Brass Instrument Home Cleaning

By: Sam Rizzi

Owner, Black Dog Band Instrument Repair

724-972-3807

brassdoc1@gmail.com

            Brass instrument home maintenance is often overlooked, however, it is very important for extending the life and maintaining the performance of your horn. Brass instruments are continually subjected to the aerosols in your breath. Over time, these aerosols build up inside your instrument, along with dried valve oil and mold. The inside of your instrument is prime breeding ground for molds and mildew when it is stored away wet and dirty. All of this, combined with the salts and enzymes found in saliva, will lead to dezincification (red rot) and, without regular cleaning and maintenance, cause the early demise if your horn. Therefore, to ensure that your horn performs properly and to retard dezincification, it is necessary to clean your instrument on a monthly basis. The following method of maintenance, along with a little effort and a lot of common sense, will ensure that your instrument will perform to its utmost.

Equipment:

1. Snake brush to fit your instrument
2. Valve brush
3. Valve-cleaning rod
4. Mouthpiece brush
5. Q-Tips
6. Slide-O-Mix Slide Cleaning System for trombones

Supplies:

1. Dish soap—Dawn or Palmolive work well. Avoid soap with added scent or hand moisturizer.
2. Cotton towels and old t-shirt material. Avoid anything that will produce lint.
3. Bathtub or large sink
4. Plastic cups
5. Quality valve oil—I prefer synthetic oil such as Hetman’s, Alisyn, etc., but any good quality valve oil such as Al Cass, 5 Star, or Blue Juice is fine. Do not use refined lamp oil, as this will cause staining of monel pistons and evaporates quickly, leaving a residue on valves and valve casings. Also, the fumes from lamp oil probably aren’t good for you!
6. Slide grease—I prefer Selmer Slide and Cork Grease. Schilke also makes a good product, and lanolin is also a good choice. Do not use Vaseline: it will react with the brass and cause corrosion.

Procedure for valve instruments:

Begin by placing a towel in the bottom of your tub and filling it with enough warm soapy water to cover your horn. (Use a healthy amount of soap, as grease and oil can be hard to remove.) On bigger horns this may not be possible, so use a pitcher or big plastic cup to pour water through the horn.

Next, remove the slides from the horn. As you remove them, wipe all traces of slide grease off with a paper towel so that the old grease won’t transfer to other parts of the horn. After wiping the grease off, place the slides on the towel in the tub and let them soak for about 30 minutes.

Remove the valves and bottom valve caps from the horn and place them into a plastic cup filled with the soapy water mixture only high enough to cover the port section of the valve. Try to avoid getting the felts wet, as this will cause the felt to compress and lead to misaligned valve ports.

            After soaking, use the snake brush to scrub the slide tubes and lead pipe of the horn. Put a little dish soap on the brush and work up a good lather. Use the snake also to clean the valve slides and the ports in the valves. Do not try to push the snake through the small slides—1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd, as it could get caught in the crook break off. (If this should happen, do not attempt to remove it yourself. Take it to a qualified repair technician and have them remove it, so as not to cause any damage to the horn.) Use the valve casing brush to scrub the inside of the valve casings, using the same procedure as the snake. Next, use the q-tips to clean the dirt out of the bottom caps. Finally, scrub the outside of all parts with a washcloth.

After scrubbing, rinse all parts thoroughly with cold water. Dry the outside of the horn and shake/blow out the excess water from the inside of all parts. Use the valve-cleaning rod with some dry t-shirt material to wipe clean the inside of the valve casings. Lay the horn and all parts on a towel and let them dry overnight. Don’t forget to scrub your mouthpiece; a little dish soap on the mouthpiece brush will do the trick.

Reassemble the horn using a small amount of slide grease on each slide and a few drops of oil on each valve.

Now you are ready for another month of music making! Remember to oil your valves every time you play. This not only lubricates the valve, but also helps to wash away any dirt that may accumulate on your valves. Have your horn inspected by a qualified repair technician once a year to make sure everything is in proper order.

Procedure for trombones:

Trombone slides are cleaned using the same basic procedure detailed above. Remove the inner slide and lay both the inside and outside slides on the towel in the tub to soak. After soaking, use the slide-cleaning rod (with the brush attached) to scrub the inside of all the slide tubes. Rinse with cold water and hang upside down on a doorknob to dry overnight. With the terry cloth cover on the cleaning rod, wipe any dirt from the inside of the outside slide. Do not try to use this on the inside slide as it could get stuck. Finally, lubricate your slide and reassemble.

Procedure for rotary valve instruments:

The slides may be cleaned at home, however, cleaning the rotors should not be attempted. They are very difficult to disassemble and reassemble and are easily damaged. Therefore, this should be left to a qualified repair technician.