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Easiest Method to Sweeten a Tobacco Pipe

Regular care and maintenance is necessary to keep a pipe in good working order and to avoid the development of sour, salty or bad tastes. Unburned tobacco should not be left in a pipe, and the pipe should not be emptied or disassembled while it is hot. Alternating between two or more pipes is often recommended to allow cooling between smokes. Between smokes, clean the pipe stem and bowl. Periodic deeper cleaning is needed to prevent excess carbon buildup in the bowl and to remove residues in the pipe stem. If bad tastes develop due to built-up resins and tars, sweetening the pipe is possible using cleaning agents that dissolve contaminants.

Things You'll Need

  • Cloths or paper towels
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Small bowl
  • Dry rice or beans
  • Salt, non-iodized
  • 90-proof alcohol (or higher)
  • Eyedropper
  • Pipe tool
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Instructions

    • 1

      Allow the pipe to cool completely. Take out any ash or dottle from the bowl. Remove the stem from the bowl. Set the stem aside on a soft cloth or paper towel.

    • 2

      Place the pipe so the bowl is in an upright position by nestling it in folded cloths or by supporting the pipe in a small bowl filled with rice or beans.

    • 3

      Fill the pipe bowl level with the brim with non-iodized salt. Add alcohol that is at least 90 proof, such as brandy or vodka, dropping it into the salt with an eyedropper. Bring the alcohol level to the top rim of the pipe bowl without overflowing it. Let the pipe soak for 24 hours without disturbing.

    • 4

      Take the pipe from its supporting material and break through the darkened salt crust using a pipe tool. Remove all the salt and remnants of alcohol from the bowl and shank. Wipe the bowl clean with a soft cloth or doubled-over pipe cleaners. Use the pipe cleaners to repeatedly clean the shank to remove any salt or alcohol. Continue until the pipe cleaners are not stained or moistened when passed through the shank.

    • 5

      Clean the pipe stem with pipe cleaners moistened with alcohol, pushing the pipe cleaner from the tenon to the mouthpiece. Then push through a dry pipe cleaner. Alternate wet and dry pipe cleaners until a moistened pipe cleaner does not contain any darker color on it from passing through the stem, and finish cleaning the stem by putting a dry pipe cleaner through it. Allow bowl and stem to set overnight to evaporate any last traces of alcohol. Then reassemble and use the pipe.

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