight
Holy jesus this thing is a champ! It's very forgiving. You can smoke it as fast as you want and it won't overheat (I think the silver overlay helps dissipate heat), and you can smoke as slow as you please and it'll keep the fires stoked. If you guys ever run across a medico sterling, pick it up!
Indeed a beautiful pipe! Hey guys, I bought this same pipe at a garage sale ($5) about three weeks ago and I have to say it is an amazing pipe. It does not overheat or go out, ever! It smokes like some of the finest pipes I have known. I agree with you that everyone should try to get their hands on one of these. I don't know how the straight neck pipe compares to this one which has a curved neck. Let me know if you find out.
