 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Simone
Date: 1999-03-12 14:58
I've heard a lot about clarinetists soaking their reeds in hydrogen peroxide. I want to try this as well and have some questions about it: How much of the hydrogen peroxide shall I buy ? How long can I use the hydrogen peroxide ? Has anyone made any bad experience with this method ?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Poulsen
Date: 1999-03-12 16:12
Hydrogen peroxide is inexpensive and available in bottles in your local pharmacy as zero-point-something-percent hydrogen peroxide solution. Just get a bottle.
I'm not sure what you mean in asking how long you can use it. The unused portion should last indefinitely. You would probably want to throw out the small amount you would soak your reeds in as soon as you finished - after so much use it loses its reactivity. (You use up the actual hydrogen peroxide).
I would suggest rinsing off your reeds after they finish soaking.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Brandon
Date: 1999-03-12 18:54
The purpose is to basically clean the reed. To remove bacteria, etc. It works, because the reed does come out looking a whole lot cleaner. Some say that for good results, soak for 5 minutes a day. Now for my humble opinion. Every time I tried this, the reed played worse than it did before I soaked it! I played extremely bright and unfocused.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Dee
Date: 1999-03-12 22:00
Brandon wrote:
-------------------------------
The purpose is to basically clean the reed. To remove bacteria, etc. It works, because the reed does come out looking a whole lot cleaner. Some say that for good results, soak for 5 minutes a day. Now for my humble opinion. Every time I tried this, the reed played worse than it did before I soaked it! I played extremely bright and unfocused.
-------------------------------
Soaking daily is way too much. You wouldn't soak it daily in water would you? Water logged reeds generally don't play well. Most of us rotate reeds so that they have chance to dry out between times.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Don Berger
Date: 1999-03-12 23:25
Well said, Brandon and Dee. Hydrogen peroxide [or sodium peroxide] are very strong oxidizing [low temperature burning] agents which disinfect bacteria. They are available only in dilute form [3-5% solutions]as over-the-counter drugs. Be careful in their use! I have a container of "Reed Life" which is said to lengthen and clean reeds, but it didn't do much for me! Probably a good clean water rinse, drying and rotation will be the best solution.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Charette
Date: 1999-03-13 02:39
Just a quick note:
Marty Marks has come up with a solution to extend reed life. I have not tested it; therefore I can't currently endorse it. Marty is a reputable guy and a sponsor of this site, so you might want to investigate it. It's relatively inexpensive.
His site (located here on sneezy) is:
<B><a href=http://www.rxreed.com>http://www.rxreed.com</A></B>
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Rick2
Date: 1999-03-13 04:04
I can understand why a student would want to extend reed life, but for me, i don't even bother. If the reed starts going bad, I just smash the tip so I don't use it again then go on to the next reed. Who needs the hassle of all the doctoring, IMHO.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Dee
Date: 1999-03-13 04:47
Rick2 wrote:
-------------------------------
I can understand why a student would want to extend reed life, but for me, i don't even bother. If the reed starts going bad, I just smash the tip so I don't use it again then go on to the next reed. Who needs the hassle of all the doctoring, IMHO.
-------------------------------
Oh at least put it on the shelf for a while. The reed might not be going bad. You may just need to wait for a change in the weather. I know that it works better if I play a different reed in the winter than the summer or if I get a really dry day compared to a really humid day.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Fred McKenzie
Date: 1999-03-13 13:16
Brandon wrote:
-------------------------------
The purpose is to basically clean the reed. To remove bacteria, etc.
Brandon-
I think this is over-kill. As someone else suggested, letting the reed dry out by rotating through several, will prevent germs from growning.
If you happen to be sharing an instrument with someone else, then it would make more sense to use some kind of disinfectant between players.
One such disinfectant is Mouthwash. A big bottle of the cheapest generic mouthwash will last a long time. You might use a cup to soak the mouthpiece (I hope you aren't sharing reeds!) for a few minutes. I suppose it would be a good idea to apply cork grease before soaking, and rinse with water afterwards.
Fred
<A HREF="http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/ksc.html">Reach for the Sky</A>
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Brandon
Date: 1999-03-13 15:00
I was simply stating something in an article I had read. I do not believe that this works, nor do I do it myself. Mouthwash will probably have the same effect, but I would hate for my reed to taste like Scope every time I played it!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Rick2
Date: 1999-03-13 16:33
Brandon: My instructor uses Chloraseptic if he wants to use a student's setup. I haven't looked into the germ killing attributes of it, but at least you have a little variety in how it makes the reed taste (cherry or cool menthol). Plus it's got to be more antiseptic than using nothing at all, if that is a concern to anyone.
Dee: I posted the abridged version. I generally will go on to the next reed in the rotation and put the offending reed away until it comes up again. If I still have problems then I smash it (against my knee, not the music stand). I might even put it away several times, depending on variables such as how the reed played in the past, how old it is, and how the other reeds play. Sometimes all the reeds play a little funny and so I just stop changing reeds and live with it. If that's the case, a bit of adjustment on how it sits on the mouthpiece or with emboucher generally makes it acceptable. Also, since I started numbering my reeds uniquely (I don't return to #1 after I finish a box) I generally know which ones are the offenders when I get back to them.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Tim2
Date: 1999-03-14 02:18
I've heard a lot about clarinetists soaking their reeds in hydrogen peroxide. I want to try this as well and have some questions about it: How much of the hydrogen peroxide shall I buy ? How long can I use the hydrogen peroxide ? Has anyone made any bad experience with this method?
--------------------------------------------------------
I use hydrogen peroxide to clean my reeds, all of them, I must have had about twenty of the old ones laying around the first time I did it. All the LaVoz reeds came back to life for a couple weeks. Two of them lasted a couple months. Mitchel Lurie's did not come back, except the Premium. I laid the regular Mitchel Luries to rest permanently.
I understood the purpose of this to be to remove the saliva gunk that is imbedded in the reed pores. With the wood being "unclogged", the reed "should" play like new. It work ed on some for me.
This clarinetist uses hydrogen peroxide to remove the gunk from reeds because the solution and this clarinetist are cheap and reeds are not.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Fred McKenzie
Date: 1999-03-14 11:26
Tim2 wrote:
-------------------------------
I understood the purpose of this to be to remove the saliva gunk that is imbedded in the reed pores. With the wood being "unclogged", the reed "should" play like new. It work ed on some for me.
Tim2-
I notice a trend here. Several have indicated that the reed doesn't always play as well as before cleaning. I suspect that is because Hydrogen Peroxide is caustic. It eats saliva and dirt (or at least bleaches it), but also eats part of the reed!
I suppose I should start a new thread about this, but what do you do with a worn-out (or partially eaten) reed? I have a reed clipper, and find that it can rejuvenate some reeds when used to take a tiny fraction of an inch off the end. In fact, some clipped reeds are better than when new.
Fred
<A HREF="http://www.dreamnetstudios.com/music/mmb/index.htm">MMB</A>
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: George
Date: 1999-03-15 23:13
I use hydrogen peroxide (drugstore variety) on a routine basis before I put the reed away. I generally keep 4 reeds in rotation, and was finding mold growth on the reeds, especially in summer. The H2O2 stops that problem, and doesn't seem to change the reed itself. It only seems to prolong the life of the reed by keeping it from moulding.
Hydrogen peroxide breaks down completely when it dries, and leaves nothing on the reed except water (which dries). No taste. It won't even hurt you if you get some in your mouth, since it is the same stuff often used as a mouthwash for gum problems, etc. I keep mine in a 15 ml glass "scintillation vial" with a screw top, and reuse it for many weeks before it stops working. You can tell when it is dead by finding no little bubbles (oxygen) on the reed when you remove it from the solution.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
