 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: m1964
Date: 2022-06-29 06:46
My band made offered me to try some of his mouthpieces, and I also have a few he wants to try.
In this (Covid-19) era, what is the best way to clean/disinfect a MP?
Vinegar? Vodka?
Technical grade alcohol sold in drugstores would not feel nice in my mouth...
Thanks
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Author: kdk
Date: 2022-06-29 17:02
m1964 wrote:
> In this (Covid-19) era, what is the best way to clean/disinfect
> a MP?
>
> Vinegar? Vodka?
> Technical grade alcohol sold in drugstores would not feel nice
> in my mouth...
I don't think Vodka has a high enough alcohol content (40%) to be a reliable disinfectant. Vinegar is great for removing mineral deposits on a mouthpiece, but I don't think regular table vinegar (3-5%) is strong enough, either. But alcohol evaporates very quickly, so wiping a mouthpiece with an alcohol pad and letting it dry for a few minutes should solve the problem of "feel" in your mouth (not to mention toxicity if you ingest isopropyl alcohol). If there's a residual taste, you've probably tasted worse in your life.
Karl
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Author: m1964
Date: 2022-06-29 17:32
kdk wrote:
> m1964 wrote:
>
> > In this (Covid-19) era, what is the best way to
> clean/disinfect
> > a MP?
> >
> > Vinegar? Vodka?
> > Technical grade alcohol sold in drugstores would not feel
> nice
> > in my mouth...
>
> I don't think Vodka has a high enough alcohol content (40%) to
> be a reliable disinfectant. Vinegar is great for removing
> mineral deposits on a mouthpiece, but I don't think regular
> table vinegar (3-5%) is strong enough, either. But alcohol
> evaporates very quickly, so wiping a mouthpiece with an alcohol
> pad and letting it dry for a few minutes should solve the
> problem of "feel" in your mouth (not to mention toxicity if you
> ingest isopropyl alcohol). If there's a residual taste, you've
> probably tasted worse in your life.
>
> Karl
>
Thanks
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Author: Hunter_100
Date: 2022-06-29 19:17
We mix up our own alcohol spray for counters at work. It has to be 70% ethanol in water and it has to stay wet on the surface for at least 30 seconds. In terms of drinking alcohol, that would be 140 proof or higher.
As an alternative to sanitizing, you could both take covid tests prior to trialling each others mouthpieces and then just use normal soap and water to clean them.
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Author: Hardlec
Date: 2022-06-29 21:00
Denture cleanser. (a la polydent)
The difference between a mouthpiece and a set of dentures is small as far as materials go.
The cleansers have been disinfecting my mouthpieces for a very long time. Unlike most of the other suggestions, Denture cleanser is designed to disinfect.
And
It leaves your mouthpiece minty fresh.
(Covid did not create a need to disinfect mouthpieces. That's a thing that's been around for a very long time.
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2022-06-29 23:20
Not all disinfecting solutions are effective against Covid viruses. The EPA maintains a list, List N, of brands that they've verified to be so.
Mild soap and water would probably cleanse a mouthpiece of the virus, though it may not actively kill it.
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Author: Steven Ocone
Date: 2022-06-30 00:48
Denatured alcohol is available at a home improvement center / hardware store. It should be close to 100%.
Steve Ocone
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Author: Hunter_100
Date: 2022-06-30 02:00
Denatured alcohol is poisonous. I would not use it on anything that touches your mouth. Rubbing alcohol (iso-propyl) is safer if you want to go that route (buy the medical stuff from a pharmacy not from a hardware store) but you should make sure not to ingest that either. As strange as it may sound, pure alcohols don't sanitize surfaces well. They evaporate too quickly from the surface to kill everything. That is why prepared solutions and gel hand sanitizers are always around 70% concentration.
There are a multitude of food safe sanitizers you can purchase. When I brew beer I use an iodine based sanitizer called iodiphor but I do not know if it works on the coronavirus. Also I have no idea if it would discolor mouthpieces.
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Author: alanporter
Date: 2022-06-30 03:55
I use hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). It acts like a bleach, killing viruses, bacteria and fungi, and it doesn't harm the mouthpiece material.
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Author: hans
Date: 2022-06-30 10:19
Cetylpyridinium chloride looks like it should be useful. It's an ingredient in some mouthwashes, so that it should be safe, and it has been reported that CPC kills covid-19. See https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32513792/
Hans
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Author: Chris_C ★2017
Date: 2022-06-30 21:11
As I understand it, COVID is killed by soap and water - that is why we were advised to wash our hands thoroughly; alcohol gel was a secondary approach to be used when running water was unavailable.
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Author: eac
Date: 2022-06-30 21:59
The lipid/fatty capsule of the covid virus will be disrupted by soap and water or dissolved by alcohol. If one wants to be very cautious, a belt and suspenders approach of washing with soap and water followed by rinsing with water with a subsequent wipe down with alcohol (like an alcohol swab) should be more than adequate to remove bacteria and viruses. The virus or bacteria won’t have bonded to the slick mouthpiece surface under common circumstances. One or two stray virus particles or germs that might possibly remain will not constitute an infectious dose. We aren’t talking about anthrax spores or a poison like arsenic or cyanide. No need to make disinfecting a mouthpiece any complicated than needed. I definitely would not soak the mouthpiece or the cork in any disinfectant.
Liz Leckey
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Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2022-06-30 23:38
If you wanted to borrow the other bits of somebody's clarinet as well, would it still be okay to just clean the mouthpiece? Sorry if that's derailing the thread. Please do just ignore me if it is.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2022-07-01 00:24
SunnyDaze wrote:
> If you wanted to borrow the other bits of somebody's clarinet
> as well, would it still be okay to just clean the mouthpiece?
Since you're not putting the other parts into your mouth (or sniffing them closely?), it would probably be easier to just wash your hands thoroughly after the session is over.
And don't get your fingers near your mouth, eyes or nose (wasn't that the early advice about surface transmission in the supermarket?).
Karl
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Author: m1964
Date: 2022-07-01 01:19
Thanks to everyone who replied to my OP- I have medical grade alcohol pads, but I was afraid they would discolor a mouthpiece or harm it otherwise.
I do remember a post in which someone did not recommend using rubbing alcohol on a specific brand plastic clarinet tenons (don't remember the brand) because the tenon would become fragile and break easily after rubbing it with alcohol.
I guess mouthwash followed by soap and water will do the job.
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