Klarinet Archive - Posting 001227.txt from 1998/10

From: Jeff Carwile <carwile@-----.org>
Subj: RE: [kl] mold on reed cases
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 16:13:39 -0500

Once a reed molds in those cases, any other reeds you put in the case
will mold until you take the case apart and clean it with bleach (or
some other cleaner). The problem is that the mold doesn't only attach
to the reed but to the case itself (and therefore to future reeds that
you put into the case).

Take it apart and you'll probably find some mold underneath the case in
the grooves where the tip is. You may have to scrape it out of the
grooves.

The suggestion about putting the insert under a lamp once a week is a
good one too.

If these two suggestions don't fix it for you, the most likely reason
your reeds are moldy is that you are putting them away when they are too
wet. After playing, I let my reeds dry for a couple of minutes before I
put them in the case.

This could obviously vary with your climate, though. North in the
winter vs. south in the summer require different use of that case.
Sometimes, I'll actually not close the case all the way if my reeds are
staying too wet. That seems to work for me in a more humid climate.

Jeff Carwile
carwile@-----.org

-----Original Message-----
From: AnneVacca@-----.com]
Subject: [kl] mold on reed cases

Hi-

I have a strange thing that happened to some of my reeds. I use
Vandoren reed
cases and I had some of my reeds get moldy. But here is the strange
thing- it
was only one case (of the five) and it was also brand new reeds that I
was in
the process of breaking in.

Earlier, I had soaked the reed case in water with bleach, thoroughly
dried it
out and put my new reeds inside. When I checked them (about a week
later)
they were moldy.

Any ideas on why? How? What I did wrong?

Anne Vacca

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