WHo grabs meer with bare hands and who doesnt. Whats the freaking difference anyway. Ive always kind of wondered.
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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.
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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
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The oils in your hands helps with the coloring.
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Awesome! Thanks!
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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...
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what everyone else said.
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Just don't touch it with other body parts and you should be fine.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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. :-)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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SWeet, thanks guys.
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Just what are you implying.:-)
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Image

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. :-)
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I think you should hold the stem and should not touch the bowl

Bestest
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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. :-)
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