How to Use a Pipe Brush

A pipe brush is the single most critical tool to maintain your old friend, your smoking pipe. As you smoke your pipe, the tar and other solids build up along the inside of the bowl of the pipe and throughout the stem and the mouthpiece. This buildup affects the flavor of the tobacco and can become a breeding ground for unpleasant bacteria. Keep your pipe clean with a pipe brush and puff away with joy. Read on to learn more.

Instructions

• 1

  Select the right-sized pipe brush for the job. The proper-sized pipe cleaner brush fits through the stem, contacting all walls fairly snugly, but still moves easily throughout the body of the pipe. If you have to force it, it's too large; if it can fall out, the pipe brush is too small.

• 2

  Get a specific type of pipe brush if you have an unusually sized smoking pipe. Use a tapered pipe brush for pipes with sharp bends in the stem, an extra long pipe brush for extra long pipes and a fluffy pipe brush for pipes with an extra long stem. A stiff-bristle pipe brush is a normal size, but excellent for cleaning out heavy buildups of tar.

• 3

  Plan on cleaning your pipe with a pipe brush about every five smokes. You should wipe out the bowl every time.

• 4

  Remove the mouthpiece if possible. In some cases, it screws out; in others, it simply pulls off. The attachment methods of pipe mouthpieces are quite varied, and your method will change depending on the style of pipe.

• 5

  Coat the pipe brush in some kind of alcohol-based solvent. Rubbing alcohol works well, but over time, it could dry out a wooden pipe. Good choices are 90+ proof alcohols like vodka or gin, although brown liquors may leave behind a taste. Avoid all true cleaning products, especially petroleum-based solvents such as naptha. They contain toxic carcinogens.

• 6

  Slide the pipe brush down the body of the pipe several times. Pull it out, and if it appears filthy, soak and use a new brush. A little remaining residue is fine to leave.

• 7

  Push a new, cleaner-soaked pipe brush through the bottom of the bowl into the stem of the pipe to completely clean it out. Once you are done, reassemble your smoking pipe and puff away.