 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ben Shaffer
Date: 2014-07-11 17:14
quick question.... I just bought a used mouthpiece off eBay... what would be the best home style way of " sterilizing" the mouthpiece?
This is a Vandoren B45, not sure what its made of
Thanks in advance I do appreciate all of the advice of the board members!
Post Edited (2014-07-11 17:16)
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Author: TJTG
Date: 2014-07-11 17:22
Don't use hot water, it will turn the mouthpiece brown and gross looking.
Soap and cool water with a very soft brush, or swab, and you can run through it a couple of times. A small amount of rubbing alcohol or vodka will do the trick to sterilize it.
If there is gross buildup soak it in some household vinegar, and be careful not to let the vinegar get on the cork.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2014-07-11 18:12
It's made of hard rubber. The vinegar will remove any "white" build-up at the business end. You can also use pure lemon juice to do this (smells a LOT better!). Just place the mouthpiece in the lemon juice for about 5 minutes (not submerging the cork), rinse with water and wipe off.
...........Paul Aviles
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Author: BobD
Date: 2014-07-14 16:01
I would remove the old cork and immerse the whole mp in Paul's solutions after the tepid soapy water cleaning.
Bob Draznik
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Author: cyclopathic
Date: 2014-07-14 16:05
+1 on vinegar (just keep it off the cork). ~5min and a couple Qtips scrub it with, then rinse in water.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2014-07-14 16:33
Just a quick question. The standard advice, which I've always stuck to myself and given to my students, is to keep the cork out of the vinegar or whatever cleaner you're using. But I've never experimented to see whether the cork would actually be damaged by immersion.
Has anyone actually had experience with a cork damaged by a household cleaning procedure - soapy water (warm or cold), vinegar, lemon juice, alcohol, peroxide?
I guess I could do this myself with a junk mouthpiece and a few minutes' time. I may try it later today.
Karl
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Author: cyclopathic
Date: 2014-07-14 17:48
@kdk
well the wine/vinegar bottles are corked, so no it should not really damage it. It could damage contact cement but it is not submerged for long to do it.
However it will degrease cork and if it is old flaky cork at the end of life it may be just enough to kill it. So it is still a good idea to keep it off the cork; just saying
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2014-07-14 19:08
I immerse the whole mouthpiece in Milton solution, which is used to sterilize infant feeding bottles. If it is particularly scungy I first immerse it in lemon juice for 10 minutes or so. I've never had the cork come off as a result of this.
Tony F.
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Author: Steven Ocone
Date: 2014-07-14 23:10
Dish soap and water. Works around the kitchen as well. Alcohol doesn't actually kill everything. Same for your hands - soap is actually superior to antseptics.
When I worked in a lab we used a 10% bleach solution to sterilize petri dishes.
Steve Ocone
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2014-07-15 00:39
What will bleach do to a hard rubber mouthpiece? To the cork?
Karl
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Author: cyclopathic
Date: 2014-07-15 01:12
kdk wrote:
> What will bleach do to a hard rubber mouthpiece? To the cork?
>
> Karl
depends on exposure.. at high concentration may bleach out black dye.
However to sanitize you don't need much bleach, about tablespoon for 5gal water will clean beer carboy pretty nicely.
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