To touch or not...meerschaum

[Nick]

WHo grabs meer with bare hands and who doesnt. Whats the freaking difference anyway. Ive always kind of wondered.

[Emjaysmash]

Holding a meer with your bare hands can affect the coloring of the meerschuam over time.
I hold/touch/smoke a meer with barehands because I really don't care. Could make the color turn out interesting.

[yellowgoat]

Hold it and enjoy it. It's you pipe for your pleasure. It won't turn out looking like crap. Just clean your hands before handling.

Check this guys videos, He's been smoking Meerschaums for a long time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3Fnc9iFSNU

[NCRadioMan]

The oils in your hands helps with the coloring.

[Emjaysmash]

Hold it and enjoy it. It's you pipe for your pleasure. It won't turn out looking like crap. Just clean your hands before handling.

Check this guys videos, He's been smoking Meerschaums for a long time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3Fnc9iFSNU

Awesome! Thanks!

[BigFrank]

Holding a meer with your bare hands can affect the coloring of the meerschuam over time.
I hold/touch/smoke a meer with barehands because I really don't care. Could make the color turn out interesting.

This +1

I've had a meer for a few years now, and to be honest I don't think it makes a huge difference. I mean I do wash my hands on the regular so...

[Curly Cut]

what everyone else said.

[Slow Triathlete]

Just don't touch it with other body parts and you should be fine.

[Nick]

DAmn you slowt, ruin all kinds of fun for me........really though thats what I thought. Met this guy at a b&m awhile back and he was death on the thought of holding a meer with bare hands seemed silly to me. I mean we hold naturals with bare hands to help with coloring too. Idk seems to fussy to me.

[Dave128]

From: http://www.meerschaum.com/faq.aspx


TIPS FOR TAKING CARE OF YOUR MEERSCHAUM *
Do not be afraid to handle or hold your meerschaum with clean hands. Remember, you purchased a meerschaum primarily for your smoking pleasure. The "added" pleasure you derive from a meerschaum is watching it color as you smoke it. The conventional wisdom on this topic is that handling a meerschaum while warm removes the beeswax coating on the pipe, which highlights its coloring. While this is true, only the purist - the smoker far more concerned with the look of his pipe than his own smoking pleasure - need worry about it.

Clean your pipe only when it has cooled down. When warm, meerschaum is softer and thus more vulnerable to damage. Be careful when removing the stem of your meerschaum by pulling it and twisting it CLOCKWISE while supporting the shank with the fingers. Replace the stem by pushing it and twisting it CLOCKWISE also. Twisting counter-clockwise could unscrew the tenon, and doing so repeatedly can strip out the threads in the shank. A little care here will be repaid through a lifetime of smoking pleasure.

Do not tap your meerschaum against a hard surface. If you tap it in your palm, be sure to support the shank firmly with your hand. This is sound advice for briar pipe smokers also. To empty a meerschaum, tip it upside down, and if the ash does not fall out on its own use a pipe tool gently to loosen it.

Do not let a cake develop in a meerschaum. Therefore do not worry about "breaking in" your meerschaum. Meerschaum pipes, unlike briars, do not burn and hence need not be protected by a carbon cake. Besides, the meerschaum is softer than the cake and it may crack very easily, since the cake expands with heat faster than the meerschaum does. You can ream it out, but you should be very careful in the process--the reamer will remove meerschaum faster than cake, so you need to watch for spots where you have reamed away the cake and stay away from those.

It is not recommended to use pipe sweeteners in meerschaum pipes. The porous mineral will be soaked with the sweetener causing it to lose its functionality.

Clean the cake or residue inside the bowl of your meerschaum. Use a sharp-edged, blunt-ended tool. Avoid digging into the heel of the pipe when cleaning the graft hole by not allowing the pipe cleaner to extend too far into the bowl. The meerschaum is WET and SOFT in the heel immediately after a smoke.

If you have to, for a deeper cleaning you may use a paper towel wetted with a 40%-50% alcohol solution to rub the chamber. Stronger alcohol may cause damage.

Smoke your favorite blend in your meerschaum. Each pipe will color differently.

[Nick]

DO you ream after every smoke or is their a way to keep the cake from building. Ive been smoking pipes for about six years but im completely ignorant in the world of meer

[Dave128]

Sorry I can't help any further. I've never smoked a pipe, I just found this link and thought it would be helpful given the conversation. :sh

[TBone]

when I got my first meershcuam it was in Turkey where they're made. The shop owner told me holding them will help develope a nice gold patena overtime. He also stated to clean it once a week with pipe cleaners and not to ream as it can damage the pipe. I always used a clean cloth and the end of the pipe cleaner to clear mine out.

[Emjaysmash]

I use a paper towel and wipe out the inside of the bowl after a smoke (once it's cooled down). Reaming would only scratch up the inside.

[yellowgoat]

I use a paper towel and wipe out the inside of the bowl after a smoke (once it's cooled down). Reaming would only scratch up the inside.

This.

I always used a small cloth thats used for TV's and Computer screens and wiped the inside of the bowl after every smoke.

[Nick]

SWeet, thanks guys.

[76GTFan]

Just don't touch it with other body parts and you should be fine.

Just what are you implying.:pu

[Mister Moo]

https://picasaweb.google.com/m/viewer#photo/copperheadclub/5568828688649925601/5579238004647024914

Touch.

Scour the chamber ever couple of smokes with a looped bristle pipecleaner to remove developing cake; scrape with a sharp edge if/when needed taking care not to bare the clay.

Swish Everclear in a 'bash gourd to remove grunge and pour it out the shank, keeping cork spotless. Clean 'bash bowl as normal meer except remove, invert, and burn tar off airhole underside as needed.

What? Oh yeah - touch. :D

[cigaman1979]

I think you should hold the stem and should not touch the bowl

Bestest

[Fia]

I use a paper towel and wipe out the inside of the bowl after a smoke (once it's cooled down). Reaming would only scratch up the inside.

Thats what I do. Also like was mentioned earlier just wash your hands before smoking it. I know some guys who are really anal about it and use white gloves. Whatever you feel comfortable with. If it is new, I would try just holding the stem for the first few bowls. After that, just touch the bowl while smoking it to feel for the tackiness of the wax. Once that is gone, then feel free to hold the bowl too. :2

[Thrak]

I never even knew there was a proper way to hold a meer hah!!

[cigaman1979]

Guys..

I do my best not to touch the bowl a lot when smoking.I clean my hands before smoking and sometimes I cant clean b4 smoking.

You should re-wax your meerschaum when you see that it really needs it.Some people tell you to wax it during you are smoking it since it is hot and this would help bee wax to melt more easily.THIS IS WRONG !! you are lessening the durability of your block meerschaum pipe when you do this.

Clean inside and outside of your meerschaum pipe with very clean cotton or silk towels,or cottons.They should not be wet totally but you can add 2-3 drops of very clean water.

[Trace63]

When I saw this thread on the front page I clicked it...I then read the first few posts and thought you guys were trying to be lol'sy and continue with sexual innuendos.

I then realized a meer, is an actual thing

[cigaman1979]

Rewaxing a Block Meerschaum


Preparation: 100% beeswax cakes -- confectionery quality
Old towel or cloth -- to prevent hot wax from
dripping or spattering onto other surfaces
Hair dryer -- multiple temperature and fan settings
Cotton swabs -- for brushing the melted beeswax
Polishing cloth -- soft white terry cloth towel or
white flannel

STEP 1: Use a hair dryer set to hot temperature setting, but low air speed.
Heat the beeswax cake to consistency of lip balm.
Hold the pipe by the stem. Smear onto the bowl directly from the beeswax
cake like lipstick. Do not touch the bowl with your fingers during any of
the steps..

STEP 2: Continue to heat the a section of the surface of the bowl until the
wax becomes liquid. Use the cotton swab like a brush to paint the area with
a coating of wax. Push molten wax into crevices and hard to access areas.
The swab may unravel as it absorbs excess wax. Coat the entire bowl surface
evenly. CAUTION: Try to prevent wax from dripping into the tobacco hole since
it will leave a bitter taste.

STEP 3: Heat the bowl again to allow complete absorption of the wax. Set
the pipe down on the towel to cool.

STEP 4: After the bowl cools to room temperature. Buff the surface to a
high gloss using a towel first then the flannel cloth for the final buffing.
If the surface is tacky, too much wax is on the surface. Heat this area
again and remove excess wax with a cotton swab and buff again.

STEP 5: Repeat when the surface becomes soiled or dull. Excessive waxing
may cause too much wax accumulation (tacky surface and dripping

[cigaman1979]

When I saw this thread on the front page I clicked it...I then read the first few posts and thought you guys were trying to be lol'sy and continue with sexual innuendos.

I then realized a meer, is an actual thing

sex is also goof :dr-(P:r:chr:O

[Fia]

Rewaxing a Block Meerschaum


Preparation: 100% beeswax cakes -- confectionery quality
Old towel or cloth -- to prevent hot wax from
dripping or spattering onto other surfaces
Hair dryer -- multiple temperature and fan settings
Cotton swabs -- for brushing the melted beeswax
Polishing cloth -- soft white terry cloth towel or
white flannel

STEP 1: Use a hair dryer set to hot temperature setting, but low air speed.
Heat the beeswax cake to consistency of lip balm.
Hold the pipe by the stem. Smear onto the bowl directly from the beeswax
cake like lipstick. Do not touch the bowl with your fingers during any of
the steps..

STEP 2: Continue to heat the a section of the surface of the bowl until the
wax becomes liquid. Use the cotton swab like a brush to paint the area with
a coating of wax. Push molten wax into crevices and hard to access areas.
The swab may unravel as it absorbs excess wax. Coat the entire bowl surface
evenly. CAUTION: Try to prevent wax from dripping into the tobacco hole since
it will leave a bitter taste.

STEP 3: Heat the bowl again to allow complete absorption of the wax. Set
the pipe down on the towel to cool.

STEP 4: After the bowl cools to room temperature. Buff the surface to a
high gloss using a towel first then the flannel cloth for the final buffing.
If the surface is tacky, too much wax is on the surface. Heat this area
again and remove excess wax with a cotton swab and buff again.

STEP 5: Repeat when the surface becomes soiled or dull. Excessive waxing
may cause too much wax accumulation (tacky surface and dripping

This is basically what I do too with great results. One warning however: This come straight from Beth at SMS pipes. Make sure to dry out your pipe at least a few days before doing this procedure. If there is moisture in the shank from recent smoking, it could crack the shank from the heat of the the hair dryer.