First off, welcome to the forum outsider80. On a brand new pipe, I always clean the stem with Everclear, just like I would an estate pipe. You have no way of knowing how many different hands and poss. mouths, have touched that stem before it got to you, so treat it like its already dirty. As far as the bowl is concerned, I don't mess with new briar, I simply run a pipe cleaner through the draft hole to remove any possible dust or even wood particles and leave it at that. Also, I pack my first bowl all the way to the top, just like every other bowl. I don't buy into the whole....pack the first few bowls only halfway, the next few bowls 3/4 etc. routine, if that's your bag....cool, but I don't see the sense in it! Just my .02