- 1). Handle the pipe gently when you pick it up. Clay pipes are very fragile and chip easily. Make note of any chips in the ceramic and be careful not to apply pressure to any seams or indentations.
- 2). Tilt the pipe down so that residual tobacco falls out. Detach the stem from the handle and gently tap both on a hard surface, being careful not to chip the ceramic.
- 3). Run florist wire down the hole of the pipe's bowl and mouthpiece. If you cannot thread it all the way through, tobacco has obstructed the passage. The holes of most clay pipes are too small for a pipe cleaner to pass through, so use the florist wire to gently apply pressure to the blockage and free the passage.
- 4). Clean the pipe's bowl by running a pipe tool along the inner surface, being careful not to scratch the ceramic. A pipe-cleaning tool is a metal device with several attachments, including a scoop. Use the scoop to dislodge any stuck tobacco.
- 5). Heat the ceramic part of the pipe if the pipe bowl is still not satisfactorily clean. To do this, place the pipe on the top rack of your oven and set the oven to "self clean" with the pipe inside.
- 6). Heat your clay pipe in a kiln to clean it when all else fails. Heating the ceramic in a kiln at a temperature under that at which it was fired will burn away any tobacco residue. This typically happens at cone 2 or 3, but consult an expert or your pipe's manufacturer to be certain.
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