Klarinet Archive - Posting 000676.txt from 1997/03

From: "David C. Blumberg" <reedman@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Water vs Saliva for wetting reeds
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 15:07:50 -0500

Peroxide does aerate the reed, but only works for about 1 day. Then the
dead goes back to being dead.

At 01:22 PM 3/20/97 -0600, Neil Leupold wrote:
>> It is not the acidity of saliva, but the enzymes in saliva that break down
>> your reeds. They are very slowly being digested!
>
>One more time, just for the sake of being redundant all over again:
>there is nothing in human saliva -- nor any other part of the human
>digestive system (not even the HCl in the stomach) which can break
>down cellulose. Cane @-----. Now the
>bit about accumulated mucus...that's pretty interesting. It seems
>to point out an explanation for why soaking a "dead" reed in
>hydrogen peroxide will sometimes bring it back to life. Does
>hydrogen peroxide break down mucus and aerate the reed?
>
>Neil
>
>
David C. Blumberg
Principal Clarinet Riverside Symphonia
reedman@-----.com