Here's a little trick most of you probably know. After I put about an inch worth of pipe sweetner/cleaner on on end of my pipe cleaner and work it back and forth until it protudes out the other end of the stem, I take the clean end and sculpt a spiral before pulling it all the way through. It seems to pick up a little of what ordinarily would be left behind... IMHO...
My only tip/warning would be to insert the pipe cleaner (wide side first if tapered) from the bit end first to make sure your pipe cleaners are not too large of a diameter for the bit hole. I have pushed a tapered pipe cleaner (narrow end first) in from the shank end on a couple of older pipes that had old vulcanite stems and cracked the bit “lip/lips” out in a blink of an eye when I pulled them through😖.
Watched a guy use spit for a rim he was cleaning at the St. Louis pipe show a couple of years back. He'd stick a Q-Tip in his mouth then go to work. He said it was usually good for about 70% removal, then he'd use a nylon bristle brush. If there was still any residue, he'd then go to light grit sandpaper... He said he was usually happy with the results.?.?.🤔
I never clean my rims. I view the rim buildup as a kind of badge of accomplishment, as I am not a collector, except in the sense that I have about 14 pipes.
I know that a fair amount of fellow TPL members have been cleaning their pipes before I was born, but I have a tip to share for pipe cleaning. I have refurbished oodles of pipes, and many have serious “nastiness” build up in the shank. The edge where the (usually smaller diameter) airway stops and the (usually larger diameter) mortise begins gets gummed up. When I clean my pipes, I fold a pipe cleaner in half and leave a slight “loop”? in the end so the parallel edges slightly wedge into the mortise and also put a ~45 degree bend about 1/4” in the end. The purpose of the bend is to clean that nasty step from airway to mortise. I insert the cleaner until is contacts the face of the step and rotate the pipe cleaner around the inside several times to get that area of buildup cleaner, and swab out the edges of the mortise at the same time. Just a tip from a guy who has cleaned a whole bunch of estate pipes.
@RockyMountainBriar; Good idea. That would be better than a Q-tip which is what i usually use and isn't all that effective. As far as the rim, I guess I'm kind of a slob, I just don't worry about it. As far as being a slob, my Bride would probably confirm that notion.
@RockyMountainBriar is spot on. After using a pipe cleaner as it's designed for, I get double use by folding the pipe cleaner in half, then using the looped section just as he said. So I usually wind up with a pipe cleaner dirty at both ends AND the middle. Makes me feel better about throwing it away...😏
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After I put about an inch worth of pipe sweetner/cleaner on on end of my pipe cleaner and work it back and forth until it protudes out the other end of the stem, I take the clean end and sculpt a spiral before pulling it all the way through. It seems to pick up a little of what ordinarily would be left behind... IMHO...
The Perfect Pipe Rim Cleaning Solution: SPIT!
https://centerofthewest.org/2015/07/06/spit-cleaning-conservations-dirty-little-secret/
He'd stick a Q-Tip in his mouth then go to work. He said it was usually good for about 70% removal, then he'd use a nylon bristle brush. If there was still any residue, he'd then go to light grit sandpaper...
He said he was usually happy with the results.?.?.🤔
Good idea. That would be better than a Q-tip which is what i usually use and isn't all that effective. As far as the rim, I guess I'm kind of a slob, I just don't worry about it. As far as being a slob, my Bride would probably confirm that notion.
So I usually wind up with a pipe cleaner dirty at both ends AND the middle.
Makes me feel better about throwing it away...😏