 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: kssams
Date: 2007-07-09 15:51
Okay, so we spent a FORTUNE to get the keys replated in silver (obviously it was a complete overhaul), but we'd like to preserve the new plating. My daughter apparently has very acidic fingertips. Will just wiping off the keys after playing be enough, or does someone know of something else? I have heard rumors of Rain-X and clear nail polish....anybody tried these? We'd just as soon not have to do this again in another couple of years! Thanks!
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Author: C2thew
Date: 2007-07-09 16:02
change the diet of your daughter. If she eats alot of meats and fats, there is more likely a chance that the body will digest the foods slower and use more acids in the stomach to digest these fats. just a possibility.
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. they are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which was already but too easy to arrive as railroads lead to Boston to New York
-Walden; Henry Thoreau
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Author: kssams
Date: 2007-07-09 16:45
It's worth trying, even though I have read that it most it changes the acidity of the urine. Seems like whatever you put or don't put into the body changes the whole body. Thanks for your response.
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Author: RAB
Date: 2007-07-09 16:59
Try Hegerty anti-tarnish strips in the case, you can get them at a fine jewelery store, They absorbe the acids from the air in the case and help cut down on the tarnishing.
RAB
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Author: kssams
Date: 2007-07-09 17:08
Will try that - we're going to Muncy on the 16th anyway, so I'll add that to the list!
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2007-07-09 17:23
(Disclaimer - I sell anti-tarnish sachets)
If you wipe off the keys after every playing with a microfiber cloth that has been rinsed in a 1% baking soda solution/water it will help a lot. Coating the keys with RainX will also help but must be repeated every couple months because the coating is very thin but IMO does not make the keys slick as nail polish does. Use of an anti-tarnish strip or sachet in the case will also reduce the amount of tarnish and pitting although it will not help acidic sweat residue that is on the keys very much because it is in direct contact with the keys.
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
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Author: kssams
Date: 2007-07-09 18:27
Thanks for the info, Dr. Henderson, and I have purchased other items from you before! In fact, I believe it was you who had mentioned to me about the RainX. Thanks for the additional info about soaking the cloth in baking soda solution.
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Author: Phurster
Date: 2007-07-10 11:42
No idea how to preserve it but here is how to destroy it:
1.Play on the instrument for many hours each day.
2.Use a mixture of silver polishes at regular intervals. Polish hard.
My Bb RC looks old and battered thanks to this regime. Wish I had taken the advice given above.
Chris
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Author: kssams
Date: 2007-07-10 12:04
Hindsight is always 20/20! When I told my daughter how much it had cost to have it replated and overhauled, she was horrified and certainly will do whatever it takes to keep from having to go through this process again. I know some people have their clarinets for years and years and never have this problem...we were just lucky that she has more acidic fingertips, I guess.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-07-10 16:36
I use a microfibre cloth for flute, but a soft cotton duster is all I use on clarinet to wipe the keys down after playing. An old T-shirt torn into pieces will also do a good job.
I do from time to time use a silvercloth to polish it all up bright.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: SVSorna05
Date: 2007-07-10 16:54
...just play the clarinet...noone in the audience is going to care how it looks...keys are going to wear over time and I guess you can slow it down, but shiny keys are probably the least important aspect of the clarinet...btw this comes from a formerly obsessed shiny key person who has learned that I could put that time into playing instead of freaking out about a little wear that comes from dozens of hours of playing.
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Author: kssams
Date: 2007-07-10 17:04
The problem was her fingers kept slipping off the keys because so much had worn off!!
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