Clean bowls and cake

[Pipespipespipes]

Can you clear up something for me?

I'm cleaning with a pipe cleaner after each smoke but I'm not sure what to do with the bowl.
If you clean it each time, cake can't be formed (or can it?) ... But most people say you should clean it even those who advocate cake formation?

What's best practice for bowl cleaning?

 

[Duck]

I always finish cleaning a pipe by folding a pipe cleaner in half, but leaving a loop at the bottom so that it cleans the base of the chamber. Just doing that will allow cake to build. If I want to stop cake building I ream the chamber with twisted paper before using the pipe cleaner. If I wanted thick smelly soft cake I'd just dump the ash and leave the chamber coated.

 

[Laurent]

I also fold a pipe cleaner in half but I also put my finger in between the pipe cleaner and give a few turns, it smooths out the cake.

 

[Pipespipespipes]

I always finish cleaning a pipe by folding a pipe cleaner in half, but leaving a loop at the bottom so that it cleans the base of the chamber. Just doing that will allow cake to build. If I want to stop cake building I ream the chamber with twisted paper before using the pipe cleaner. If I wanted thick smelly soft cake I'd just dump the ash and leave the chamber coated.

OK, yes that's pretty much what I've been doing.
So goal is to remove just the easy to remove deposits and excess moisture from the bowl?
The cake will still form like this?

 

[Duck]

OK, yes that's pretty much what I've been doing.
So goal is to remove just the easy to remove deposits and excess moisture from the bowl?
The cake will still form like this?

Pretty much that.

 

[Laurent]

OK, yes that's pretty much what I've been doing.
So goal is to remove just the easy to remove deposits and excess moisture from the bowl?
The cake will still form like this?

Yes, sometimes after smoking when the bowl is still warm, I’ll lightly scrape with my pipe tool

 

[reloader]

Cake will form unless you scrape the walls of the bowl or use alcohol when cleaning. You're really only wiping out the loose ash. I only keep a very thin layer of cake in my pipes and use alcohol on a pipe cleaner about every 5-6 smokes.

 

[JOHN72]

There was a time when I used to clean them as soon as I finished smoking, when the pipe was already cold. Now I clean them every three to six months. Before the cake gets too thick. Since it would be more difficult to clean the bowl. Daily cleaning involves an excessive expenditure of alcohol and paper, in addition to bathing the pipe in alcohol every day. But it is a matter of trying several periods, until you decide what is best for you and your pipes. This is trial and error. And as I always speak from corn cob pipes. I don't have briar pipes, although I would do the same technique with briar if I had them. That's my technique, I don't know what will happen after a year, if I will do something different. I imagine that what works well for you, you don't change it.

 

[captpat]

For cleaning the bowl after a smoke I use a pipe cleaner folded in half or a dry paper towel. Coarse sandpaper wrapped around a thick pencil is used for cake reduction when necessary. Sometimes I’ll rinse everything in warm water, usually after using sandpaper. Alcohol is only used in combination with salt if the pipe is ghosting or stanky. Alcohol can damage the finish, care is required in its use

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Cake will still form but at a slower pace. However, that cake will be be very hard and solid, it will serve the purpose more effectively. You won't find the need to ram your pipe anywhere near as often.

 

[FurCoat]

I twist a paper towel in the bowl after every smoke. I haven't used a reamer in decades.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

So, what people do is varied, to say the least.

 

[craig61a]

I'm surprised nobody suggested flushing a few hundred gallons of water through it...

 

[Duck]

I'm surprised nobody suggested flushing a few hundred gallons of water through it...

IBTL

 

[Bobby Bailey]

If I'm around the house, I swab out the bowl with a twisted paper towel moistened with cheap rum.

 

[kcghost]

I'm like most of the guys here. Fold a pipe cleaner in half and swab out the interior.

 

[Christos D. Tsatsaronis]

Folded pipe cleaner and paper towel, also for me. Never have used the reamer I bought when I started with pipes. Or any other way of cleaning...

 

[Chasing Embers]

I twist a paper towel in the bowl after every smoke. I haven't used a reamer in decades.

Same

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I'm surprised nobody suggested flushing a few hundred gallons of water through it...

That's the ideal solution.

 

[Laurent]

I'm surprised nobody suggested flushing a few hundred gallons of water through it...

Only on lent, and get the water blessed.