I've managed to destroy a number of items by running them through the laundry in various pockets I've neglected to empty: valuable checks, essential phone numbers, and a chocolate chip cookie I left in a shirt pocket, a cookie whose flavor was detrimentally modified by the soap cycle. I still regret the loss of that cookie.

But the worst laundry mishaps involve my pipe lighters. Hearing that unmistakable thunk, thunk, thunk from the dryer always initiates a mad dash for the laundry room. Unfortunately, by that time, the lighter has already been through the washing machine.

I've washed Old Boy-styled lighters many times, and they don't seem to care. They've ignited without complaint after a bout in the washer and dryer, and given the amount of hard use they receive, a thorough scrubbing on occasion is appropriate. I have a 20-year-old Colibri pipe lighter that's still going strong, but it takes about three days to recover from a laundry ordeal. In lighter years, it's probably as old as I am, and I take about three days to recover from the laundry, too, so I'm patient.

In my experience, disposable pipe lighters do not fare as well. They lose their will to live after the rinse cycle. I've not tried washing a Dunhill or Dupont lighter with this technique, but you'll know when I do because the sobbing will be audible for miles.

Laundrifying a pipe lighter is not a recommended cleaning technique, and as easy and painless as it may be, no lighter should be subjected to that indignity. While I've not personally experienced the spin cycle, I imagine it's disorienting, and then the dryer itself is a nightmare. My brother and I took turns, when we were young, spinning each other in a laundromat dryer because it was like a carnival ride that cost only a quarter, and while the "cool down" and "fluff" cycles were fine, I do not recommend high heat, especially in a load of damp bed linens, which tend to asphyxiate participants. My brother remains skittish around linens and since that time has slept exclusively in sleeping bags. If it can have that effect on my brother, imagine what it will do to your lighter.

Why Should I Clean My Lighter?

We all keep our pipes clean, but lighters need care as well. You've probably noticed the carbon build-up on lighters. Like the cake in the tobacco chamber of a pipe, carbon can build up on a lighter. However, a well-caked lighter is unsightly and that carbon can have a detrimental effect, perhaps even clogging the butane nozzle and rendering it inefficient or useless. Even a washing machine is incapable of removing it, so other strategies are necessary.

it takes about three days to recover from a laundry ordeal

Like all of life's problems, however, this quandary can be resolved with the bountiful employment of alcohol.

Cleaning Solutions

Everclear is my favorite, as good for lighters as it is for cleaning the internals of a pipe. If you drink enough Everclear, you won't care how your lighter looks, but there's another way that removes the carbon itself rather than simply obscuring your consternation. Instead of drinking it to reduce the irritation of the carbon, try the counterintuitive method of applying the Everclear directly to the lighter itself.

carbon can have a detrimental effect

It may sound wasteful of good Everclear, but substitute alcoholic beverages are acceptable, though Everclear has been a favorite solution of mine since before I even smoked pipes, when instead of carbon removal I used it to disable brain cells, especially the ones that still remembered junior high school. Everclear can fix anything, but for carbon removal, rum, gin, or brandy can work. Tequila, while an impressive solvent, should under all circumstances be avoided, though it won't bother a lighter. I have significant experience in this area. Tequila is a portal into an impetuous dimension from which return and restoration are perilously complex.

you drink enough Everclear, you won't care how your lighter looks

Battling carbon build-up requires a heroic, transparent fluid with elevated alcohol content, and I recommend you always have plenty on hand for cleaning needs, impromptu picnics, and zombie apocalypses. If your lighter has been building carbon for quite a while, it may take some time to clean it, but alcohol will prevail.

Where Carbon Causes Problems

Carbon builds around the nozzle of the lighter, where the butane ignites. It's a natural byproduct, even when using multiple-refined butanes, and for Old Boy-style lighters, like IM Corona, Dunhill, Sillem's, Peterson and Kiribi, the moving arm and the flint tube are quickly covered. Carbon builds on other lighters as well, but it's all removable.

For pipes and their accessories, like pipe lighters, edible products are best, not including rags, butane, or pipe cleaners, which should not be ingested no matter how savory they become. I've never used isopropyl alcohol for cleaning pipes and don't intend to, and I urge others not to use anything they can't safely swallow.

Alcohol is flammable. If you douse a lighter in alcohol and then immediately test it, you may be impressed by the result, but extinguishing your blazing arm isn't the most efficient use of cleaning time. If your arm is indeed on fire, then yes I recommend putting it out, but it's best to avoid that scenario from the start. Let the alcohol evaporate for a minute and avoid the potential for flaming eyebrows and independent-minded fireballs careening through the house.

edible products are best, not including rags, butane, or pipe cleaners

Carbon is a particular problem for those of us who use lighters excessively. I probably light a pipe lighter 200 times a day. I don't light a pipe and smoke it to the end; I take a couple of puffs and put it down, then relight it again and again. That's a lot of wear on a lighter, and a lot of carbon build-up.

How to Clean a Lighter

A Q-tip is a good alcohol applicator, but it can tend to leave fuzz behind. A doubled-over pipe cleaner is better. Simply dip it into some alcohol and wipe it on the lighter's affected areas. When the pipe cleaner becomes black with soot, start again with a clean one and repeat until everything is carbon-free. It can take several minutes depending on how bad the carbon has become.

For Old Boy styles, the arms and cap are especially affected. Carbon also builds up around the butane nozzle, where the flame is generated, and gently wiping is appropriate for maintenance and continued efficiency. Sometimes a nozzle can become partially obstructed, resulting in an odd flame, thinner, longer, and inconsistent. Regular maintenance will help avoid that possibility.

Zippos will build significant carbon on their chimneys and caps, but the same treatment works equally well on all lighter types.

Sometimes a nozzle can become partially obstructed

It may take several applications, but once the lighter is clean, it's easy to keep clean by repeating the process every few weeks. Do I do that? No, I'm too lazy and my lighters are a mess. Only after they become unsightly do I clean them, but I should be more fastidious.

With regular maintenance, your lighters will be as sparkly and beautiful as your pipes, and in my opinion, they will be happier and better adjusted after a few sessions with a high-proof alcohol that both you and your lighter can appreciate for its restorative properties.