Treatment and Dealing with Meerschaum Pipes

Meerschaum is a delicate, light weight and porous mineral, naturally present in Turkey and other areas of the world. A meerschaum pipe has spent many hours being precisely carved. Sculptors with many years of expertise take deliberate care in sculpting your meerschaum pipe.

Your brand new meerschaum pipe is a work of art and a thing of beauty and joy. Since you invested so much of your cash and feelings in your meerschaum pipe, you actually need to take care of it correctly and make sure it's a resource of delight that will last you for many years in the future.

If not cared for properly, you meerschaum pipe will not endure for you nearly as long as you want. Worse yet, if not cared for properly or dealt with forcefully, it could fracture and should be replaced.

All the time deal with your meerschaum pipe with dirt free hands. Meerschaum is an absorbent mineral and might hold on to any liquids passed to it out of your hands.

A meerschaum pipe when new, comes covered with bees wax. Dealing with your pipe while it is warm aids to take away the beeswax and permits the pipe to color faster.

If you need to take off the stem out of your meerschaum pipe, cautiously pull and twist the stem in a clockwise way. When replacing the stem, additionally twist it in with a clockwise manner. By no means twist the stem counter-clockwise, it might break or crack your meerschaum pipe.

Do brace the stem with your fingers while removing it.

By no means take off the stem from your pipe while it's hot. Meerschaum is softer while it's hotter and will split a lot easier.

Not like briar pipes, meerschaum doesn't require a cake build up to prevent it from burning. Any cake build up should be removed since it heats up faster than the bowl and can trigger it to crack.

Do not tap your pipe on a hard surface. If you want to clean the bowl of your pipe, gently tap it within the palm of your hand while supporting the shank along with your other hand.

If there may be more remains inside the bowl that can't be removed by tapping then use a pointy but blunt instrument to loosen and take it away. In moderation, you need to use a pipe cleaner solvent, but don't allow it too deep into the bowl. By no means scrape the bowl of your meerschaum pipe nor utilize alcohol to clean it.

Do not use pipe sweeteners on your meerschaum pipe. The sweetener can be absorbed by the mineral and the pores will become plugged.

In summary:

By no means drop nor hit it on unyeilding surfaces
Do not enable cake to build up within the bowl
By no means twist the stem counter-clockwise
By no means take the stem out of a meerschaum pipe when it's still hot
Never use alcohol to clean your meerschaum pipe
By no means use smoking pipe sweetener on a meerschaum pipe

Through correct care, your meerschaum pipe will be an artful piece of beauty, delight, a heirloom and treasure for years.


In case you have any questions or considerations make contact with Suzanne or to see a gorgeous set of artistic artisan hand carved meerschaum, churchwarden and calabash pipes, visit the pipe dreams one and two, and pipe shop webpages at Moonflower-Starfire:

Churchwarden, Calabash and Meerschaum Smoking Pipes and Accessories