Alcohol Baths for Restoring Pipes

Not long ago, I was discussing a Peterson Kapp-Royal I was restoring with Mark Irwin at (https://petersonpipenotes.wordpress.com/) and he mentioned soaking the stummels in an alcohol bath to clean the exterior.

Both Mark and Steve Laug at (https://rebornpipes.com/) use 91% isopropyl alcohol the bath. After 24 hours, the alcohol removes the finish, removes some of the stain, and softens the cake in the bowl and airway.

While researching this method, I also heard about using 190 Proof grain alcohol with basically the same result.  The grain alcohol would also remove the finish, some of the stain and soften the cake.

But, which would work best? I decided to do an experiment and find out. For the experiment, I choose two “lesser quality” estate pipes I have. For the isopropyl alcohol bath, I used a Royal Sovereign. In the grain alcohol bath, I used a Big Ben Crosley. Since I don’t have two of the same pipes in my collection I chose two based on the bowl color being close. After removing the stems, I dropped the pipes in the jars within minutes of each other.

The Bath

After 15 minutes, I could see a small “cloud” of color in the bottom of the jars. Whether the cloud was from the cake in the bowl or the finish and stain, I’m not sure. I swirled the jar gently and the color spread through the alcohol. I checked throughout the day and the alcohol slowly got darker. After 24-hours, both jars had the coloration of a weak tea or diluted cola. I put lids on both jars because the alcohol can be reused in the future.

After the soak

One thing I didn’t expect – and didn’t get – was for the alcohol baths to remove all of the stain. When I removed the stummels, both were noticeable lighter but not down to a virgin wood state. My perception was that the isopropyl bath removed slightly more color from the Royal Sovereign than the grain alcohol from the Big Ben.

As Mark suggested, I wiped the inside of the bowls with old t-shirt material and as expected removed a good amount of cake. I inserted bristle pipe cleaners through the airway and into the draft hole. At first, I was surprised at how tight the draft hole was. Then I realized that the alcohol bath had really soften the tar in the airway and draft hole and made it easier to remove. After four or five cleaners, they were inserting easy and coming out comparatively clean.

At this point, I could have left the pipes as they were, applied wax or finish, and polished them. I decided to sand them down some first. Dipping each stummel in its alcohol bath, I started sanding with 600 grit sand paper. The initial sanding removed more of the stain, but it also revealed the fills in the briar. Wiping the stummel after each sanding, I progressed through finer grit sand paper and micro-mesh pads (1000, 2000, 4000, 8000 and 12000). The results were briars with a semi-glossy shine and a surface as smooth as glass. The stummels were almost slippery when held while sanding with the finest micro-mesh pad.

I finished the Royal Sovereign with just a coat of carnauba and buffing. For the Big Ben, I decided to apply a thin layer of Formby’s Tung Oil and let it dry for a day before waxing and polishing. I am happy with both results.

Final Take:

• Either alcohol baths will soften cake, remove the finish and some of the stain. I personally believe the isopropyl works slightly better than the grain alcohol.

  

• A plus to this method is how well it removes the tar and ghost from the airway and draft hole of a pipe. In my opinion, it works better than either a salt & alcohol treatment or coffee treatment. The negative is it removes the finish and some of the stain.
• While I might recommend an alcohol bath for an estate pipe in really bad condition – heavily caked, grimy and dull, dark finish – I feel it’s just not necessary for most pipes. I restored my Peterson Kapp-Royal to a nearly new appearance by wet sanding with fine grain sand paper and micro mesh pads.

Special thanks to Mark Irwin at petersonpipenotes and Steve Laug at rebornpipes for their guidance in cleaning my Peterson Kapp-Royal.

© J. Gibson Creative Services. August 2018