Klarinet Archive - Posting 000696.txt from 2002/10

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Semi-professional throat Bb
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 12:18:32 -0500

Paul Dods wrote,
>the next time you drive by a craft or hobby store, buy
>a pack of pipe cleaners.
>
>they work great for cleaning out the register key hole,
>or cleaning out the tubes on keys where the screw runs
>the entire length of the key

One caveat: Check in the store to make sure they're the old-fashioned kind
of pipe cleaners, not the abrasive ones with the little metal bits twisted in
with the soft fibers. The packages of one of the common brands (don't
remember what they are any more, because I decant them into a zip-top bag)
look so similar that it's easy to buy the wrong type and not notice until the
plastic is torn open and they're unreturnable. (Been there done that.)
Abrasive pipe cleaners are great tools for other jobs, but they're too
scratchy to use on clarinets. Beware of the metal core that sometimes sticks
out from the tip of a pipe cleaner. If I can feel a sharp tip, I fold it
under, tightly, just to make sure the metal can't contact the clarinet.

Those extra-fat pipe cleaners (sold in craft supply shops) come in handy,
too. Whenever I do a general clean-up, I slightly crook the end of a fat
pipe cleaner and run the soft edge around the tone holes, to clean around the
inside edges of the holes. It's suprising how much crud builds up in the
upper tone holes, especially. The fat pipe cleaners also work well for
brushing out any cat fur, dust bunnies, etc. that accumulate between the key
posts.

Lelia

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