A pipe cleaner is a type of brush originally intened for cleaning smoking pipes, and is useful for cleaning many other things besides pipes. A typical pipe cleaner is made of two or three lengths of wire about 6 to 12 inches long, twisted together with bristles of some absorbent material, usually cotton. Sometimes bristles of stiffer material are added to better scrub out what is being cleaned. Unlike many other brushes, a pipe cleaner has no handle.