 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: RonD
Date: 2002-01-15 00:31
I ran across this tip in a financial newsletter (strange place) but it really works.
Place alluminum foil face up (shiny side up) in a small plastic or non metal container add about a teaspoon of bakeing soda and add boiling water let sit for 5 to ten minutes and then rinse off with clear water and dry with soft cloth. I cleaned a ligature and mp cover and it was clean and shinny within seconds.
DO NOT USE THIS TO CLEAN KEYS ON YOUR HORN. BOILING WATER AND WOOD DO NOT MIX, THE PADS WOULD NOT RESPOND WELL EITHER.
This is safe to use on silver that is not attached to any thing else. I dont know why this works so well but it does. Any chemists out there?
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Author: jbutler
Date: 2002-01-15 01:23
Actually, this was a thread on the repair BB just a couple of weeks ago. One of the posters ( I can't remember which one) came up with this URL:
http://www.scifun.chem.wisc.edu/HomeExpts/TARNISH.html
I printed it. It does give the formula for the freeing of the tarnish as:
3 Ag2S + 2AL---------->6Ag + Al2S3
I don't know what the hell of that means, but maybe someone does!
jbutler
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2002-01-15 11:10
Thank you John for the formula. In my silver research I have tried this and as you can see that sulphur in an alkaline environment will react with the aluminum to form aluminum-sulphur compound. Unfortunately in the process, although the silver-sulphur (tarnish - black) compound is relieved of it's sulphur, the silver left behind is much more reactive and has a different layering (lattice) structure than the original plated silver and is much more easily rubbed off (normal handling) than the original silver plating.
The best way to prevent tarnish is to limit the exposure of the silver to sulphur containing compounds (vulcanized rubber, rubber bands, etc..) and if you live in a highly air polluted environment, keep you case closed when not taking out your horn or replacing it. In the case you need some substance to remove or trap the sulphur containing compounds (many of the newer mechanisms utilize active chemical pumping from one type of chemical to another to sequester the reactive sulphur molecules) - some of the older methods use activated charcoal to trap sulphur containing compounds (micro sized charcoal in a semipermeable membrane - not just lumps of charcoal).
The Doctor
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Author: Dee
Date: 2002-01-15 12:14
jbutler wrote:
>
> Actually, this was a thread on the repair BB just a
> couple of weeks ago. One of the posters ( I can't remember
> which one) came up with this URL:
>
> http://www.scifun.chem.wisc.edu/HomeExpts/TARNISH.html
>
> I printed it. It does give the formula for the freeing of the
> tarnish as:
>
> 3 Ag2S + 2AL---------->6Ag + Al2S3
>
> I don't know what the hell of that means, but maybe someone
> does!
Translation
3 Silver Sulfide molecules plus 2 Aluminum molecules becomes 6 Silver molecules plus 1 Aluminum Sulfide molecule.
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-01-15 17:28
In short, it is an electrolytic reaction in which the corrosion moves from the silver to the aluminum. However, why worry about silver tarnish on your clarinet keys or ligatures? The more often you remove the tarnish the more silver you remove from the part itself. Unlike human skin silver does not rejuvinate itself after cleaning.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2002-01-15 18:52
I'd like to add onto this thread. It may interest someone or no one. I don't feel it warrants starting a new thread -- again. But, it's sorta related to this topic for those who may have missed previous posts about it and who do some of their own maintenance work.
Anyhow... before repadding clarinets with plated keys we like to clean our keys. Right? Of course If they're just tarnished I've discovered that, after removing old pads and cement (and cork if necessary), a short soak in plain ol' warm water and liquid dishwashing detergent (Not the machine kind) then a light scrubbing (toothbrush) works very well. A word of caution: Do this in a pan, not in the sink where something might go down the drain :[
If the keys are terrible or if they're nickel silver, a light buffing (removing surface metal) is about the only effective method to shine 'em up. The dishwater soak method will also remove buffing 'dirt'. Very warm water works best for this step. Dry with soft cloth towel. Clean/dry inside hinge tubes with pipe cleaner, then lightly oil inside tubes and any flat steel springs.
If you're only replacing a pad or two you still like to shine up your plated keys a bit, right? Of course In this situation I've found that a clean (old, discardable) gym sock works very well. The 'fuzzier' foot part, not the ribbed upper part, works best for me. By rubbing with a moderate pressure most of the surface 'scum' will come right off. Nickel silver will not come to a mirror shine this way but a lot of surface crud will come off.
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Author: Paul F
Date: 2002-01-19 06:36
I personally use one of the silver gas trapping paper strips of the Hagerty brand. I believe 3M has one just like it. Keep the horn in the case and don't store any soft rubber products in the case with the horn. No rubber bands, pencil erasers, etc.
Hard rubber is typically used in mouthpieces, which is an entirely different and nearly nonreactive compound which will not tarnish silver.
Prevention is better than cure by a country mile, so always take the time to wipe your fingerprints off all of the keys in your horn cleaning ritual after each practice session.
Combining the wiping of the horn with a clean cloth just for the keys, along with the tarnish prevention strips in a tightly sealed case gives me the results of very shiny and new looking keys with the minimum of hassle and effort.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2002-01-20 10:46
Paul wrote "Hard rubber is typically used in mouthpieces, which is an entirely different and nearly nonreactive compound which will not tarnish silver."
Are you sure about that Paul?
I have a collection of discarded, hard rubber (I'm pretty sure of that) Lark clarinets. In all cases the silver keywork has become severely blackened.
BTW other agents that contain sulphur are onions, eggs, some cosmetic (eg acne) preparations and wool (including much felt). It is quite conceivable that many clarinets get significant exposure to at least one of these.
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