 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Gary
Date: 2010-12-31 17:35
I'm wondering if there is still a source for safely sterilizing a wooden instrument. If the previous owner of an instrument had a particularly nasty respiratory ailment, there could be a desire or need to sterilize the instrument. There seem to be some internet sites that appear to be now defunct that advertised sterilizing the instruments in the case. Any comments?
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2010-12-31 23:30
Germs don't live very long on a dry wood surface. Mold tastes nasty but isn't poisonous. Give an old clarinet the same treatment you would an old statue or an old lamp.
And about those germs -- that's why we have immune systems. You get more of them on you from a door handle than from an old clarinet.
Ken Shaw
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-12-31 23:48
There is no such thing as "sterilizing" a piece of wood - there will always be room for life forms in all those wood fiber nooks and crannies.
But, as Ken pointed it out, germs don't survive long on wood; the tanning agents therein will keep germs reasonably well at bay.
If you want to do something for your peace of mind, disassemble the keywork and wash your instrument in lukewarm water, with a bottle brush for the bore and cotton swabs or pipe cleaners for the tone holes, using mild liquid hand soap. Rinse, blow-dry the metal parts, dry (wrapped up in a towel) the instrument, oil, reassemble. This will get rid of anything that remotely reminds you of anyone who might have played the instrument before.
(There are enough threads about properly cleaning a wooden instrument, use the search function)
--
Ben
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Author: davetrow
Date: 2011-01-01 03:41
FWIW, wood chopping boards actually kill germs, and I imagine something of the same sort might happen in a clarinet.
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/5-2-2006-95011.asp
"Researchers at the Institute intentionally contaminated both wooden cutting boards and plastic ones with all types of bacteria that cause food poisoning. They then tested the boards regularly, without washing or touching them, to see what happened to the bacteria. Surprisingly, all of the bacteria on the wooden board dried off within three minutes. On the plastic board, the bacteria not only remained alive but actually multiplied overnight.
"The explanation for the dramatic results is that wood has a natural bacteria-killing property, which plastic does not. Because of the capillary action of dry wood, germs quickly disappear beneath the surface of the board, where they die quickly. The exposed area on top of the board is free from microbes."
So watch those plastic or hard rubber clarinets!
Dave Trowbridge
Boulder Creek, CA
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2011-01-01 14:03
This hearsay, but according to my woodworking husband, wood in the rosewood family, which includes grenadilla, is particulary hostile to germs. I've bought filthy old clarinets for years at flea markets, yard sales and junktiques stores. YMMV, but I rarely get sick anyway (maybe thanks to Mom letting me grub around in the dirt as a child!), and as far as I know I've never caught so much as a cold from a used clarinet.
I wash all mouthpieces (new or used) with dish detergent and lukewarm water, and I throw away any reeds I find in a used instrument's case. I only disassemble and wash out a clarinet and its case with soap and water if it's visibly dirty or moldy or if it stinks. That means I do wash out quite a few! -- but I don't go to any extraordinary lengths to try to sterilize a clarinet because, as others said above, that doesn't work anyway. I dry a washed case open to the sunlight.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: stevesklar
Date: 2011-01-01 22:19
you do have to be careful in certain scenarios such as getting a clarinet from a heavy lifetime(ish) smoker.
At one time i was diagnosed with emphysema simply due to years of 2nd hand smoke, thus I was highly susceptible in any form of breathing in a smoky (or dusty) environment. I learned my lesson once when I play tested a heavy laden clarinet that "oozed" of cigars/etc, and I got sick from the play test .. or I should say the only thing we could determine that could have gotten me sick in such a short amount of time.
I know how to sterilize a clarinet but it has 3 elements .... a fireplace, fire, and the clarinet. Playability is questionable afterwards though .... and not recommended.
==========
Stephen Sklar
My YouTube Channel of Clarinet Information
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2011-01-03 12:44
Stephen, I'm not allergic to tobacco smoke but I hate it a lot. I've found that stale smell persisting in instruments that look as if they haven't been played since Wilson was President. Disassembling the clarinet and washing it out has gotten the smell out of the clarinnet, but clearing the smell out of the case (which will transfer the stink right back to the clean clarinet) is one of the most difficult cleaning challenges I've run into. Febreze will sometimes do the trick, but then the case smells like Febreze. Usually I end up ripping the lining out of a tobacco-fumed case and relining it.
Before my husband retired, one of his colleagues at the EPA had a sign on his wall that said, "Kissing a smoker is like licking a dirty ashtray." We could amend that to, "Playing a smoker's clarinet is like licking a dirty ashtray."
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
Post Edited (2011-01-03 12:45)
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