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Re: Cleaning without removing gold logo

Author: Chris P
Date: 2019-08-16 11:33

The only cleaning necessary for players to do is to wipe over the instruments with a cotton cloth to remove perspiration. A slightly dampened and wrung out cloth is all that's needed to remove more stubborn residue from the joints and keywork and cotton buds/Q tips to remove grot from toneholes.

Any further cleaning and use of chemicals, alcohol and whatnot should be left to your repairer as players without any knowledge will usually overdo things which is what you've done as you've been given wrong and vague advice about how to clean your clarinet.

On plastic clarinets with the joints stripped down with all the springs removed, you can use soapy water to clean them, but make sure everything is dried well before refitting the springs as they can rust in the pillars which will make them either rust and snap off flush with the pillars or make them more difficult to remove when you need to.

At least the damage you've done is only cosmetic, but alcohol shouldn't be used to wipe the entire instrument down with unless you know exactly what you're doing. I only use alcohol to clean and degrease surfaces prior to using adhesives, but I never use it on any areas that will cause cosmetic harm.

I've seen a repairer wiping a wooden oboe down with methylated spirits and that dulled the polished finish. While certain cleaning solutions can be used, it's knowing how and where to use them instead of going over the top with them and regretting it afterwards.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.

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