I didn't imagine it would be too confusing! Warm soapy water gets rid of a lot of foul smells and tastes; pipes are just one of the many things it works wonders on. It has a very long track record of cleaning things... some of them much more nasty than fouled up tobacco oils.
For some reason, some people who smoke pipes have had a disconnect with this.
I did too, for some time.
Never gave it much thought and just went with the status quo for too long (my own personal experience). I was washing dishes one day and had a pipe nearby, so scrubbed that out too. Bam! The light went on. I never went back.
I clean anything from one of the $70 pipes I first bought to fairly expensive pipes. There's not a pipe I own that I don't do this to. Bamboo, meerschaum, vulcanite, acrylic, whatever. Your vulcanite stems may discolour if you don't dry them fast enough, but a little stem oil and a quick buff with a pipe rag makes mine look new every time so far. Most of the time it's a non-issue. For other times, stem oil.
I keep the cake on my pipes quite thin. I don't know how it works otherwise. If you have very thick cake from someone else smoking something you don't like, maybe it leaves a smell/taste you can't get out because of that. I'd suggest building your own cake anyway, just for fun.
Anyway... yes, it works. My pipes are very much neutral smelling after this and I don't have to dedicate blends to a pipe. Again... thin cake may be the difference, but I've never tested that out as it doesn't suit me to have thick cake.
