Meerschaum Maintenance

Subtilis87

What steps do you take to cleaning out your meerschaum and how does it differ from caring for a briar? Do you want a cake? I have one meerschaum, and I swab with pipe cleaner after each smoke, but that is it so far.

tomatobodhi

I rub out the inside of the bowl after each time or two I smoke it. I fold over a paper towel, so nothing fancy. From time to time I wipe the inside with a very small amount of alcohol on the paper towel and then let it sit for a day or so.

No, you don't want cake. Meerschaum is porous and doesn't really need the cake and the cake will expand slightly when hot and can crack the bowl of a meerschaum much more easily than briar.

Don't use a reamer on a meerschaum. Just use the light, consistent wiping down to keep the bowl clean. Don't ever use bristled pipe cleaners, and don't push the pipe cleaner past the draft hole (doing so can score the meerschaum in the bottom of your bowl).

Meerschaum is a fun contradiction: it can be smoked often, but needs to be handled delicately.

PappyJoe

There are a lot of myths about smoking meerschaum. One of my favorites is you can't hold it by the bowl while smoking. Poppycock I say! I hold all of mine by the bowl. It hasn't affected any of them. I also scoff at the never let a cake build up in your meerschaum because it will crack the bowl. I'm at odds with @tomatobodhi on this one. I have one CAO meer I've been smoking since 1985 and it has a thin layer of cake built up in it. Hasn't cracked yet. All 6 of my meerschaums has thin layers of cake but I do keep wiping them down good after they cool. 

I use a regular Dill pipe cleaner. Never had a problem with scoring the bottom of the bowl. 

I don't wear white gloves when smoking mine either.

tomatobodhi

There are some tips on this page:

http://www.meerschaum.com/faq.aspx

ghostsofpompeii

I still treat my Meerschaum pipes like delicate China even though they are not very expensive. I'm of the mindset that they are brittle and easily breakable ... like a clay pipe. I won't smoke them in the garage for fear they'll shatter if I accidentally drop them on the concrete, so it limits when are where I can smoke my Meerschaums. Which really is a shame since they smoke so well.    

Woodsman

To keep them clean and shiny I use a soft Shoe Brush to buff them.

Charles

I agree with @Pappyjoe. I smoke my meerschaums as I do my briars and run a pipe cleaner through them as well as use my pipe tool to tamp and clean out the ash.  I hold mine by the bowl and have had no problem. The only thing I have not done, and probably will never do, is use alcohol to clean with.  I do not tap out the ash as I do with a briar as that is a sure way to crack a meer.

Londy3

I'd love to get my hands on a ball and claw pipe....those look so cool.

Charles

@Londy3-- Check out this site, you may find something that you like. http://www.meerschaummarket.com/classical-shape-meerschaum-pipes/?sort=featured&page=2

PappyJoe

@londy3 - Like @Charles I recommend meerschaummarket.com for good meerschaums. I have 3 from them and they are all good pipes from a master carver named Servi. I know he's not one of big names, but the pipes I have with his name on them are all drilled properly and I enjoy smoking them. 

motie2

I second the recommendation of meerschaummarket.com. I no longer have any of my meerschaums (sold them when I stopped smoking pipes in the mid-1980's).

motie2

OK, I just used this folder to call attention to ".....a thought provoking piece of writing..." concerning meerschaum.
https://rebornpipes.com/2019/06/08/why-do-we/

ghostsofpompeii

I usually clean out the bowl with a Q-Tip when I finished to remove any residue. And that's about the extent of it. I primarily use the pipe cleaner on the stem only ... usually removing it from the body of the pipe after it has cooled down.

motie2

Flow Dynamics in Meerschaum Coloring – A Theory https://rebornpipes.com/2019/06/11/flow-dynamics-in-meerschaum-coloring-a-theory/

motie2

Waxing Meerschaums

 https://rebornpipes.com/2019/06/13/waxing-meerschaums/

Meerschaum Care and Cleaning

https://rebornpipes.com/2019/06/13/meerschaum-care-and-cleaning/

motie2

Unorthodox Thoughts and Actions on Care and Waxing Meerschaums

https://rebornpipes.com/2019/06/21/unorthodox-thoughts-and-actions-on-care-and-waxing-meerschaums/

KA9FFJ

Tnx @motie2 for the article. I don't smoke my meers as much as I should, so I usually wax them once or twice a year...

motie2

https://www.alpascia.com/moments/en/detail/97/sea-foam-the-colours-of-lightn

motie2

Flow dynamics in meerschaum coloring
A theory.......

https://rebornpipes.com/2019/06/11/flow-dynamics-in-meerschaum-coloring-a-theory/

motie2

Meerschaum Care and Cleaning
https://rebornpipes.com/2019/06/13/meerschaum-care-and-cleaning/

https://rebornpipes.com/tag/cleaning-a-meerschaum-pipe/

Neoshaone

My son gave me one and I’ve never smoked it... a bit afraid to. 

PappyJoe

@Neoshaone
Don't be afraid. Meerschaum pipes can be great smokers plus there are advantages like you get a better idea of what the blend taste like because meerschaum pipes smoke cleaner. You don't let cake build up in a meerschaum. 

I have ten meerschaums and the only that doesn't get smoked often is a big masterpiece of art. I smoke it maybe twice a year.