I started smoking a pipe today and i assume ill need to clean the bowl in a few days. Seeing as though i only have one pipe, what can i use instead of rubbing alcohol (that must dry a few days).

Thanks in advance for replies.

@Oliver  Your question is open to a whole range of answers depending on the type of pipe and the tobacco you are smoking. Pipe smokers also tend to have a large range of personal preferences for cleaning.

First off if it is a briar then you do need to build up cake in the bowl so there is absolutely no need for cleaning the bowl with alcohol. I would suggest that you rest it after smoking and allow it to cool down. Never remove the stem / mouthpiece of the pipe until the pipe has completely cooled or you risk damaging it. After that you can run a pipe cleaner through it.

If you have a cob or a meerschaum then those types do not need a cake so once again give it a chance to cool down and then give it a very gentle wipe round the inside of the bowl with a kitchen towel and run a pipe cleaner through the stem and shank.

I am no expert on either cobs or meerschaums but - as far as I know - you should never use any liquid in the bowls made of those materials and I would not recommend it with a briar bowl either.

I am sure that you will be receiving quite a few more suggestions. Good luck with your pipe smoking adventure.

I use mouthwash

I use rum

After cleaning airway / airhole with a pipe cleaner, I usually whipe the inside of the chamber once with a bent pipe cleaner to build a better cake. To clean the rim of the chamber of briar pipes you can use some spittle and some cloth. 

Some say it is best for a briar pipe to let it dry for a day befor using it again. I do that most of the time, but I never had any pobems when I did smoke the same pipe more than once a day.

Every six months I give my pipes a big cleaning. I clean the inside of the stem, the airway and the inside of the shank with a little alcohol. I use pipe cleaners which I dip into some alcohol. You can use whiskey or rum or pipe sweeteners. I use as many pipe cleaners as necessary untill they come out clean. Then I use one more, but without alcohol to dry the airway. Be careful not to spil alcohol on the bowl since it can scause stains.

A good read for more advice: https://www.smokingpipes.com/information/howto/cleaning.cfm

Good advice above.

I just run a pipe cleaner through the stem after each smoke and as above I loop the cleaner and wipe the bowl out of any dottle. Alcohol evaporates rather quickly so as long as you don’t soak the bowl you should be good.

I smoke the same pipe multiple times a day then let it rest a few days before using again, I never had a problem. Again like above, if you ask 5 people a question about their pipes you’ll get 6 answers lol.

Good luck with your pipes and enjoy.