 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2008-10-01 12:53
The title says it all. I recently did a bit of reorganizing of my closet and drawers where I keep my clarinet stuff and I have found mold on clarinets, barrels, reeds cases. Recently I had a performance and was practicing a lot and rotating 2 cases of reeds. After the performance I was only using a few reeds from one case. Only a week passed and I opened the second case of reeds to find they all had mold. I dipped them all in ethanol and let them dry on a tray. I put them into the plastic reed holders and put them away. Two weeks later, MOLD.
Japan had been very rainy this year and I know this can be a factor, but is there anything that can reduce the mold spores in the air? I was thinking of getting an electric dehumidifier?
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2008-10-01 13:01
The best thing to prevent mold to open the cases. Trapped air really boosts the growth of mold.
You can try to get desiccant bags (as used to pack electronic gear) or woollen socks etc, both can buffer excess moisture. If the mold is already in the case, remove the instruments, clean them, and wrap them in wool clothes while you take care of the cases.
Electric dehumidifiers can be brutal as they often work too fast.
--
Ben
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2008-10-01 14:20
(Disclaimer - I sell humidity control and monitoring supplies)
Mold (vegetative) will not grow if the Relative Humidity is below 50%. Spores will always be present and spore killers are pretty brutal to wood, cane, and cloth but sometimes necessary to knock down the spore counts - especially for cases. Controlling the humidity with a dehumidifier of HVAC system with temperature and humidty control is the best answer in the long term.
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
Post Edited (2008-10-01 14:21)
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2008-10-01 14:37
I would think a good dehumidifier with an automatic shut off meter would work well. Keep it at about 50% and make sure everything is left opened so the air can pass through it. If it gets dry in the winter you should shut it off and try to keep the humidity at about 50% with a humidifier, it’s a balancing act not to let things get too damp or too dry. Also, an air conditioner usually takes humidity out of the air if it is warm enough to use one. ESP www.peabody.jhu.edu/457
Listen to a little Mozart
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
Post Edited (2008-10-02 00:36)
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2008-10-02 19:42
Yup, get one with a digital display that you can set to an exact humidity level - just make sure that you can drain it as the thing may fill up pretty quickly (daily). I have mine on an old printer stand and it drains into the basement sink. It's right next to my studio so it does a good job of bringing down the humidity , and the central air conditioning does the rest.
Mold is the worst!!
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: stevensfo
Date: 2008-10-03 11:58
Any idea how much power a decent dehumidifier uses? Our humidity levels are matched only by our soaring electricity bills!
Steve
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2008-10-03 12:14
Basically a dehumidifier draws as much current as a small refrigerator (the college dorm sized ones) which it approximates in size and function (you are refrigerating coils on which humidity collects) but .... if you need it then you live with the cost or put up with mold.
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
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Author: C2thew
Date: 2008-10-03 17:05
instead of putting a humidifier in the case, why not try and see if storing the reeds bone dry would be as effective? i've been to china a couple of times and the humidity there is sometimes inescapable. Fighting mold, one step at a time.
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: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2008-10-03 20:10
skygardener wrote:
> I have tried leaving reeds uncovered on a plate. Even then,
> MOLD!
So what's the average humidity in your neck of the woods?
--
Ben
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Author: mrn
Date: 2008-10-04 01:32
skygardener wrote:
> Been raining a lot this year, so it is generally about 70-80%.
Sounds like Houston (where I grew up). I get terrible hay fever when mold spores are in the air. Maybe you can filter out some of the spores in the air in your home/studio with a HEPA filter (High Efficiency Particulate Air filter). They are supposed to filter out mold spores (as well as pollen and other particulates). I used to have one in my dorm room when I was in college.
It probably won't solve all your mold problems, but I think it ought to help some, and it would give you a second line of defense (besides just humidity control).
I also used to soak my reeds periodically in hydrogen peroxide , which kills whatever flora are living in them.
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Author: Shi-Ku Chishiki
Date: 2008-10-04 04:49
Can't give you any more information then what's been given.
I use a "Vandoren 4 pack reed case", model VRC10. The thing I like about it is it contains a "moisture level control, replaceable desiccant\charcoal tube" which seems to work for me.. and oh yeah, I live in Florida just a few miles from the Gulf.. so the humidity here isn't what you would call dry.
Shi-Ku Chishiki ShiKu.Chishiki@Gmail.com
It's not the clarinet that makes the player, but the player that makes the clarinet!
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Author: stebinus
Date: 2008-10-04 05:34
When I'm not using my reeds I keep them on plexiglas with a rubber band, in a plastic bag in the fridge. They never mold and last a long time. I also use water instead of saliva to dampen them and rinse them after use.
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Author: mrn
Date: 2008-10-06 18:37
Shi-Ku Chishiki wrote:
<<I use a "Vandoren 4 pack reed case", model VRC10. The thing I like about it is it contains a "moisture level control, replaceable desiccant\charcoal tube" which seems to work for me.. and oh yeah, I live in Florida just a few miles from the Gulf.. so the humidity here isn't what you would call dry.>>
I used to have one of those (when I lived in Houston). You have to make sure you change out the charcoal tube very frequently to avoid mold, though. If you don't, your reeds will actually grow mold more quickly in the Vandoren case because it traps the moisture in the case. Since, as a highschooler in pre-web days, I didn't much care for having to make frequent purchases of charcoal tubes, I finally ditched the Vandoren case.
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Author: Shi-Ku Chishiki
Date: 2008-10-08 03:59
MRN..
Thanks for the info. I didn't realize or knew of that situation. I guess that's what happens when you listen to a sales person.. especially if she's cute. Oh well. What do you suggest then?
Thanks..
Shi-Ku Chishiki ShiKu.Chishiki@Gmail.com
It's not the clarinet that makes the player, but the player that makes the clarinet!
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Author: pewd
Date: 2008-10-08 04:12
i have 40+ students
every time one of them uses one of those vandoren reed cases, they end up with mold on the reeds.
vito plastic reed guards are only a few $ - and work well
i use a selmer 10 reed case. they work very well but the clasps that keep them closed will fail in 3-4 years. http://www.wwbw.com/Selmer-Reed-Case-i81421.music
dunno what mrn uses- i should pay more attention in rehearsals
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: mrn
Date: 2008-10-09 03:24
pewd wrote:
> dunno what mrn uses- i should pay more attention in rehearsals
I'm actually really low tech when it comes to storing reeds. I use those little plastic sleeves Vandoren uses to pack their reeds in. They hold the reeds flat and keep them ventilated so they don't grow mold (I also sort of wipe/squeeze them out before I put them back in so they're not too damp). My "reed case" is a Vandoren Blue Box. That's it.
By the way, I wouldn't try this with other reed companies' packaging, just Vandoren's. Even if I occassionally buy other brands, I still use the Vandoren packaging.
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2008-10-09 12:56
The Protec case works pretty well for storing reeds, and at a reasonable price. It will hold a dozen reeds. As to how it would perform in extremes of humidy, that might be a different question.
Jeff
“Everyone discovers their own way of destroying themselves, and some people choose the clarinet.” Kalman Opperman, 1919-2010
"A drummer is a musician's best friend."
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