I usually keep a little sauce cup about half full of water at the ready while rewicking. Dry fire the coils until they are glowing red, then dunk them in the cool water while hot, and watch the gunk just fall away. It takes a cycle or two to get them clean, but the coils typically come back as clean as new pretty quick.
I've kept the same fused claptons going for over six months this way, but some of the single strands and temp control stuff will crap out out on ya pretty quick regardless.
Please note... Titanium should NOT be dry fired this way as the wire will oxidize at higher temps.