 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Andge
Date: 2001-08-31 03:02
This might sound gross but.......... I live in a very moist and humid area where the humidity level reaches about 70-90% in the summer time. I recently came back from a long summer vaction trip and I found out that almost all of the new reeds in several of my boxes were moldy with little bits of green and white mold. I would like to know if there is a way to use it hygenically because it would cost me a lot of money to replace the amount I lost to mold. I would also like to know how to prevent mold from growing on reeds. Thank you.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-09-01 03:14
Dear Andge,
Mold and mildew will not grow in relative humidity (RH) conditions of less than 50% so the trick is to get it down to that level. I live in Atlanta that has some of the warmest (I defer to those at the Equator) summers and highest RH's around. I keep my reeds in a cigar humidor that has a capsule containing a mixture of chemicals that maintain a RH of 40-50% (different than the suggested RH for cigars by the way). Unless you want to go to those lengths, you can get an air tight Tupperware like container and put in some of those silica gel packets (often sold at Home Depot or other stores to put in closets to keep the moisture down) which are relatively cheap. If you go in and out of the container a lot, you might want to have two - one for long term storage, and one for everyday use. The everyday use silica gel packets will have to be recharged (directions for heating in the oven are often given on the packets) about once every two weeks (depending on the size of the container, number of reeds in the container, and the size of packet, or total packets that you use).
Another approach is to sanitize the reeds to remove bacteria, mold and mildew spores and keep them in a sealed container after cleaning and sanitizing. I am walking a tight line here not to be overly commercial, but you can go to the website of a product called ReedLife >http://www.reedlife.com< and read their product description and make up your own mind. There are many "home brews" - - all those can chime in on their formulations. Personally, I have had good success with ReedLife, but seek the opinions of others that have tried it, or other products for their opinions.
The Doctor
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Author: Aussie Nick
Date: 2001-09-01 09:36
I've had this problem before. It doesnt happen often but when it has, I have soaked my reeds in Steradent (the tablet that dissolves in water and it is used to soak dentures in). I soak them in there for about 10 mins or so, and in this time alot of the bacteria is removed. I'm not sure if this is a good way to go about solving your problem, but it has worked for me (from what I remember anyway...it was ages ago)
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Author: beejay
Date: 2001-09-03 16:58
I believe peroxide also will take care of your reeds without harming you.
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-09-03 18:59
Yes, but Peroxide (Bleach, what-have-you) ... will do "things" to the epidermis of the Reed. In fact, I recenty had a discussion with Robert Dilutis (of Reed Machine fame) on point, re: soaking tube cane to ready it for splitting & what happens when you don't get to it as fast as one would like ...
Peroxide will get you VERY "blond" reeds .... so I would be careful, even with a very slight concentration in h20 ..... iyt's gonna SMELL like a commercial laundry.
best,
mw
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-09-03 19:16
Dear Folks,
I have investigated a lot of the denture cleaning powders, tablets, liquids, etc. and they will sanitize the reeds but seem to harm the playability afterward. These were never designed to sanitize reeds and are actually too strong for the job and dry out the reed after treatment. Plain pharmacy grade 3% hydrogen peroxide will also kill mold and mildew spores and bacteria but, as mw suggests - and I do not want to over interpret what he says - the peroxide will bleach the reed, chlorine bleaches are way too strong (the chlorine is a much more powerful bleaching agent) for use on reeds, if diluted enough not to harm the reeds it will dry out the reeds and smell like a commercial laundry anyway, and the reeds seem to go downhill much more quickly. As indicated on their web page http://www.reedlife.com that formulation will sanitize the reeds, provide natural humectants, and smells decent too. In many people's experience it makes a good reed last longer but as always YMMV. As I posted before, I use it and like it and many symphony orchestras internationally order it in bulk. As also noted before, you can provide relative humidity conditions that inhibit the growth of mold and mildew (you do not get rid of the spores however) or you can in some way sanitize the reed to kill the spores - your choice. We have not gotten to the point of an individual Gamma radiation cell for reeds - sounds like a good use for nuclear waste.
The Doctor
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