So from here, I basically started to scrub the mortises out of the bowls with q-tips and got the bowls ready for Salt and Alcohol treatments...which I will go over tomorrow because I am all restored out for today! In the mean time, keep puffin!

OK! Here We Go! Day Number 2!

Salt and alcohol treatments...This is what I use. Pickling salt and 91% Iso. Most salt will work and a lot prefer coarse varieties. Just make sure it is cheap and IODINE FREE!!!!


So, what I do is fill the bowl all the way up to the rim with salt. Then I make sure some salt trickles down into the shank...be sure it is just a LITTLE bit in the shank. You want that salt in there to help de-gunk that dreaded mortise; but I have heard horror stories of people using too much salt in the shank and having it expand on them and crack...I honestly think this is more from people making poor alcohol choices that don't evaporate quick enough (70% Iso or cheap 40% vodka etc) but still, I'm not willing to risk it! Once you get the salt falling out the shank, I shake a little out and stuff a double braided candle/lantern wick in there. Alternatively you can use doubled over extra absorbent pipe cleaners.

Next, you carefully add the alcohol drop by drop. I use an eye dropper, a lot of people use ball syringes from a pharmacy. Anything that you can slowly apply drops of alcohol with will work. You want the salt fully saturated but not overflowing...if you get any high octane alcohol on your finish you are in trouble. It will eat it right off! So have a rag handy for quick clean up and be super careful! After about 3 hours you will notice that a lot of the alcohol in the salt has evaporated. At this point, I add a little more alcohol for good measure. You want all those ghosts exorcised!

This is what a system pipe looks like being cleaned up, notice I don't insert anything into the shank on a system pipe:


The view from the shank:


Notice the angle in which the pipe(s) is sitting. You want it basically resting in this position the whole time during the S/A treatment. This insures that alcohol and gunk doesn't drip out the stem, and it keeps the alcohol working the mortise and bowl, where all the crud and ghosts of tobacco's paste lives: