Klarinet Archive - Posting 000076.txt from 2003/03

From: b1rite@-----. Rite)
Subj: Re: [kl] cork grease and legere reeds
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 2003 18:11:47 -0500

<><> Sue wrote:
Is it okay to use STP instead of cork grease?

Some petroleum solvents (as opposed to waxes) dry out cork and/or attack
the contact cement that holds the cork in place.

Another obvious question is toxicity. Probably very little of the STP
will find its way into your body over time, but still.....

A good question is: why are you switching? I use anhydrous lanolin
because cork grease gets too messy on hot days. You can buy a 1-lb jar
of USP anhydrous lanolin at any pharmacy for about $25. It will last
you forever --- my jar hasn't spoiled (the way that shortening will)
since I bought my jar 5 years ago --- and it replaces hundreds of those
$1.49 lip balm tubes. There are no health worries or dried out cork
worries if you use lanolin.

Once I measured lanolin's melting point vs. Yamaha's cork grease. The
lanolin melted at a slightly lower temperature than the cork grease, and
therefore I don't know how to explain that lanolin is less messy. But
it is.

Cheers,
Bill

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