Cleaning up your pipe accessories
A pipe smoker must have accessories to really enjoy this kind of hobby. A humidor or pipe rack is not a necessity, but other accessories are essential.
Some of these are butane lighters or wooden matches, a pipe tool, and pipe cleaners. Butane lighters or matches are needed to light the pipe, a pipe tool includes a tamper and reamer, and the pipe cleaner is very important. Keeping the pipe clean can mean the difference between enjoying a costly bowl of imported tobacco or destroying it in a dirty stem or screen.
To clean the pipe screen, gently remove it with a tweezers, blow on it and inspect. If the screen is still dirty, hold a lighter or match to it while you hold it with the tweezers and burn away any residue. Let it burn for not more than five seconds. After letting it cool, blow off any remaining ashes and inspect it again. If it is free of tears, it may be reinstalled for reuse.
A dirty pipe stem that is clogged with residue will also impede proper burning and waste tobacco. To clean the stem, detach it from the mouthpiece and insert an inexpensive wire-cored fabric-covered pipe cleaner, soaked in a solvent such as alcohol, and work it back and forth until the stem is clean. Clean the mouthpiece the same way.
Smokers need to clean their pipe screens to ensure proper combustion that will not waste expensive tobacco. High quality screens last longer and require less maintenance.