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 Cleaning Reeds?
Author: Clarilinguist 
Date:   2015-07-04 01:56

I dropped a couple reeds on the floor on the third day of their break in process, and a clarinet professor at a university once told me you can microwave reeds to resanitize them. Does anyone know how long to microwave a reed? Or, does anyone have any other advice for sanitizing reeds? It was NOT a clean floor.



Post Edited (2015-07-04 01:59)

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 Re: Cleaning Reeds?
Author: Jim22 
Date:   2015-07-04 02:05

I'm not so sure I'd microwave them. I might soak briefly in alcohol, Listerine, or medical sanitizer. On a typical household kitcken floor, I might just rinse using a little soap and water. You could just toss them.

Jim C.
CT, USA

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 Re: Cleaning Reeds?
Author: Clarilinguist 
Date:   2015-07-04 02:07

Thanks for the input! :)

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 Re: Cleaning Reeds?
Author: fskelley 
Date:   2015-07-04 02:47

Peroxide is part of my daily regimen. Any reed I've played gets 30 sec in half and half household peroxide solution and water. Mouthpiece too.

DD biologist tells me peroxide doesn't kill everything that might be bad for you, but it's a lot better than nothing. And it leaves no bad taste.

For synthetic reeds there are more options- I always used Sterisol. But that has to be rinsed in water, or it tastes nasty. Bad idea for cane reeds.

Stan in Orlando

EWI 4000S with modifications

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 Re: Cleaning Reeds?
Author: Caroline Smale 
Date:   2015-07-04 03:29

How are you going to develop and support your imune system if everything is made 100% sterile?
As grandma said - you got to eat a little dirt.



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 Re: Cleaning Reeds?
Author: JHowell 
Date:   2015-07-04 09:05

If it's just a regular floor, when I drop a reed I wipe it off on my pants and play it. If it's a really gross floor, I won't be playing clarinet in that room anyway. Any biological threat formidable enough to wonder about sterilization is reason enough to pitch the reed. In the first place, fibrous, absorbent materials are somewhat hard to sterilize, an in the second, it's just a reed.

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 Re: Cleaning Reeds?
Author: fskelley 
Date:   2015-07-04 18:39

There's always the 2 second rule. Or is it 5 sec?

Stan in Orlando

EWI 4000S with modifications

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 Re: Cleaning Reeds?
Author: fskelley 
Date:   2015-07-04 18:42

Actually, I would like to see the science dept of a high school go on some random day (no advance notice even to the band director!) into the band room and take swabs from instrument mouthpieces, cases, floors, reeds, drumsticks, etc etc. Then culture them up and see what's growing. For comparison- lunchroom, gym and showers, principal's office, and BIOLOGY LAB.

Or it could just be some whiz kid's science fair project. I wonder how discreetly a student could collect such samples all over his (her) school and stay out of trouble.

Stan in Orlando

EWI 4000S with modifications

Post Edited (2015-07-04 18:50)

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 Re: Cleaning Reeds?
Author: pewd 
Date:   2015-07-04 18:49

Stan, they do that at the high school where I teach lessons.
The band instrument room tests worse than any other area of the school - including the bathrooms. Mouthpieces and brass spit valves are filthy...

- Paul Dods
Dallas, Texas

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 Re: Cleaning Reeds?
Author: fskelley 
Date:   2015-07-04 18:52

Paul- that's no surprise to me or anyone else who was ever in band. I was in Bellaire TX- this does happen in other states also, right?

So- if you drop your reed on the floor of your band's instrument room, throw it away. Maybe incinerate it.

Stan in Orlando

EWI 4000S with modifications

Post Edited (2015-07-04 18:54)

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 Re: Cleaning Reeds?
Author: BartHx 
Date:   2015-07-04 20:14

Stan:
Around here, locker room showers should be pretty clean. Ever since the schools stopped providing towel service to save money, students are no longer expected (required) to shower after PE. They just add another layer of deodorant. Some schools even provide "loaner" PE clothes that go unwashed between students for those students who forgot to bring their own (or can't afford their own). From what I have seen subbing in PE, most use the same undergarments for PE as they do for the rest of the day. Yuck!!!!!!! I keep my whistle as far from the locker area as possible. It's a different world from the one you and I grew up in. Seems to me that a dirty reed would just be par for the course.

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 Re: Cleaning Reeds?
Author: Nzb2018 
Date:   2015-07-06 09:28

Funny, i'm from Memphis too. I use a cleaning agent that can be purchased at Amro or Lane. Its called Sterisol Germicide and it comes in a small little spray bottle.

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