Wiped joint

As lead is a ductile metal, this was easily done by hand using a variety of mallets and shaped sticks.

[ii] Areas that should not receive any lead were painted with plumbers soil which was a mixture of lampblack and glue; or flour, salt, sugar and water.

The molten solder gives a 'pasty' behaviour, owing to its eutectic properties and can be worked for some time before it hardens.

[3] As the wiping technique allowed a great deal of on-site flexibility for the style and dimensions of the work produced, this meant that plumbers needed few parts other than pipe, lead sheet and solder.

These needed care when wiping the joint, in order to not overheat them and melt the tin layer.

Wiped joints continue to be made for as long as there are lead pipes in service.

Although lead pipework is now rare, for health reasons, wiping a joint remains the usual way of joining it.