Salt and Alcohol Treatment

Either have I. But some smokers swear that it 'freshens' the pipe, completely removing any traces of bad taste . Especially with estate pipes. Looking forward to what some of our members have to say on the matter.

I have used the salt treatment on estate pipes. The lessons I learned: I use a small/medium sized Tupperware filled with rice so I can tilt the bowl slightly forward away from the stem so alcohol doesn't get into the stem and the bowl will sit for 24 hours without moving, I fill the bowl halfway full with salt and added just a few drops of alcohol with an eye dropper then filled the bowl slightly below the rim and add a few more drops. It was easy to use too much alcohol so the amount to use will come with trial and error but start by adding slowly. As I didn't smoke the estate pipe before cleaning, I can only assume it worked but the salt was dark yellow to brown in color after 24 hours so I know residue was leeched from the remaining very thin cake layer (I reamed out the existing cake and left just a bit for easy re-break in). You don't want alcohol on the briar as it will discolor and remove some or possibly all of the finish. That is my experience anyway. With estate pipes you have no idea what they smoked and I want to be able to start fresh.

I quilt the salt treatment as I mentioned in a recent post, White Vinegar and cotton balls work better. The simplest treatment is damp coffee grounds left in the bowl to dry (if ghosting is not severe).

...I'm guessing I have less discriminating taste buds than other smokers... I like a very wide selection of tobaccos for different reasons...

...lol, you should see my open tins shelf... other smokers would go WTF???

...I have heard this from other smokers for years... again, I've been fortunate.

I've used the salt and alcohol treatment quite often on estate pipes and refurbishment for people, it works very well. No destructive effects at all. I like it better than vinegar because vinegar is water based and the vinegar is liable to linger. Another treatment for not too pernicious ghosts is filling the bowl with activated charcoal and baking it a toaster oven for 3-5 hours at about 180 deg. F. Sometimes the coffee grounds treatment works, but only for mild ghosting.

as I mentioned, if not major. as most pipers have them handy, it is a good first step to determine if a more involved technique is required.

I use cotton balls and cheap whisky. Not as messy as salt, and works great. If you want the whisky taste (which burns off after a couple of bowls) you can use vodka. I know some guys use Everclear because it's higher alcohol %, but I'm not that fussy.

That's a great idea using the rice in Tupperware to rest/tilt your bowl/shank slightly forwards.  I've used a pipe rest which gives me the tilt.  I've only have had to use the alcohol/salt treatment a couple of times, when purchasing some used pipes in an "as is" condition.  Meaning, they needed that TLC of reaming, slightly sanding the inside of the bowl, sticking a couple of pipe cleaners into the mortise/air draft area and on into the bottom of the bowl; filling the bowl almost up to the top with Kosher salt, and using an eyedropper to administer Jack Daniels until the top of the salt is in a slightly moist (not mushy) condition.  Over the next 24 hrs or so, the nicotine and other residue will drain onto the pipe cleaners and leach outward from the mortise area.  You can repeat the process again if you feel it is necessary, or dump your salt, clean/brush out the inside tobacco chamber area and let that sucker dry out.  You're good to go


Most estate pipes that I've purchased online from individuals/retailers have already gone through this, or maybe a similar process, and are ready to pack your favorite pipe tobacco and smoke right from the box... 

It's true that a retort works best on a pipe that's really vile. I only use it on a really foul estate, or if someone wants it. I did a test once on a pipe that smoked very well but I thought was getting a bit sour. It smoked kinda bland after that. It seems that it can/might also boil out whatever makes a briar taste really good.

...this kind of thing is tragic, and why I've eschewed these elaborate treatments... ream and sand the bowl interior, run an alcohol-soaked pipe cleaner through the pipe and call it good... tobacco *ghosting* is, IMHO, much ado about nothing.

...at the risk of being reprimanded, I say... look, it's an estate pipe. It's been smoked, maybe with tobacco I don't care for. If you ream, sand and sterilize, so-called *ghosts* vanish in a few smokes. It's a f***ing pipe, not brain surgery. 

...I did...