 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: lrpeterson
Date: 2007-03-09 05:41
Hi everyone. This is my first post to the board. I have been lurking the last couple of months and am amazed at all the wonderful help and advice being given by everyone. I just started playing clarinet again in October after a twenty year break and things have been going very well until just recently. I had a bout of walking pneumonia and was unable to play for about four weeks. Of course, I wanted to clean the mouthpieces. To make a long story short, I think I destroyed my two mouthpieces. Because I wanted to destroy any bacteria etc., I used 70% isopropyl alcohol to clean both my Vandoren 5RV Lyre and and my Vandoren 2RV. Needles to say, the taste is unbearable! My question is... Can these mouthpieces be resurrected from the dead or should I just chalk it up to bad experience and throw them away. If you know of any way to salvage them, I would appreciate learning from you.
Thanks again for all the pleasure and enjoyment you have given me over the last few months.
Larry Peterson
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2007-03-09 08:19
Do they taste of the IPA, or do they have that fantastic ;-D taste of old hard-rubber?
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2007-03-09 12:46
One thing you could try without risking any harm is to simply leave the mouthpieces completely submerged in a bowl of plain, room temperature water for a couple of hours, then pour out that water and replace it with clean water for a couple more hours. I'll bet that treatment clears up the taste. I've used alcohol on all the mouthpieces I've bought with used clarinets, because I didn't know who or what might have gummed those mouthpieces at a flea market. (Maybe somebody with fleas. Or worse.) Sometimes the alcohol does leave a temporary taste and sometimes it discolors old rubber, but better that than sucking in yucky old germs.
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: lrpeterson
Date: 2007-03-09 12:52
I believe it is the IPA. I also cleaned them with soap and water, hoping that would wash the IPA taste away and rinsed them very thoroughly. That seemed to help for a little while, but the awful taste came back worse than ever, so I'm really not sure. I have never noticed the taste of old hard rubber before now. Then again, I was never dumb enough to use IPA on the mouthpieces, either. I also found a bought a bottle of Sterisol yesterday. I wish I had seen that a few days before. I would have just used that! Do you think that would help or would that just make everything worse? Thanks for any suggestions. If they are ruined, it won't be a great hardship to replace them with new ones, although I'm not sure if Vandoren still makes the 2RV anymore.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2007-03-09 13:02
Dr Omar Henderson has written many responses to this common question.
Search "Henderson mouthpiece cleaning" (no quotes) for some well written, science-based, solutions (pun intended) ...GBK
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2007-03-09 14:16
Simply put, clean mouthpieces with dish soap and warm water, scrub with an old toothbrush if necessary (but avoid the facing area).
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Author: lrpeterson
Date: 2007-03-09 14:53
GBK, thanks you very much for the info on searching. I had tried searching on cleaning mouthpieces and found next to nothing. Your tip did the trick. What a wealth of information! Once again, thank you!
Lelia, thanks very much for your suggestion. My mouthpieces are soaking in room temperature water right now. Maybe their is hope they can be saved yet! I'll let everyone know if that does the trick. I'm glad to know that I wasn't totally crazy to use IPA to clean them.
Thank you all. The people on this board are fantastic!
Larry
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2007-03-09 14:57
Less is more when it comes to messing with mouthpieces.
Do NOT use a dremel tool buffer unless you are highly skilled or willing to
melt and mishape the mouthpiece!!
Dr. Henderson's stuff does fine job getting rid of "crud" (much of it is minerals mixed with crenated epithelial debris)
Pipe stem cleaning paste (available from an {....ee gads!} tobacconist who deals with high end pipes such as Dunhill or Charatan can do a great job on the body and beak. Do not mess with the tip or rails or innards.
Vytas Krass polishes old mouthpieces and they look new, but that is something done at the time of refacing. I do not know his secret.
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2007-03-09 15:03
Yup - Lots of mp cleaning info in our archives [Search]. Above advice is VG, I like to put a "grungy" mp in a glass of plain colorless vinegar overnite, doesn't leave a sour taste from the acetic acid, other mild organic acid solutions, lemon etc are good also. Luck, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: D
Date: 2007-03-09 16:12
a question, not a suggestion: what effect do denture cleaning tablets have?
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2007-03-09 17:12
...on the dentures or on the mouthpiece?
(BTW what's wrong with rinsing after practising?)
--
Ben
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Author: D
Date: 2007-03-09 18:41
one would hope that the dentures would be ok......surely someone would have sued by now if it dissolved dentures!
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2007-03-09 22:37
(Disclaimer - I sell a mouthpiece cleaner)
The ingredients in denture cleaner tablets, powders are too strong to be used on hard rubber mouthpieces and will often etch and dull the surface - including the table - which is not a good effect for mouthpiece longevity.
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
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Author: lrpeterson
Date: 2007-03-10 02:38
I want to give all of you an update on what's happening with my mouthpieces. I tried soaking them in clear water for about six hours changing the water three times. Some of the horrible taste was gone, but it got stronger after playing for about fifteen minutes. I then tried the suggestion by Don Berger. A diluted solution of water and vinegar seems to be working pretty well. I left the mouthpieces in the vinegar solution for about three hours, and tried playing them again. It is a very noticeable improvement. I plan to try soaking them in the vinegar solution for a couple more hours and try them again. I can't thank all of you enough for your help with this problem. I apologize for being such a newbie with the searching. I'm an English teacher, not a computer whiz, but I'm slowly learning my way around searching. I am also going to order some of the mouthpiece cleaner from Doctors Products.
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Author: hans
Date: 2007-03-10 03:58
Congrats and thanks to Don Berger. I've always used vinegar, but he's provided another idea. I'll have to remember that lemon juice suggestion.....
Hans
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2007-03-10 12:15
(Disclaimer - I sell a mouthpiece cleaner)
For those that do not want to read the tomes of literature on mouthpiece cleaning - but should - a quick review- :
A great deal of deposits seen on mouthpieces are calcium carbonate and other mineral carbonates, sulfates and other "ates". The active ingredients in vinegar and lemon juice are acetic acid and citric acid which will act to dissolve the calcium carbonate. Other mineral deposits found in saliva are not efficiently dissolved by these acids and over time the deposits will convert to more stable and less easily removed chemical compounds not reactive and removed by weak acids.
The other forms of deposits on the inside of the mouthpiece are from organic material such as dead skin epithelial cells (from lips) and tiny bits of food particles which dry and form organic deposits which can be breeding ground for mold, bacteria, and sustain viral activity. The weak acids will do very little to remove organic material. Another form of physical or chemical cleaning and sanitization is needed. Often soaking in a concentrated detergent solution (5 % dishwashing soap) and scrubbing with a soft tooth brush will remove these deposits (although I do not like any physical means on mouthpieces).
The best defense is to rinse out your mouthpiece with cool to lukewarm (30 C) water after every use and deposits of either kind will not be a problem. Severely encrusted mouthpieces need a stronger chemical and/or physical removal of deposits. Organic solvents such as alcohols or even the tertiary ammonium compounds (some sanitizing sprays) or strong chemical cleaners should not be used frequently on hard rubber - per my own and many mouthpiece makers advice.
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2007-03-10 13:17
Thanx, folks, glad to know it helps. Since the vinegars are no more than 5% acetic acid, I dont dilute it, and use a mp brush [carefully, to not scratch the baffle, etc] to loosen-remove the insolubles, as L O H has so well and completely described. Best wishes for clean and odor-free mps. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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