 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: rgoldem
Date: 2016-10-16 04:35
Can I wash a wood clarinet body? If positive, what kind of detergent should be used?
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2016-10-16 04:58
Is it new? Do you use it everyday? Are there any cracks on it now?
You MUST be very careful. Wood can and will crack. Do not soak it. Do not use hot or cold water. Room temp only. Just wipe it, quickly.
I've actually heard of people/parents putting plastic and wood horns in the dishwasher, school kids using school band instruments so the parents want to clean the sticky horn. Well the outcome is always horrible. Even melted plastic horns!
Mild soap only and probably use some bore oil after, because you will be drying out the wood. Check out Amazon for bore oil. It's cheap in cost and will last forever. $10?
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2016-10-16 07:28
When I restore an old clarinet, the first thing that I do is remove all the keywork and wash the body joints , bell and barrel in warm soapy water. I use common dishwashing detergent for this. I give the parts a light scrub with an old toothbrush to remove accumulated crud. I clean the bores at the same time using a soft old bottle brush. I then use a wad of tissues to remove the bulk of the water and let them air-dry for a few hours on a layer of newspaper. When dry I oil the bores generously, leave for 24 hours and then remove any surplus oil. So far, in 20 years, I've never had an instrument crack following this.
Tony F.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2016-10-16 17:30
FWIW, I use Murphy's Oil Soap.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2016-10-17 16:11
Although I'd prefer not to wash a wooden clarinet, I've bought flea market instruments in such filthy, crudded-up condition that washing was the only viable option. I removed all the keys for cleaning separately. On the wood, I used unscented, uncolored, liquid dishwashing detergent (Palmolive Pure & Clear; there are others) with room temperature water, then followed basically the same washing, rinsing, drying and oiling procedures Tony F describes above. I think bore-oiling after washing is a must.
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: Fuzzy
Date: 2016-10-17 18:15
Tony, Paul, and Lelia:
I'm curious...when you remove the keywork - do you also remove the posts/springs, trill guides, etc?
Fuzzy
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2016-10-17 18:57
It depends on the condition of the posts and guides. If they are in such condition that I can buff them in situ then I'll leave them in place, but if they are in poor condition then I'll remove them. I always check the post for tightness, damaged or rusted springs, damaged screw holes, etc. at this point.
Tony F.
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Author: pewd
Date: 2016-10-17 19:14
Fuzzy - no. I just take the keywork off.
Then I wash the instrument in oil soap, using an old toothbrush to clean around the springs, posts, etc. I rinse it off with a sprayer in the sink then pull a cotton swab through. I wrap it in a cotton cloth for a few minutes to dry. I also use a can of compressed air to blow the water out of the screw holes in the posts. Wrap it back up in a cloth for a day to dry. Key oil on a cotton swab (qtip) and wipe it on all the springs to prevent rust. (although many of the grungy instruments brought to me to overhaul are already suffering rust or corrosion issues).
I prefer not to do this, however, as stated above, some of the pawn shop / eBay / flea market finds folks bring me are so grungy that there is no other alternative. I don't own a big repair shop with the tanks of chemicals (sonic cleaners?), so this is the best alternative for me. I've never had one crack.
- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas
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Author: Clarineteer
Date: 2016-10-18 14:53
I use Windex with ammonia which removes dirt and grease and will not harm the wood.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-10-18 16:09
If it's a wooden clarinet that I'm completely rebuilding, I remove all the keys, springs, pillars, trill guides, socket rings and any other metal parts that can be removed from the joints before cleaning everything.
I don't wash the joints as such (with soapy water) - I'll brush all the dust and fluff off, then go round all the toneholes and other slots to remove the dirt from them, then hand rag the joints to clean and polish them.
Then oil the bore, insides of the toneholes and tonehole chimneys, then oil the outside and further polish everything by hand. Any damaged toneholes will be recut or repaired before any oiling is done.
To finish things off I then clean and degrease the tenon slots before recorking them. Refit the pillars and springs, refit the trill guides and speaker and thumb tubes, refit the keys so they're all fitting well, then install pads and key corks and that's it all done.
But as far as washing goes, I will only wash plastic clarinets by submerging them in soapy water and scrub and wipe them down to remove dirt and grease once all the keys have all been removed. If the tenon corks are good, then I don't submerge them for too long. But if the tenon corks all need replacing, then they can be left to soak for a fair while.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2016-10-18 18:03
I strip the body of all keys (and corks, if need be), then use a bottle brush (they have it with 15mm diameter which makes it perfect for clarinets) and a toothbrush. For soap, I use liquid hand soap. I don't bathe the instrument, just wet it with lukewarm water, scrub, then rinse. After drying I inspect for damaged toneholes etc, then oil the whole joint.
I do this with every instrument I refurbish. Never had a problem with wood going unruly. (I think during a 2h concert the bore gets a lot wetter than during a 10 minute washing procedure)
--
Ben
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Author: Clarineteer
Date: 2016-10-18 21:36
Again if you use windex with ammonia after the clarinet is stripped down it will not only kill any bacteria but also remove any dirt and grease. I use the Doctors bore oiling rod with the slotted end and put a piece of paper towel tightly in the slot end of the rod and then simply spray some windex on it so that it is soaked and then swab out the bore and then a dry piece of paper towel and swab the bore again. For the outside I use a small piece of paper towel again soaked in windex and wipe the outside by hand and then I use a Datavac electric duster to dry the outside which does it very quickly.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-10-19 18:33
If I'm removing the pillars in view of having them plated, I remove them from the top of the joints downwards when stringing them on a piece of brass or copper wire (wrapped around their threads), using a separate wire for each joint and making a knot in one of the wires so you know which joint that set of pillars belongs to and which end is which.
But it's usually obvious of you wire the speaker tube, trill guide and thumb tube at the top of the top joint wire and the thumbrest on the lower joint wire. Socket rings will usually be plated along with the keys, so leave the wiring up of them to the platers. If you need to know which socket ring is which, then scribe a reminder on the insides of each one and which way up they go if it's not all that obvious.
Then make a list of each pillar as it goes onto the wire to be sure you know where it was fitted on the joint just to be doubly sure it will go back in the correct place after plating. And keep that list safe - if you have the bag of screws, keep it in there.
If you need to keep all the rod screws separate and in their correct order, stick them onto a piece of tape (which is then doubled up so they won't drop off) and label them as you go with a permanent marker on the outside of the tape. Point screws and springs can be stuck into a wine cork in their relative positions.
But if I'm removing the pillars just to polish up the joints, I have a board with loads of holes drilled into it in a grid formation and the pillar threads are placed in the holes in their relative positions as they'd be on the joints.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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