Hi ppl.

Could you share tips with me about how often we should polish or wash our brass instruments in a Marching Band? I heard that polishing is only before a performance, but washing is done more frequently? please share with me as our band just evolved into a brass band, previously a fife and drum band.

Thanks a lot

as trombone players i think it necassary to clean the slide every other day. Some people think this is a bit too much but there are WAAAY to many factors that can slow down slide action and that is junk. as for bathing and snaking your horn clean once a month is really a good time frame but never go longer than a month to make sure its clean.

and if you are EVER sick make sure you clean your horn before you get back on the horn from whatever you had because it could still be around after you come back.

I guess I am some people.... I think every other day is a bit much, but you deffinately don`t want to go more than about a week at least wiping down the slide and regreasing. If you use a spray bottle regularly, it is usually pretty good at keeping the dirt and grit on the way out. But yeah, especially if your using it for marching band, I would say don`t go more than a week without wiping it up, and no more than a month without really cleaning it out completely.

As for polishing, whenever you want. I know some people that won`t play without gloves on, and polish their horns constantly. Of course, the rest of us make fun of these people....

how long should you keep your horn in the bath, i know that keeping it to long will cause the water key to lose its rubber seal and that could cause major $$$ to fix it. If i don`t leave it in for long enough it will not get clean, how long should i leave it in?

also a bit off subject, for your slide, if you use cold cream and water, thats a very poor slide cream. use something like Slide-O-Mix -best stuff ever

thanks , but the instrument is owned by the band, not the players and we have to share our maintenance stuff as we do not have sufficient funds... the players are scattered around different suburbs so it`s kinda hard to share...

as to bathing your horn. make sure your using a warm water. hot is bad because it can strip the lacquer off the trombone. just let it soak in the warm water and keep snaking it until theres no more crud coming out of the horn.

Windex works fine on my trombone and makes it shiny and pretty! You might want to check about what kind of laquer you have on your bone before you use it, though. It can hurt some types. And DO NOT use it on silver plated!!!!!! That`s just stupid. A trumpet friend of mine did that. Not pretty.

keep the windex away from your trombone please, also keep pledge and whatever is that you think works. all these chemicals are just full of vapors that can get you very sick if you apply it to your horn and inhale it for a few hours. Just get it in warm water when its out dry it and it will be great. if it is still dirty use some dish soap like a really weak dish soap that will take any gunk off your slide.

just dont use chemicals.

Very good point. Remember, whatever you put on/wash your horn with, it`s going to find it`s way into your lungs. Think about what that is.

The best thing to use to clean your horn is lukewarm water and a good clean polishing cloth. Nothing else. No need for soaps. If you think you need soap or something like that, you aren`t cleaning it often enough.

KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid.

I have a question, I recently bought an used tuba, and it was a square of gunk (as if someone put a sticker there but removed it shortly after), and I want to get rid of it.

My question is, are products like goo-gone safe on the laquer finish?

I have a question, I recently bought an used tuba, and it was a square of gunk (as if someone put a sticker there but removed it shortly after), and I want to get rid of it.

My question is, are products like goo-gone safe on the laquer finish?

just dont do that...

get some warm water and slowly work it off with a soft cloth. add a little bit of soap to the water if you like. but nothing harsh