# What is this brown stuff inside my pipe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2004, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-brown-stuff-inside-my-pipe/259800 "2004-08-14T04:08:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-brown-stuff-inside-my-pipe/259800/1 "2004-08-14T04:08:00Z")
No, it’s not tobacco, and it’s not resin. It’s a brand new pipe, and there was brown stuff (looked and had a consistency like tiny pieces of shit) inside the plastic stem piece of the pipe. I succeeded in cleaning it all out. Was that stuff supposed to be in there? Was it supposed to be LEFT in there? What now? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-brown-stuff-inside-my-pipe/259800/2 "2004-08-14T13:22:20Z")
It was indeed shit, Captain. Haven’t you ever heard of smoking some really good…oh never mind. Probably it was just sawdust. You got a wood pipe? IIRC they are made from roots and so the wood would be gummy & produce “shitty” sawdust. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-brown-stuff-inside-my-pipe/259800/3 "2004-08-14T14:46:05Z")
If it’s a briar pipe, the wood shouldn’t be gummy. It should be dry and hard as a rock. Some pipe makers coat the inside of the bowl with a substance that is supposed to protect the wood from the heat while you break the pipe in, and build up a cake. Paul, could the stuff you’re mentioning be some of that substance that somehow wasn’t fully dry when they put the stem on the pipe? I also saw your other thread about the screw in the stem–I’ve never heard of that, though I’m familiar with the filter pipes mentioned. If I can ask, between the screw and the stuff you found in the stem, just what kind of a pipe is this that you have? ---
**Author:** ![hermann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b487fb/32.png) [@hermann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hermann)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-brown-stuff-inside-my-pipe/259800/4 "2004-08-14T17:26:22Z")
You know, shit does have different consistencies. 🙂