by Darin Doerflinger

11/25/21

Cleaning and maintaining your smoking pipes and accessories from Smoker's Pipeline is crucial to enjoying these artisan pieces. Over time, it is natural for the exterior of your Briarwood, and to a slighter degree the other hardwoods we use, to darken as they are handled. The Briarwood in particular will darken from proper oil maintenance and natural oils in you skin. As it darkens, the burl patterns become more distinct and the surface tends to take on a smoother feel.

Let's approach the cleaning and maintenance from two different parts of the piece. The interior, or areas that are in contact with the smoking material or the smoke itself, and the exterior which is basically all other areas.

For both the interior and exterior, it is of utmost importance not to use any metal objects to clean these products. Metal can scar the wood and potentially chip any glass parts. We sell a range of cool hardwood dual tampers and scrapers that are great to keep resin buildup to a minimum and for a heavy duty scraping of the bowl.

How often should you do the full maintenance? That really depends on your level of use and the environment they are kept in (medium temp and low humidity is best). That said, we typically do this about every three months for our pieces to maintain against dry cracking and keep the smoke pure and tasting good.

What you'll need:

• Isopropyl Alcohol: 92%
• Small plastic cup or container
• Wood scraper
• Standard pipe cleaner
• Paper towels
• Plastic gloves
• Boos Block Food Safe Conditioning Oil
• Small, clean brush. (recommend the sponge tip type)

PLEASE NOTE!: Handle all the pipes and accessories with care and remember some of these products have glass sections. Do not soak the pipes or accessories in the isopropyl alcohol. This will effect the connections and seriously shorten the life of the piece.

For the Interior:

Step 1: Set up your area and keep in mind this is a bit messy so laying down a towel on the table top is not a bad idea. 

Step 2: Unscrew the cap, if necessary, and set aside.

Step 3. After gloving up, scrape the bowl, the bowl rim, and the under side of the cap with a wood scraper to remove as much of the built up resin as possible.

Step 4: Pour a small amount of isopropyl alcohol in to the plastic cup. You'll use both the pipe cleaner and the paper towels to apply the alcohol to the pipe or accessory.

Step 5: Dip the pipe cleaner and use it to ream out the draft section of the pipe. Use the paper towels to keep the cleaner clear and continue that process until the cleaner comes out resin-less.

Step 6: Repeat step 5 with the bowl. In this case use the pipe cleaner to both pre-cover the bowl and the cap in alcohol and scrub the surfaces. It may be necessary to use the wood scraper to remove excess build up. Repeat until resin is removed. 

Step 7: If capped, replace the cap, being careful not to over tighten the screw. Leave the cap open and set aside the pipe or accessory for a minimum of 24 hours to allow the woods to release the alcohol through evaporation.

Step 8: After a thorough evaporation time, dip your brush in a small amount of the boos block oil. Keep in mind this is a food safe oil. Never use any oil that isn't! Use it to paint the cap, the bowl rim and the bowl interior. Use a corner of the paper towel to remove any pooling oil, especially at the bottom of the bowl. It is not recommended to oil the draft areas.

Step 9: Set the piece aside for another 24 hours to let it dry and absorb the oil.

For the Exterior:

Step 1: Follow the same set up as above if doing separately.

Step 2: Wipe down the exterior of the piece with a paper towel lightly dipped in alcohol until any contaminates are removed.

Step 3: Set aside and allow the isopropyl alcohol to evaporate for a minimum of 24 hours.

Step 4: Using the soft small brush dipped in food safe boos block oil, carefully paint the exterior of the piece in oil and dab off extra pooling with a paper towel.

Step 5: Set aside and allow to 24 hours for the oil to completely absorb.

 

Continued maintenance and cleaning of our creations will allow them to last to their full potential and offer you a smooth, cool, and true smoke!

If you have any questions, please let us know! Contact us at info@smokerspipeline.com.

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