 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ruben
Date: 2025-04-26 10:08
Do any of you have any ideas about cleaning the toneholes of a clarinet without having to unscrew the keys? I mean, of course, holes that have pads over them. The other six are not a problem. I've tried interdental brushes, but they are too small and fragile. Maybe the same concept, but bigger and tougher, would work.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
Post Edited (2025-04-26 10:09)
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2025-04-26 15:38
When I clean mine, I need to scrape the solidified gunk out. Brushing or wiping isn't aggressive enough or targeting enough.
It's hard to imagine getting a tool in and under and open pad and angling it around enough to access the hole bore all the way around. You also wouldn't be able to see what was happening. However, the word dentist reminds one that dentists have all kinds of exotic and interesting tools for awkward access and viewing (and scraping!) Maybe someone from that profession would have a useful suggestion.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-04-26 16:12
You have to take the keys off to do a proper job. There's no two ways (or half arsed measures) about it.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2025-04-27 09:40
Chris P; You're right of course, and you should know. I'm sure the first thing you do when you do a repair job is clean the instrument out.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-04-27 12:41
It's not just the toneholes, but also the undercuts where dirt can accumulate and that's even more evident on the top joint where the toneholes and undercuts are much smaller in diameter than the lower joint, hence the importance of never using your pullthrough to wipe out sockets as that transfers grease into them.
The same amount of grease and dust will have far more impact on these smaller toneholes compared to the much larger ones on the lower joint and they're also much harder to clean out.
I use a cottom bud (Q-tip) dipped in soapy water to do an initial cleaning as that can get deep into the toneholes and dissolve any water soluble deposits, then go over with alcohol or solvent (on wooden instruments only) to do further cleaning and degreasing which takes care of oily and greasy deposits, then using a small amount of bore oil, oil the insides of the toneholes and then use a dry cotton bud to distribute the oil more evenly and remove any excess.
This is why you have your clarinet serviced as this deep cleaning isn't something your average player can do - most don't even do any basic cleaning and some tonehole chimneys have enough dirt in them to grow potatoes.
As a player, it's up to you to do your basic maintenance which is drying the bore after playing as well as drying the sockets, making sure your tenon corks are sufficiently greased, wiping down the keywork to remove perspiration, wiping over the joints to remove any perspiration, oils, dirt or water, using a small paintbrush to dust in and around the mechanism and using cotton buds to keep the tonehole chimneys clean. Everything else that's beyond your capabilities should be left to your repairer to do during your clarinet's regular and routine servicing.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2025-04-28 14:50
I clean mine about once a year. I take the keys off, which I started doing many years ago and which, despite a slightly bumpy learning curve, isn't that difficult to manage.
I've been using pipe cleaners, toothpicks or slimmed-down wooden chopsticks, and a small screwdriver (gently) to dislodge the clingy detritus and sticky gunk. I don't seem to have caused any damage, but it's a finicky and repetitive little job with only so-so results.
Chris P, thank you for the description of your cleaning technique; I think my repair person does something similar when he gets the chance. I'm going to try it, or as similar as I can get to it, next time. If that gunk dissolves, well, aha!
Problem description (correct me if I'm wrong): gunk accumulates mostly at the bottom of the tone holes, more so on the upward edge of the inner rims, and more so toward the upper end of the clarinet. The gunk would seem to derive from a) condensation or b) spit (not to open that argument again) which flows down the inside of the instrument during play, probably combines with dust, and then hangs on the hole rims to dry.
Those accumulations not only reduce the size of tone holes, their asymmetric distributions reposition the centers of the holes downward toward the bell, which flattens the pitch of notes related to those holes.
There's also some accumulation in the top of tone holes that get closed by fingers. That's probably grease and skin cells and skin cream and whatnot. One time during a practice break I stepped outside for some fresh air, and I removed by hand several pinecones off my lawn, then went back to resume playing. Don't do that.
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