pipemakersforum.com

Hello all,

I hope everyone had a good Christmas and has a Happy and safe New Year as well!!!
I have a question concerning cleaning estate pipes. I buy a estate pipes on e-bay and often times they are of course in e-bay condition… trashed! Now that is not a problem for me as I love to fully restore them and make them more new than new and give them that personal touch. However, I have a problem when it comes to cleaning the outside of my rusticated pipes. There is always a good layer of grey gunk between the nooks and cranny’s. I assume that it is mostly just a combo of old carnuba, hand oils and various cleaning products that the previous owner used. Now, I want to know if there is something I can use to completely strip the old wax and gunk off without stripping the finish? I have not tried anything yet as I do not want to damage any of them. I collect mostly Ben Wades, Preben Holm’s and various others. And as you know these are usually pretty hefty pipes! So there is a lot of area to cover! I have a buffer to reapply the carnuba. But I just can’t seem to get that old crud off without possible damage! I look forward to your thoughts!

Regards,


Eric.

Try using a folded over pipe cleaner and wet with 91% alcohol (from drug store). Rub in crevises. This should be tried on a small area to test. You may have to do it several times to get results. Then use buff wheel to clean off. Then proceed to wax buff with very little wax. Just test this on a low priced pipe first. I have used this and it worked fine for me.
P.S. Any Dunhill used pipes for sale??

Thanks for the tip! I will give it a try. As for any Dunhill's no sorry. The best I have as far as Dunhill's go, is a Savory's Curzon. Dunhill second. And it still needs to be reconditioned. If you are interested, let me know and I will give you a shout when it is done before I list it on e-bay.

THanks!

E.

I have used a very stiff toothbrush dipped in rubbing alcohol to good effect. It will take off some of the stain but for me that isn't a problem. If I think it will be too light after waxing I just give it a light coat of whichever stain I think comes nearest to matching.