Best way to clean the bowl?

Scrape out the residue with a soft, rounded edge. A tamper usually fits the bill. Some gents use a knife for this but that frequently leads to a gouge for all but the most sure-handed.

There has been an age old tradition of allowing "cake" to build up on pipe chamber walls. Many, many guys still do this, insulating the chamber walls, and reporting that it adds flavor to the smoke.

As an anomaly on this forum, probably from Brian on our forum's radio show, we tend to keep our cake very thin or completely beaten back. I, myself, prefer to keep my cake beaten back by reaming with a paper towel after each smoke, but cake will still build up, and it will be harder than the ashy cakes of more historical pipe smokers. Eventually, I have to cut the cake out. But, like my uncles, guys of old used to just let the cake build up till they couldn't get more tobacco in them and toss them in the fireplace, or give them to us kids to play with, ha ha. And, the more refined big city pipe smokers that lived near tobacconist, that put more money into pipes like Dunhill, would buy reamers to keep their investments smoking for longer periods of time.
Recently guys have suggested that they use water, rinsing out the bowls after each smoke. I tried it, it works, but I probably won't do this myself.

But, all in all, they're your pipes. It is perfectly ok to allow the cake to build, ream it with paper towels, or pipe cleaners, or run it through the dishwasher.

I'm certain that we will get lots of testimonials of what works for a lot of individuals. Listening or reading, and deciding for yourself would be my suggestion.

Great post, by the way.

I use a folded pipe cleaner to swab out the bowl after each smoke. It lets the cake build slowly over time and allows the cake to become harder. When too much cake builds up, I use a pipe knife to get the cake down to the thickness of a dime or less.

Though I have a Senior reamer and one of those funny looking 'hedgehog' reamers I only ever use those on severely caked estate pipes. For general use I use my British Buttner reamer after every half dozen or so smokes. That along with a rag wipe over after every smoke generally keeps my pipes in tip top condition.
Every month or so I will perform a deep clean with alcohol, paying particular attention to the shank internals as they are a great place for tars etc to accumulate. As coyote points out, it is a good idea to poke a long cocktail stick or whatever (I use a bamboo barbecue skewer) down the draught hole to clear any debris.
It goes without saying that a pipe cleaner should be passed right through the stem after every smoke and the sooner the better else any nasty liquids in there will dry out making removal that much more work.
Using warm water should be fine if towel dried immediately afterwards, however I would strongly advise against 'boiling' any part of a pipe.
Regards,
Jay.

After each smoke I usually fold the pipe cleaner into a U-shape and brush the walls of the tobacco chamber till the cleaner stops colouring grey with ash. If I have a paper towel or tissue at hand, I use it as well.

But as far as I know it won't solve the build-up issue entirely. At some point the bowl will need scraping or better still reaming.

its gone all sticky

Click to expand...

This sounds wrong to me. Exactly how "sticky"?

I'm going to guess that you are smoking a goopey aromatic? I may be wrong. But, if so, I have no ideas on how others deal with their aromatic pipes. I have a couple, but I just keep mine wiped out, and after years, none of them has any cake built up. I can wipe them perfectly clean to the wood. I'll be interested to hear what other aromatic smokers do.

"I'll be interested to hear what other aromatic smokers do."
So people actually smoke those abominations? Ugh [shudders].
Regards,
Jay.

I've never had a pipe go all sticky. I'd be curious what you are smoking in said pipe.

I've tried a lot of different kinds of aros and have had many I liked, some that I didn't, but none that I considered "goopy." I've heard that term several times and would be curious what they smoked or how that it ended up so?
That said, I dry aros and smoke them differently than other types, but regardless, after the pipe cools and sits, I take apart, wipe down the stinger if it has one, run cleaners through the stem and shank until clean, scrape the bowl down with a pipe scraper to remove any loose stuff, then if possible, flush all with warm water for several seconds, wipe down the outsides then twist a paper towel up and ream it in the bowl. The water really helps further loosen up the outer cake and the towel takes that off and smooths it out.
Of course, with meer, no water, no nothing, just scrape and wipe clean.

The type of cake you prefer will ultimately determine your bowl-cleaning preference. Me, I prefer a very thin, uniform, hard cake. This is the routine I have developed: After thumping the ashes and dottle out with my palm or cork knocker, I twist up a piece of paper towel or paper napkin and twist it into the bowl. I give it a few twists in one direction, and a few twists in the other. I twist it in pretty firmly, because I'm not a cake-builder; cake is gonna come whether you like it or not. All you can do is regulate how much you let it build up. Then I blow through the stem to clear the last loose bits. Like Jay, I use a Butner-style reamer every six bowls or so, just to knock down any high spots and keep everything even. A Butner maintains a nice smooth chamber, and if you can dig into the briar with one, you're stronger than I am.
If you're actively trying to build cake, or like a very thick cake, I would not recommend using my method.

I am one, possibly few others, who prefers minimal or no cake, just a nice thin carbon layer. After emptying the cooled bowl, dumping & gently scraping with the Czech Tool blunt spoon, never thumping or knocking, I wipe thoroughly with a twisted paper towel. Then, as others mentioned, I bend a pipe cleaner to scrub the bowl, followed by scraping/burnishing with the edge of the top of a golf tee to remove residual cake without removing the carbon layer. The stem & shank are cleaned with alcohol dipped pipe cleaners, Everclear or Rum, followed by a few passes with dry cleaners. Sometimes bristle pipe cleaners are necessary to excise stubborn residues.

Keeps 'me fresh & sweet.

"A Butner[sic] maintains a nice smooth chamber, and if you can dig into the briar with one, you're stronger than I am."
As Aldecaker says, the British Buttner reamer is a perfectly harmless device and I doubt Charles Atlas could do damage to a bowl by using one. Such a simple design yet so effective in its function.
I don't know if they are readily available anymore, mine came bundled in with a box of estate pipes.
Regards,
Jay.

I use a pipe-cleaner as described above. Make a "U" shape. I also use the flat business end of a pipe toll/nail for excessive build-up as I go. I don't get an excessive cake build-up if I do this after each smoke.

I run a pipe cleaner down the draught hole, then sometimes I'll insert a finger in the bowl and feel around. It's messy on the finger, but it seems to keep the cake down to a minimum. I'll cut cake out with a Buttner if it gets too thick. Aros will give you a sticky gooey cake, and a scraper or pen knife works well, if you are extremely careful. I have a three cornered file with the ridges ground off. It is actually a reamer gotten off Amazon that's used in beveling bowling ball finger holes. Savinelli used to sell one like it, but they are now hard to find. I save the Senior reamer and Castleford for estate pipes with that hard ceramic-like cake.

I allow no cake in my pipes, I let the briar carbonize, then that's it. After every bowl, I use the spoon bit on my Czech tool to gently remove the dottle. I then use a half sheet of paper towel to wipe out the bowl and run a pipe cleaner or two through the stem. I have been doing this for many years and have never had a pipe burn-out or crack etc., I never need to use a reamer of any kind on my pipes (with the exception of the initial cleaning of a newly acquired estate, for which I own every kind of reamer I can find, as bowls come in all shapes and sizes, and I have used every one of them at one time or another, though I greatly favor the British Buttner and the Pip-Net set). Anyway, I do not believe that pipes need a cake layer to smoke properly, your opinion may vary. As to the O.P.'s original query, I would use the spoon of a Czech tool to gently scape the gooey layer you were concerned about away. If used carefully it would be hard to harm the bowl with a Czech tool spoon.