The 5 Best Pipe Cleaners

With only 2% of the U.S. population still smoking pipes, why are there so many pipe cleaners on the market? Crafters! Both kids and adults alike enjoy arts and crafts with pipe cleaners (or “stems” as those in the know like to call them). It’s a timeless activity that’s as limitless as your imagination. So, how do you find the best pipe cleaners for your project? Perhaps the underlying question is, “wait, pipe cleaners aren't all the same?” Hey, this is the country that brought you Silicon Valley and the Elvis Head Chia Pet – of course someone has invented a better pipe cleaner! So, dutiful as we are, we’re here to show you the 5 best stems currently available on the market.

Horizon Group USA Neon Fuzzy Sticks

Neon Fuzzy Sticks Galore

Horizon Group USA checks all the boxes with their pipe cleaners for crafting: quantity, quality, color, and price.

Best Overall

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Believe it or not, not all pipe cleaners are created equal. Wires can break, fuzz can detach, and what you were told would be in your package of stems can turn out to be entirely different when you open it up. Fortunately, Horizon Group USA offers a package that leaves adult and kid crafters alike satisfied. Their Neon Fuzzy Stick package comes with 200 stems in 6 bright, beautiful colors. The wire was designed to be folded and unfolded multiple times without breaking, and unlike some products on the market, what you order is what you receive. As the name implies, Horizon Group is manufactured in the USA, which also means shipping is fast and convenient.

Pros:

Three inches longer than standard pipe cleaners
200 stems cost less than most 100 stem packages

Cons:

Neon color, not glow-in-the-dark
Different quantities of each color

Charles Leonard Chenille Stem Class Pack

When You Must. Have. Pipe. Cleaners.

For teachers, daycare directors and artists who are really devoted to the craft, Charles Leonard offers chenille stems in bulk.

Best Bulk Option

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If you’re a teacher giving an art class or a pipe cleaner artist who wants to replicate a small city using crafting stems, Charles Leonard has the material you need in bulk. Each box comes with 1,000 stems in nine different colors, so you’ll be ready to take on the biggest projects or provide for an entire classroom. Better yet, Charles Leonard has been a trusted name in the school and office supply market for over 70 years, so you know you’re getting a quality product.

Pros:

Excellent price for the quantity
Comes sorted by color

Cons:

Not as fuzzy as other stems
Sharp tips can hurt little hands

Militaria Gas Tube Pipe Cleaners

When Size Matters

For crafters needing extra-long stems for their project, Militaria never comes up short.

Best Long Stem

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Most standard pipe cleaners come in at 9 inches. In the crafting world, the average stem size is 12 inches. But what if your project requires a little extra length? Militaria Gas Tube Pipe Cleaners are 16 inches in length, but just as sturdy and reliable as shorter versions as they consistently utilize the “double wire” manufacturing process. Though you can find stems as long as 20 inches, we’ve found that these longer versions become flimsy and unwieldy, especially after multiple uses. Their 16″ length allows for larger projects that won’t fall apart from their own weight.

Pros:

Best price for the quantity and quality
Sturdy yarn rarely comes off

Cons:

Only comes in white
Relatively expensive

BigOtters Glitter Pipe Cleaners

All That Glitters Isn’t a Pipe Cleaner

When it comes to glitter, too much is never enough, and BigOtters delivers twice as much as many competitors.

Best Glitter Stems

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What makes a great glitter stem? Is it the breed of unicorn whose dandruff is harvested for the material? Is it the magical, metallic property of the finished product? Is it the taste? None of the above! The truth is, pretty much all glitter stems are created equal as they utilize a mylar form of yarn to create the shiny, glitter effect. So for our purposes, we chose price as the differentiating factor. BigOtters offers 200 pieces of multi-colored glitter stems at highly competitive prices–Ask any unicorn: price-to-value ratio matters.

Pros:

Comes in silver, blue, fuschia, pink, red, green, gold, silver and turquoise
Each stem is 12 inches long

Cons:

Unicorn labor union issues

Mantello Soft Pipe Cleaners

For Old Fools From The Old Skool

Mantello Soft Pipe Cleaners are the industry standard for pipe cleaning, and make one of the most durable and reliable crafting stems in the market.

Best Traditional Stem

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Though there can be little difference in the manufacturing of pipe cleaners versus crafting stems, serious artists sometimes prefer to go the traditional route. That’s because all traditional pipe cleaners are manufactured using two wires wrapped around each other, providing strength and durability. For that reason, we recommend Mantello Soft Pipe Cleaners, one of the best selling pipe cleaners in the industry. You may find a better price for a higher quantity, but you won’t find a higher-quality pipe cleaner for the price.

Pros:

An old and trusted name in pipe cleaners
Comes in hard bristle as well

Cons:

Only available in white
Three inches shorter than most crafting stems

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a difference between chenille stems and pipe cleaners made specifically to clean pipes?

Chenille stems are typically longer and of course, multicolored. That said, almost all pipe cleaners and stems are constructed by taking two pieces of wire and wrapping them together, then covering the wire with a layer of yarn. Some chenille stems are made using only one wire, rendering them inadequate for pipe cleaning.

Our advice is not to use chenille stems for pipe cleaning, though pipe cleaners make excellent chenille stems. For small hands and crafters who work with a lot of stems, we also recommend using soft pipe cleaners and not the hard bristle variety.

Many of these kits come with very small parts. Are they safe for kids?

There is a federal regulation for toys with small parts that requires the packaging to state that such toys are not for use by children under three years old. We strongly advise that you supervise any kind of crafting with your young kids.

Were any unicorns harmed in the creation of this article?

Nuh-uh. We love unicorns more than we love pipe cleaners.