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Re: Best way to clean and polish silver clarinet keys

Author: fskelley
Date: 2014-02-08 22:01

Let me offer a compromise that I use to "hand vs machine". I cut strips of white felt and/or used/new polishing cloths about 2" x 8". Then I firmly attach my clarinet joint to something (wedge it over a padded stick?) and have at it like I'm polishing a shoe the old fashioned way. You can be as careful or careless as you choose to be- I suggest careful. You can get a lot done, better and faster than just by hand. And you can get underneath and behind some stuff too. Just watch out for the occasional snag on the end of a spring here or there- it would be easy to bend or otherwise mess it up (hasn't happened to me yet). I only do this operation every few months- also works great on the clarinet body and mouthpiece.

After every play session I carefully hand wipe and rub my keys with Blitz Metal Care cloths (purple package) and alternate between the blue (lightly treated) and white (heavily treated) variety. By the time I retire/replace these they're both just plain untreated cloths. I started this regimen when a got a mistreated Leblanc Dynamic 2 from the site that shall not be named- played great but wanted some TLC. After a few weeks of daily rub it looked very nice. The guy who later bought it praised how well I had cared for it. Would I do better with another of the cloths that have been mentioned in this topic?

I have a tube of Maas metal polish to deal with stubborn places like on spoon keys or register keys. That's how I finally got the last spots off that Leblanc. My Arioso came to me (new!) with discoloration on the register key and several ring keys- my daily rub hasn't fixed that and I haven't resorted to Maas- yet. The Arioso IS silver, isn't it? Should I be nervous about the Maas?- or would I do better with another of the products that have been mentioned in this topic?

A totally worthless purchase was "Yamaha silver polish".

And finally- I do like shiny... sue me. I watch antique shows on TV and get weary of hearing how wonderful the patina on a 500 yr old dresser is. My answer is, if the original designer of the piece intended it to look like that- he (she) would have made it that way in the first place. If I'm going to own it, I want it to look like brand new, or at least like it did very early in its original life. Ditto a musical instrument.

Stan in Orlando

EWI 4000S with modifications

Post Edited (2014-02-08 22:08)

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