 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-03-14 14:15
Hi all - had my horn in at work with me today and just had the thought that I would get the microbiology folks to culture my swab. I have been getting a lot of mail about "smells", from mouthpieces, swabs, horns - you name it. Since I can not smell - too many years in the organic chemistry business, - I am very sensitive to what others perceive about odors and my stuff. Anyway, the microbug guys said that my silk swab was a veritable germ culture and so was a test sample from the mouthpiece. Although we have all seen the grungy swabs used for years without cleaning by some players, I would recommend that just for general hygiene that you wash out your swabs (if they are cloth or silk) every so often and definately do not share swabs or mouthpieces. Since my wife is a quilter I had access to special quilt soap that I washed out the silk swab with (boy was the water muddy after soaking for a while) or use a gentle soap like Woolite. This treatment obviously did not sterilize the swab but the number of microorganisms after washing was almost nil. We will never live in a germ-free environment but creating conditions promoting the growth of the bugs, and their sometimes offensive smelly byproducts, is something that we can do something about. Microorganisms probably play a large role in the death of reeds too, along with vibrational tearing of the reed structure (too large a topic to get into here). Maybe I am preaching to the choir here but there are some of us that have never sanitized our swabs before - but now will.
The Doctor
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Author: Jo
Date: 2001-03-14 15:24
Funny... I was just thinking about this the other day, so I washed my silk swab. The water does turn very muddy, but I think that the dye contributes a bit to that.
It makes sense that stuff would grow- it's a perfect environment for it.
Jo
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-03-14 15:34
Don't go nuts over germs. They're everywhere, most are harmless, and even when you wash things out, they come right back. More than half the contents of your intestines consists of bacteria, which are essential to digestion.
My college botany class got an assignment to take a petri dish full of agar and collect interesting stuff. I went into the library and blew some dust off the top of some ancient bound magazines that hadn't been touched in years and got a spectacular culture -- all the colors of the rainbow. I'm sure I breathed some of the dust, but there were no ill effects.
I've been playing other people's instruments, and mouthpieces and reeds for years, and letting people play mine. I've never gotten any kind of illness. That's why we have immune systems.
I keep my mouthpiece clean to make sure that deposits don't build up and distort the inside dimensions. I wash my swabs when they get dingy or start to smell bad. Other than that, it's live and let live between me and germs.
Unsanitary regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-03-14 16:20
Dear Ken,
You are of course right - my mother said that I ate a pound of dirt before I got out of diapers. You bring up the exact point that I was trying to make about smells - that grungy swabs may be one cause. I of course can not smell - some good news, some bad here but the smell in the case can be brought about by a number of different agents - the products that we use on the instruments, the case materials off-gasing VOC's and plasticizing agents, smelly swabs and mouthpieces, mildew caused by too much moisture, and the list goes on. One cause of smelly mouthpieces is organic matter (food) and bacteria growing there if the mouthpiece is not cleaned routinely. Some people are just not good about eating and then playing and not washing out the mouthpiece. After a while the organic material becomes encrusted and difficult to remove. All this is mostly just good common sense and I did not want to make a huge point about sterilizing everything - just some areas that might contribute to the "bowl you over smell when you open the case at band practice". I may be an "overly" clean nut because of my lack of smelling.
The Doctor
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Author: Donn
Date: 2001-03-14 17:10
Why don't some enterprising soul or some accessory mfr. market a disposable swab in little packages similar to handy wipes, which could be carried in your case? How about something like Q-tips with a mild detergent for cleaning mouthpieces and other nasty devices? This same mfr. could also find a market for disposable deodorant case humidifiers. How about it, entrepreneurs?
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-03-14 18:15
Good ideas all but our recent thread about cleaning mouthpieces would bode against sticking anything into the mouthpiece. If the organic material has dried and crusted you could potentially do some damage to the mouthpiece scrubbing it off - the rod of the Q-Tip will eventually poke through the cotton tip. In my experience the really grungy ones (most people already have a decent sanitizing program for their mouthpieces already) need to be soaked clean using the right cleaner. I feel that rather than deodorize and cover up bacteria and mildew smell it is better to remove the cause - using products that do not smell bad is also a help. Anything that I have found that would not in the long term abrade the wood surface - e.g. microfiber swabs - would be too expensive for the common man/women to use as a disposable item. However, some entrepreneur may have the right answer at the right price.
The Doctor
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Author: Cass
Date: 2001-03-14 20:59
I think rinsing the mouthpiece and reed is the most important. The rest of the clarinet doesn't go in my mouth, so as long as I wash the swab often enough not to let it get smelly, I don't worry too much about it. I wash out my case once in a while too, with upholstery cleaner that I rinse off with a wet sponge. My equipment never has developed a smell yet, but I sat next to someone in band whose clarinet and case had a kind of overripe fruit smell. It was kind of like a sink full of dirty dishes that have been sitting for a few days and don't even ask how I know!
I play in a community band now where one of the trumpet players has got his case confused with a garbage can. There was a lot of junk in there but especially a gooey Twinkie wrapper turned half inside out where he keeps his mute and the paper was slimy green on the gooey side where some of that Twinkie had smeared on it. People were talking about it and guessing how long it would stay like that. They said he was growing a mold farm, like an ant farm. One of the other trumpet players one day reached in, and took out the paper, said "You collecting this valuable merchandise or what?!" and threw it out for him. The guy wasn't even embarrassed. People call him Twinkie behind his back. I wouldn't be surprised if worms crawled out of his trumpet one day. I mean you can smell this case from several feet away!
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Author: Pam
Date: 2001-03-15 02:05
I wash out my swabs occasionally. I have two and usually rotate them -- dry one goes in the case and the damp one left out to dry. Silk swabs dry really quickly!
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Author: beejay
Date: 2001-03-15 09:34
Gosh, I change swabs about as often as I change hankerchiefs -- every day. When I finish playing, I rinse the mouthpiece, the reed and my silk swab under a cold tap. Cleanliness is next to Godliness,no?
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-03-15 12:32
No. Cleanliness undermines the development of the immune system and other defences. (Just stirring, but there is truth in it - Hehe!)
Do our mouths contain bacteria whose function it is to begin the digestion of organic material. If so, so they also work on the bore of the clarinet? (Just having fun worrying those people so close to God - stirring beejay)
What gets me is this: Go to any toilet used by many to urinate, wipe bacteria from hands to tap while turning it on, wash hands, and then handle the tap again to collect ones own and also every body else's bacteria back. Then wipe them all over the door handle for another sharing experience. If I have had a shower before going out my penile skin is probably cleaner than my hands, which have contacted all manner of items. The moral is not to wash hands after urinating - unless you want to enhance your immune system. But the problem is that we must be seen to follow the behaviour of the other sheep.
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Author: Jo
Date: 2001-03-15 17:13
The bathroom germ thing is a great point... I still wash my hands..
I have alcohol swabs that I carry with me (you know- the kind that they use when you get a shot.) They are really useful because they kill off enough germs to make me feel better about using someone else's horn, or letting a student try my mouthpiece. Kid germs can be bad because they are always carrying all of the other kid germs and then you are bound to get a cold.
Happy germ-killing,
Jo
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Author: Hiroshi
Date: 2001-03-16 05:06
Typical micro germ incident was Reggionella Disease(spelling? I am a Japanese),
which occured at a US veteran's hospital around 1950's through air conditioner filter inhabited by micro-organism. Many people died.
Yes, I understand what your germ friends talk about. Hi,Hi,Hi.
Let's wash our swabs frequently anyway!
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Author: Nate Zeien
Date: 2001-03-17 16:11
Hmmm... There still seems to be a point that people are forgetting. Regardless of sanitation, a grungy swab is still bad for the pads. The less dirt and gunk that is left inside the clarinet, the better. If you let your clarinet get gunky enough inside, it can even hinder the air flow through the register tube and toneholes. Generally, for sanitation, it is good practice to wash the mouthpiece, and I myself do so often. (Remember not to use hot water if you have a hard rubber mouthpiece, as this can warp the lay.) Yes, swabs should be washed now and then, but for reasons in addition to sanitation. If you don't do it for your own health, a least do it for the health of your clarinet. :-) -- Nate Zeien
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