Removing burnt carbon from top of Pipe Bowl

How do you do this? What is the best way to do this.? Are there any safe cleaners out there that will do this? I've heard that toothpaste works. Need advice from some of you more experienced craftsmen.

Depends on the pipe. On my Doc Grabow and a few other lower/work pipes, I scrape the carbon with a knife and/or some everclear on a rag and wipe the rim with it. On my more expensive pipes it is spit on a rag, or the corner of my shirt and rub that baby til it's all gone. The latter is more of a routine, after smoke maintenance thing. The former is just because it looks gross and needs to be taken care of.

A Q-tip or rag with some high-proof alcohol will clean it. Be sure to not get any alcohol on the side of the bowl where it might strip the finish.

+1

Believe it or not, saliva and a rag with lots of elbow grease can work wonders.

+1. That's how I do it.

+2

You remember when your mom use to lick a dirty Kleenex & wipe your' face with it. Do the same thing with the black stuff on your pipe rim.

My mom never licked a dirty Kleenex.....did yours?

In extreme cases;

Put your teakettle on mach 1.
Stuff the bowl of your pipe full of cotton balls, or at the very least, paper towel
When you kettle is whistling steam, run the rim over the steam in very (don't let a section linger for more than a second) quick circular motions around the rim.
After each pass, wipe with an all cotton cloth.

Thanks, I'll try it!

Spit is an excellent mild enzymatic solvent. It has been used for centuries to clean priceless oil paintings. Show me a Rembrandt, and I will show you a painting that has been spit on by many people.

Let the spit soak on the carbon deposit for a while before rubbing it off. Seems to help. Cheap paper towels are good for this sort of job, because they are slightly abrasive and less absorbent than the more expensive varieties.

I've tried a weak solution of oxiclean, then re wax or oil. Spit sounds a lot safer though. Have gone to matches for lighting instead of a lighter. Lighter flame is too large and will give a burn........

Spit and Scrub
Shop rag and cue-tips, plus a toothbrush for plateau or rusticated rims

Just cleaned another one up with the old spit and T shirt method.

Hi there.
Somewhere in this forum somebode mentioned using baby-wipes ( unperfumed!!). I've done that and it works!!

So, putting a little peanut butter in the bowl and then leaving it for the neighbour's dog to clean it out is not on the recommended list of ways to clean the black stuff from a pipe?