Klarinet Archive - Posting 000117.txt from 1996/10

From: John McFalls <JMcFalls@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: mouthpiece cleaning
Date: Sat, 5 Oct 1996 17:43:59 -0400

Brad Behn wrote:
>
> I sometimes soak the mouthpieces in lemon juice from concentrate. You klow,
> the stuff that sits on the top shelf at the grocery store and it comes in a
> green bottle with a yellow plastic cap.
>
> Just soak the Mpc for a few minutes and I guarentee that any white calcium
> deposites, dead lip and any other vile infectious nasties will simply wipe
> away with a cue tip.
>
> One word of warning. I don't know if it is bad for the mouthpieces to soak
> it in the lemon juice. It may actually deteriorate the rubber. So, I don't
> do this but once. Usually when the mouthpiece is just acquired and is really
> disgusting because it has been sitting in the pawn shop for forty years and
> before that some little kid had been playing it in the seventh grade band and
> felt it necessary for some undetermined reason to spit, hack, puke and do
> whatever else is disgusting in the mpc.
>
> Once I have cleaned and refaced the "old gem" I may buff the mouthpiece to
> create a nice smooth and laminar surface for the nasties to more easeily wipe
> clean on a daily basis.
>
> Brad

This makes me wonder why and how I should reface my mouthpiece?

Matthew