Switching Tobacco Designations

jfreedy

I am slowly transitioning from an pure Aromatic smoker to an English, Va/Per & Aro smoker. I'm loving the variety. That said, I have several nicer pipes in which I've smoked only aromatics for years that I'd like to re-designate (start smoking other tobaccos in). I'm concerned about ghosting as I smoke these non-aros. What do you suggest?

motie2

@jfreedy -- First, get salt, some alcohol (some form of near-pure, non-denatured ethanol; myself, I've used both rum and vodka), and a place to rest your pipe in a semi-upright position. Insert a pipe cleaner into the stem of the pipe so that it extends into the shank. Fill the bowl to the rim with salt and drip or carefully pour alcohol into the bowl until the salt is just saturated. Try not to get any alcohol on the pipe's exterior, as this may damage the finish; any spills should be wiped up immediately. Leave the pipe alone for one day. After this time the salt will have turned brown from the absorption of "tars" from the bowl. Thoroughly clean all salt from the bowl (this may involve swabbing the bowl with your finger and sparing use of water) and set the pipe aside overnight to dry completely. Your pipe will now be revitalized, and all traces of ghosting should be gone. BTW, you also should give the stem and shank a thorough cleaning by periodically cleaning with a bristle pipe cleaner dipped in alcohol or a commercial "pipe sweetener".

Many folks swear by this process, but the procedure is not risk-free. Some people have had pipes crack after this treatment, when they allowed the salt and alcohol mixture to enter the pipe's shank (You did remember the part that went, "Insert a pipe cleaner into the stem of the pipe so that it extends into the shank," right?)    Or when they left the salt/alcohol mixture in the pipe for several days.

Any pipe with significant monetary or sentimental value should be sent to a professional pipe repair person for a thorough cleaning. I don't have any pipes of great monetary value (OK, I have one) and the salt/alcohol method has work for me.   Except one time I had to do it wtice to kill a Latakia ghost.

Bonanzadriver

I'll second moties recommendation.

I'm most certainly not near as experienced as he is, I've only refurbed 50 pipes or so in the last year.

I would however, recommend reaming the bowl before you do this.

I use Kosher salt and Everclear.

I use a foam earplug stuffed into the shank to keep the alcohol from getting on the finish.

Fill the bowl almost to the top.  Using an eyedropper, avoiding the finish of the pipe, squeeze the liquid into the bowl until you see it puddle on top of the salt.

I let it sit overnight, dump it out and flush it out with warm water from the faucet, dry it out with paper towels and let it sit for several hours.

Then reinsert the stem and give it a couple of puffs.  If you still smell or taste the ghost, repeat the treatment.


As motie suggested, you might need to do it a couple of times to get the ghost outta there.

I have not experienced any problems with the shank getting damaged, but that's not saying it couldn't happen.

You will also need to thoroughly clean the shank with alcohol and pipe cleaners & or Qtips.  Do this until the pipe cleaner comes out clean.


On a side note, if you're enjoyin the English blends you might also like Balkans.  Pretty similar, in my limited opinion.


Dino

Bonanzadriver

This also might be a good opportunity to pick yourself up a couple of new dedicated English briars. 

After all, a fella can always use a new pipe or three for the collection.  

PappyJoe

Instead of salt and alcohol you can also fill the bowl with slightly damp coffee grounds. Let it sit overnight, dump the grounds and then rinse the bowl with water and let dry overnight again. No, the water doesn't damage a briar bowl. 

ghostsofpompeii

Sounds to me like @jfreedy doesn't have that problem yet, but is asking how to prevent it. And my suggestion would be to have dedicated pipes for Latakia blends and non-aromatic Va/Per. The Latakia will ghost more so than Va/Per or aromatics, so simply segregating your pipes for Latakia blends from some of the others should prevent you from having a ghosting problem in the future. Which can keep you from resorting to the various cleaning techniques the others suggested.   

jfreedy

Thanks, all of you! These are all helpful suggestions.  

I honestly haven't noticed too much ghosting from most of my older (aromatic) pipes. Which kinda makes sense since historically I've allowed each to rest for weeks if not months between smokes. I always clean them well before I let them rest. I'm smoking almost daily now and want to make sure it doesn't become a problem. So I will dedicate some to each tobacco type. 

Next question... Do certain pipe styles (bent, straight, bulldog, billiard, long stem, short) make any difference with the type of tobacco smoked? I'd assume hotter burning types might be better in longer stemmed pipes but would appreciate any other suggestions. 

PappyJoe

I'm just an old codger who doesn't get all OCD about those things. I smoke what I like in whatever pipe I grab. If it starts to ghost then I clean it and it's good to go. 

jfreedy

@PappyJoe -- I like that. KISS principle. 

xDutchx

All the above suggestions are spot on. If you still feel the pipe is ghosting, you can send it to Mike Myers at Walker Briar Repair, and pay $5 for a trip through his ozone machine.http://http//walkerpiperepair.com/html/ozone.html

Londy3

I have not yet experienced the ghost thing yet...since cobs are not only causal, inexpensive and cool, I have been using them just for aromatics and use my high end pipes for everything else. But that's just me. 

dbh1950

From my experience, such as it is, just fill the bowl with as strong of an English or Balkan blend as you choose, like it up and smoke away. Unless a pipe is allowed to accumulate an excessive amount of residue, I think you would be good. I have never had an issue of ghosting when switching from a light aromatic to an English.

LostMason

I'm with @PappyJoe and @dbh1950 , just wipe the bowl out after it cools and smoke whatever the next time around.
Might be good to run a pipe cleaner thru the bit and shank with a bit of everclear or rum but even if you run it thru dry
it will help keep the gunk in check.

judandhispipe

What I often do is smoke several bowls of a fairly neutral burley blend in a pipe to do the sort of thing you mentioned.

xDutchx

All the above suggestions are spot on. If you still feel the pipe is ghosting, you can send it to Mike Myers at Walker Briar Repair, and pay $5 for a trip through his ozone machine. http://http//walkerpiperepair.com/html/ozone.html