Author: vjoet
Date: 2012-07-30 15:01
I previously mentioned testing three other disinfectants to see if they would prolong the life of reeds. I have to report failures on two of them:
1. Hibiclens, a surgical scrub. In a strength of one teaspoon to one-half cup distilled water. Hibiclens' active ingredient is chlorhexidine gluconate, plus detergent.
2. Lysol Concentrate Disinfectant (which needs to be ordered on-line for groceries and pharmacies no longer carry the original formulation, but sell other formulations) in a strength of 1/4 teaspoon to 1 cup distilled water. Lysol's active ingredient is e-Benyl-chlorophenol, plus detergent.
Both of them use chlorine in the antimicrobial molecule, and both contain detergents. With both within 5 days the reeds lost responsiveness and tone quality. Either the chlorine or the detergent broke down the fibers in the reed.
This is a different route of failure from how the vodka worked against longevity. Dr. Casadonte predicted the alcohol failure in a private email:
"Ethanol, although slightly polar, is also a fair organic solvent. As such, it has the potential to not only degrade the lignin in the reed, but also interact with the cell wall micelles (it will trap water against the cell matrix for a while, but, eventually, the alcohol will cause the cell wall to contract), causing cellular shrinkage. In this respect, prolonged use will damage the reed. The darkening of the reed that the website you linked to mentions is not caused by water saturation (which does occur), but rather, probably by a change in the reed cell matrix. On the other hand, saliva contains salic acid and mucosins, which, when dry, become water impermeable. The alcohol will dissolve the mucosins to a good extent and so keep the reed surface water-absorbing for a longer time.
"In other words, there are competing processes going on and in the short-run, the vodka mix will keep the reed playable, but in the long run, will damage the reed. Exactly the cross-over point in time where the vodka is a plus and not a minus is not known."
I do have one promising candidate: Povidone-iodine 10% (Betadine). It contains no detergent and no chlorine. Its action is slower than tincture of iodine, but tincture contains alcohol. I am using it in a strength of 2 teaspoons in 1/2 cup distilled water.
I anyone would like to test it concurrently, that would be great. These are the steps I use, should anyone want to experiment as well:
1. Soak 3 fresh reeds 24 hours in the iodine solution before trying them on a mouthpiece. (My thinking is when the S. epidermitis enter the reed they will find an inhospitable environment, and die rather than colonize.)
2. Wipe the wet reed on a clean paper towel, put it on the mouthpiece, and adjust as necessary. Use a Sharpie indelible pen (laundry pen) to number the reed, and give it a numerical grade, which you record on a piece of paper. Do this for each of the 3 reeds. Return each to the iodine bath.
3. On each following day, take each reed, wipe dry and test it (adjusting further as necessary). If the process to lengthen the life of the reed is working, the score you now assign it should be equal to, or greater than, its initial score. Feel free to use one of the reeds for your entire practice session, in order to give it "real-life" use.
4. Change the iodine bath weekly.
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