New To Pipes... Quick Question.

[ritz2rubble]

I'm pretty new to pipe smoking. I recently purchased some estate pipes on ebay, one was sold as "cleaned and sanitized, ready to smoke". This pipe was very nice cleaned very well, I did put the stem in 100 proof vodka for about 20 minutes. will this sterilize it? The other pipes i got weren't in great condition, but they were as the seller had advertised; I'm looking forward to fixing them up and smoking them. I soaked the stems of these as well, and bowls are getting salt treatments now and will soon be reamed. I over-worry (not a word i know) about germs and such, so any help on the sterilization question would be appreciated. I had read on another site about soaking the stems in bleach. I don't think thats a good idea. Also one of the stems was stuck in the briar, and while trying to remove it, it kinda scraped me, and now im freaking out about germs again.

[Sovereign]

I wouldn't worry. Most pathogens can't survive outside the body for long

[DSturg369]

Hydrogen peroxide, neosporin, and a band-aid and you're good.

[CrankyChris]

I don't think you have anything to worry about.

[AcworthAl]

Use Everclear - it is stronger than vodka

[Hermit]

Geez, do people bring disinfectants to sterilize the silverware at restaurants?
I bet nobody thinks twice about sticking a cigar in their mouth.
I wonder if they wash their hands before rolling em?
Certainly, they are rolled and packaged under only the most sanitary conditions.

[Zeabed]

As far as cigars go, I've heard that back in the day, the rollers used to lick the wrapper leaf when rolling it, to get it to stick. I don't know for a fact if this was true or a tobacciana rumor. Or if some still do it. This could be a good advert for machine-rolled cigars. This is where Harpo Marx's famous "gookie" face came from. As a kid, Harpo used to stand before a storefront window and study Gookie, a cigar roller whose faced would contort grotesquely when rolling and apparently licking the cigar leaves. Harpo would taunt him by aping the grimace and then running away from the irate but pudgy artisan. The anecdote appears in Harpo's famous autobiography, "Harpo Speaks!"