Casual Conversation

First off, that is a nice looking pipe. I have a couple of meers and I love them. I'm sure you know this already, but one of the great qualities of meerschaums is that they'll absorb the oils from the tobacco and smoke and develop a rich, unique patina over time...but keep in mind it takes a looong time for that to fully develop. Years, not weeks. New meerschaums come with a light coating of beeswax that will soften and soak into the meerschaum as you smoke it. It's supposed to help draw in the tobacco oils and give a head start on the patina development, but it will also pick up the oil/dirt from your fingertips and any ash that topples over the top of the bowl while you're smoking. It's up to you how precious you want to get about handling your pipes, but I'd recommend being very careful about only handling the pipe by the stem for the first 10-12 times you smoke it, until the wax is fully absorbed, so you don't leave any stray smudges or marks.

On the pipe cleaner front, there are two main types: regular soft bushy ones and bristled ones, which is what you've got. (On a personal note, I prefer BJ Long cleaners because, in my experience, they don't shed as much fluff as other brands I've tried). You should also have a Czech tool or pipe nail for tamping down the tobacco and scooping out the ash afterwards.

When I'm done smoking a pipe, I tap and scoop out all the ash and dottle and then put it back in the rack to cool off. You never want to separate the stem from the pipe to clean it out when it's still warm, it can cause it to warp or crack and you won't get a good fit afterwards. When I'm ready to smoke the pipe the next time, I run a regular bushy pipe cleaner through the stem and around the inside of the bowl to flush out any remaining ash or remnants before loading it up again. After 5-6 times smoking it, I will take the bristle pipe cleaners dip it very lightly in some Everclear or other high proof, neutral grain alcohol, and run that through the stem and shank of the pipe. The alcohol will loosen any tar buildup and the bristles will give it a deeper scrub clean than a regular pipe cleaner. Alternate with a dry regular bushy pipe cleaner to soak up the excess alcohol until the bristle one comes out clean. You don't want to let the alcohol get into the bowl of the pipe too much, because building up a slight layer of carbon char in the bowl (called 'cake') is an important part of breaking a pipe in so it smokes it's best...this is more of a briar thing, but it's true to an extent for meershaums, too. I use the bristle cleaners on my meers and it's never done them any harm.