Best Polish for SIlver Horns

[Mellojaphoney]

THis is alot of work, but dang it's wonderful.

For soaking your horn....

Fill a bathtub up with warm water, pour about 4 gallons of white vinegar, and about half a bottle of Dawn, original liquid soap (the blue kind.) Let it soak in there for about an hour, you will see the grime literally FALL off your horn.. it's gross yet intriguing. make sure you take the valves out before hand, and do NOT soak them in the soap... now.. step two. the valves... take them apart, leaving the spring inside, but taking the pads out of them. Soak them in a container filled with ONLY vinegar. the longer you let all this stuff soak,the better. after its been soaking for a while and your house reeks of vinegar, take a lava rock ( the pumice-y soap) and lather it up in your hands, and rub the soap on the outside of your valves. Take your valves and insert them in the horn, and pump the valves in and out of the openings in the horn, you will see lots of foul stuff come out. do this to al valves, rines the valves with water, let them soak some more in the vinegar.

After everything is soaked, take a snake ( can buy from most music stores) and snake all the stuff out of your horn. Then, rinse everything with clean, warm water, leaving no residue. Make sure when you put your horn together, you GREASE and OIL EVERYTHING or else you will be royally screwed.

For general polishing purposes I's suggest twinkle. I've used wrights, and i get a cloudy film on it. twinkle works b-e-a-utifully. Just rub it on witht he sponge, let it stay til it turns white, and polish off with a soft cloth.

hope this helps... and i was told about the soaking procedure from a tuba professor at Tanglewood, so it's not crazy talk.

[ern697]

THis is alot of work, but dang it's wonderful.

For soaking your horn....

Fill a bathtub up with  warm water, pour about 4 gallons of white vinegar,

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

mini acid bath?

[Mellojaphoney]

It's watered down... And the soap isn;t acidic, is basic. So it balances out the ph level. But it honest to god works, and my horn is just fine.

[sopchild11]

Wright's Silver Cream works like a charm.

[mellopet]

THis is alot of work, but dang it's wonderful.

For soaking your horn....

Fill a bathtub up with  warm water, pour about 4 gallons of white vinegar, and about half a bottle of Dawn, original liquid soap (the blue kind.)  Let it soak in there  for about an hour, you will see the grime literally FALL off your horn.. it's gross yet intriguing.  make sure you take the valves out before hand, and do NOT soak them in the soap...  now.. step two. the valves...  take them apart, leaving the spring inside, but taking the pads out of them.  Soak them in a container filled with ONLY vinegar.  the longer you let all this stuff soak,the better.  after its been soaking for a while and your house reeks of vinegar,  take a lava rock ( the pumice-y soap) and lather it up in your hands, and rub the soap on the outside  of your valves.  Take your valves and insert them in the horn, and pump the valves in and out of the openings in the horn, you will see lots of foul stuff come out.  do this to al valves, rines the valves with water, let them soak some more in the vinegar.

After everything is soaked, take a snake ( can buy from most music stores) and snake all the stuff out of your horn.  Then, rinse everything with clean, warm water, leaving no residue.  Make sure when you put your horn together, you GREASE and OIL EVERYTHING or else you will be royally screwed.

For general polishing purposes I's suggest twinkle.  I've used wrights, and i get a cloudy film on it.  twinkle works b-e-a-utifully.  Just rub it on witht he sponge, let it stay til it turns white, and polish off with a soft cloth.

hope this helps... and i was told about the soaking procedure from a tuba professor at Tanglewood, so it's not crazy talk.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

since at music shops they chem clean horns, and they use stuff that is basically stomach acid, this makes sense. but i am not brave enough to try it with the schools mellos.. we get them pretty clean... tho maybe i should suggest it to the guy who gets mold inside his mello...

[melligene]

Weimans Royal Silver Cream. (if you can find it) The rub out takes a little more time but to me it has been worth the effort.

[Mellojaphoney]

THis is alot of work, but dang it's wonderful.

For soaking your horn....

Fill a bathtub up with  warm water, pour about 4 gallons of white vinegar, and about half a bottle of Dawn, original liquid soap (the blue kind.)  Let it soak in there  for about an hour, you will see the grime literally FALL off your horn.. it's gross yet intriguing.  make sure you take the valves out before hand, and do NOT soak them in the soap...  now.. step two. the valves...  take them apart, leaving the spring inside, but taking the pads out of them.  Soak them in a container filled with ONLY vinegar.  the longer you let all this stuff soak,the better.  after its been soaking for a while and your house reeks of vinegar,  take a lava rock ( the pumice-y soap) and lather it up in your hands, and rub the soap on the outside  of your valves.  Take your valves and insert them in the horn, and pump the valves in and out of the openings in the horn, you will see lots of foul stuff come out.  do this to al valves, rines the valves with water, let them soak some more in the vinegar.

After everything is soaked, take a snake ( can buy from most music stores) and snake all the stuff out of your horn.  Then, rinse everything with clean, warm water, leaving no residue.  Make sure when you put your horn together, you GREASE and OIL EVERYTHING or else you will be royally screwed.

For general polishing purposes I's suggest twinkle.  I've used wrights, and i get a cloudy film on it.  twinkle works b-e-a-utifully.  Just rub it on witht he sponge, let it stay til it turns white, and polish off with a soft cloth.

hope this helps... and i was told about the soaking procedure from a tuba professor at Tanglewood, so it's not crazy talk.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

since at music shops they chem clean horns, and they use stuff that is basically stomach acid, this makes sense. but i am not brave enough to try it with the schools mellos.. we get them pretty clean... tho maybe i should suggest it to the guy who gets mold inside his mello...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ohh. i had no problem putting my school mello in the tub of acidic goodness.

[Shadow_7]

Back in the day, when drum corps went from chrome to silver horns, we used twinkle. Others recommend wrights. Personally I like Mrs. Coopers silver whipes. It's like a roll of toilet paper cleaning clothes. Great for doing a major cleanup if you get the cloth wet. Or just touch ups by rubbing the dry cloth on the spot(s).

The other advantage is that you can keep it in your case without worrying about spilling, melting, denting, and cleanups. And if you're going on a trip and want to pack light, just rip off a couple sheets and put it in the same ziplock as a few paper towels and you're good to go. Works well for brass or silver horns.

It typically takes about two sheets to clean my Kanstul Euphonium. Mrs. Cooper's works great for me. The only caveat is that if you don't whipe the horn clean afterwards, you'll develop a yellow tint in about a month after polishing. Paper towels or 100% cotton rags work well for this step.

For slides, the ones that don't move much, you might want to put a teflon coat on those. GT85 or some other dry lubricant used for bicycle chains works well. You want to move these slides at least once every six months or so anyway. Otherwise they may weld/corrode themselves together over time.

You don't want them too lubricated, or they'll fall out or move while playing. But you want something on them to prevent them from oxidizing and/or reacting to moisture. If there's a significant gap around the slides, you may even use good old vaseline. That way you can help minimize leakage.

Shadow_7

[oldschoolVK]

Note: This is a repeat of my post from January 9 - revised and updated. Kanstul uses Tarni-shield on a regular basis, however we used to use the Tarnex Silver Polish (not the funny smelling stuff, but their true silver polish product)

At Kanstul, we use Tarni-Shield, diluted with about half product and half water. It goes on easier, dries faster and removes quickly leaving a gleaming silver horn. Don't polish your horn with a towel, instead use flannel or an old t-shirt.

For lacquer horns of course, DO NOT use silver polish or brasso. Just wipe it down after use with a soft flannel (see above) Do NOT use terrycloth towels.

It's a good idea to give your horn a "bath" periodically. Use a plastic tub and the sprayer in your kitchen sink (unless you are on tour of course...we used to just do it in the shower) NEVER use hot or scalding water, only warm. A mild dishwashing liquid is fine. I've even heard of using Simple Green.

Maintain your horn well by emptying ALL water/moisture from your horn before storing. Use a swab for your mouthpipe EVERY DAY and oil the valves BEFORE you put it in the case. This will make your brass staff happy because you will always be ready to play. This will make your Board of Directors happy because the horns will last longer and retain their resale value.

[hsreed]

I use Goddards for fine silverware ans jewelry-love it.