As for Alcohol and Sand: I would really say keep the sand and ditch the alcohol, perhaps Windex and Sand as many hear like using it (not myself personally).
You see the Alchohol tends to have a lot of sugar in it that will gum things up soon enough and all that sugar in your barrel just ain't good for it.
So perhaps try Windex and a fine grit sand, or maybe 10-30 motor oil and sand, but Don't use the alcohol.
Now a good Pot Distilled cane rum as a sweetener and cake starter in your pipe would work, be it a new one or well used pipe. Now some around here will tell you to use honey, and that's okay and proper period as well. Honey will build your first cake up quickly, but I prefer to let it build gradually, plus I favor my rum baccy so I like a sweetener that blends. I don't however suggest those store bought sweeteners, they do nothing for cake building, better to just find a baccy you like.