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Cleaning and Care for Brass Instruments
The session guide for beginners
In this guide you'll find all the important information you need about cleaning and caring for your brass or metal wind instrument. We’ll walk you through the individual steps and give you useful tips. If you have any further questions beyond this guide, we’ll of course be happy to help you personally, by phone or by e‑mail at any time. You can find the contact details of the wind instrument department in the final paragraph at the very bottom of the page.
1. Water bath
Disassemble the instrument and place everything except the valves in a lukewarm water bath to loosen residues. Warning: water that is too hot can damage the lacquer. After about 20 minutes, remove the instrument and all parts from the water bath.
Wide selection
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2. Internal cleaning
Apply cleaning solution to the sponge of the appropriately sized brush from the cleaning kit and use it to wipe the slides, the leadpipe and the valve casing. Afterwards rinse all parts with water again and dry the outside with a soft towel. Leave everything to rest briefly so it can dry from the inside as well.
Practical care kits and cleaning agents for brass instruments
With these practical care kits and cleaning agents from our specialist departments your brass instrument almost cleans itself. If you don’t find the right product for you here, you can find more useful cleaning aids for brass players and also care greases and oils for your brass instrument.
3. Valve cleaning
Clean the valves under running water with the appropriate brush to remove old oil and deposits. Important: no water must get onto the felts and the springs. Afterwards dry the valves with an absorbent cloth (e.g. kitchen paper).
4. Oiling valves and mechanism
For new piston-valve (Perinet) instruments we recommend JM Valve Oil 1 Synthetic Light Piston. For all other piston-valve instruments JM Valve Oil 2 Synthetic Medium Piston & Rotor and JM Valve Oil 3 Synthetic Heavy Piston & Rotor. For the bearings of new rotor-valve instruments we recommend JM Bearing Oil 13 Synthetic, for all other instruments JM Bearing & Linkage Oil 13,5 Synthetic.
For oiling the springs and linkages we recommend JM Slide Oil 5 Synthetic. For the bearing surface of new rotor-valve instruments we recommend JM Rotor Oil 11 Synthetic. Caution: oiling the bearing surface should preferably be carried out by professionals, as incorrect application can negatively affect the running characteristics of the valves.
Oil piston valves thoroughly. For rotor valves oil the springs and the linkages, the lower bearing between rotor and casing, as well as the upper bearing.
Valve and mechanism oils for your brass instruments
Here we present our recommendations from the specialist departments in Walldorf and Frankfurt at a glance. If you have further questions about application, don’t hesitate to call us. We’ll be happy to help you.
5. Lubricate slides
Lubricate the first and third slides. Slide greases are available in different consistencies, which should be chosen depending on the age of the instrument – please ask our specialists about the right grease for your instrument.
In most cases JM Slide Oil 5 Synthetic is very well suited for the first and third slides. For the second and main tuning slide use a thicker lubricant such as the La Tromba Korkfett.
Special case: trombone slide
Clean inner slides with kitchen paper to remove old oil. Apply slide grease to the slide boots (at the lower end of the inner slide). To further improve the running properties of the slide, simply apply a fine film of water with a spray bottle and distribute it with the outer slide.
That'll make it run smoothly!
6. Treating the surface
Care products for surface treatment
We also have a few styling products in our range for the external appearance of your brass instruments. With these care products you can remove unsightly fingerprints from the surface and make your instrument shine again after cleaning!
Further applications
More demanding cleaning and maintenance tasks for brass instruments, such as oiling the bearing surfaces of rotor valves or lapping valves, should be carried out by professionals. We offer this service in our brass instrument workshop in Walldorf. We’ll also gladly accept your instrument in our specialist department in Frankfurt. If you’re unsure, it’s best to just give the specialist department a ring.