How Often Do You Hand Wax Your Pipe

ghostsofpompeii

I don't own an electric grinder with a buffing wheel to properly polish up pipes with Carnauba wax, so I resort to Decatur Pipe Shield 'No Buff Wax' and do it by hand. For me part of the hobby is setting aside time to polish up the pipes and keeping them looking showroom fresh. Nothing makes me happier than pulling out a ten or twenty year old pipe for an evening smoke and have my wife ask ... "Is that a new pipe?" And it's only when she sees the cake built-up inside the bowl that she realizes it's not a new acquisition. 

For those of you without a buffing wheel how often do you hand wax your pipes? And do you do it right after smoking while the bowl is still warm, or just grab and handful and do them all at the same time?   

Philip

Being a watchmaker myself I have many different buffing wheels including the large non stitched muslin wheels which are excellent for pipes. But you have to be very careful and I really don't recommend their use for "scheduled maintenance". Overhauls are another story. What I find works nicely is to just keep a chunk of bee's wax with my cleaning kit I have handy. After the smoke when I'm running a cleaner through if I think it's looking a little pekid I'll rub some of that wax on it which works out great since the pipe is warm. Then I use a rouge cloth, the side without the rouge, so you can use any jewelery style cloth, and polish it up. Keeps them looking great. I'd say once every couple of months is more than enough. 

Furthermore, each pipe has it's own standard in my opinion. In another discussion Mr. Pappy talked about getting the black off the rim which for some pipes I don't want any, but some pipes I think look good with a bit of char along the top. Gives it a bit of a rustic look. Those I want to looked 'smoked' and not new. Corncobs are a good example of that. They look much better used than new, at least in my opinion.

R/

Phil

xDutchx

I'm not a big fan of buffing wheels, and most likely will never own one. I have seen the nomenclature and buttons worn down on some pipes, lowering their collectible value considerably. Also, I have seen what can happen, when a pipe flies out of the hand, and gets buried in the sheetrock, or bounced around the shop. I'm also not a big fan of all the dust in the room, a buffing wheel creates.

I'm not really concerned about shine on my briar, although I'm not going to smoke a green stem either. The key to my happiness, is keeping dents non existent, keeping the draft hole solid, as well as keeping the interior of the entire bowl pristine. Ditto on keeping the rim free of heat damage, by only loading the bowl about 60 to 70% capacity.

I have a few pipes that are 50 to 100 years old. I try to keep in mind how the previous owners treated those pipes, in order for them to be easily restored to almost new condition. Hopefully one day 50 to 100 years from now, someone will get their hands on one of my pipes, and appreciate the care I kept in mind while enjoying them.

Old collectible pipes come in all price ranges, and it doesn't take an expensive pipe to equal a rare find for an enthusiastic collector, just a pipe that was well cared for.

glohman

One or twice a year, not for the "shine" factor, just just to protect it some. Like waxing a car.

daveinlax

Not very often, but when a pipe needs a little perking up I use a few dabs of Renaissance Wax and a soft flannel cloth. For daily use I use a Dunhill red/pink silicon impregnated cloth with good results.

motie2

I was taught to rub the warm pipe bowl on the sides of my nose. It did leave a shine.

Stop laughing; I'm serious..... ;-)

Topaz75

I don't exactly recall the last time I polished a pipe, but I'm reasonably sure that Lyndon Johnson was president at the time.

Charles

Do not recall ever polishing a pipe, unless a quick and brisk rub on my shirt sleeve counts.

dbh1950

Never waxed a pipe. Sometines, I will use a polishing rag to cleanup the stem, especially any accumulation at the lip. I always thought that signs of use on a pipe adds a certain character, a use value to it.