I only used alcohol in the gourd. I would place it in a stand and fill it with Bacardi 151, allow it to sit for an hour, drain it, then wipe it out with paper towels. I would always drain from the stem and to prevent the liquor from touching the cork gasket. A light film of lanolin will keep the cork pliant.
Yes I do this on occasion if the gourd gets gunky. I also found warming the liquor really helps, the resultant liquid always looks much darker.
One of my Strambachs was a a second hand ebay purchase. The pipe arrived in lovely condition BUT it absolutely reeked! And not of any tobacco I've ever smelt. I'm sure it wasn't latakia or burley. The pipe looked like it'd only been smoked maybe 20 times and if I was a betting man I'd wager the person had been smoking cannabis or possibly weed in it.
I really thought the pipe was ruined because it stank so much. And believe me it hummed, it made me feel sick. But I persevered and found a combination of many vodka treatments on the gourd and time, lots of time. I'd give it an alcohol treatment then let it air for 2 weeks. I probably did this about 8 times total. I then let it air for a further few months and at the end it smelled of nothing, nada.
It just goes to show how resilient the gourd can be.
For the cork gasket I tried Vaseline but I found as the bowl got hot it could sometimes stick a bit when I removed it. I now use D'Addario all natural cork grease that is intended for use on woodwind instruments cork gaskets.
It comes in a handy lipstick/chapstick form so is easy to apply. It does smell a bit funky but I found if you air the gourd for a couple of days after you've used it the smell totally dissappears. It seems to nourish the cork well and it stays supple for months & months.
Cork grease:
