All very good points. Hammers don't have the right downstem to bubble though. I had one of those clear hammers with rubber grommets for the stem and mouthpiece and I reconfigured it to be a reasonable bubbler for Salvia but other than that, I don't use it at all.

As for cleaning, pipe cleaners, rubbing alchohol and salt is the only way to go. Gets it real clean without scraping too much. Scraping is what leads to breakage with glass.