Polish

[musicislife26]

Is there a certain polish one should use on a brass instrument over another? When I marched in 06 we used Tarnish-Shield...

And can you just use any household silver polish? Or will that ruin your horn?

[Martybucs]

Raw Brass?

If it's raw brass then BRASSO or NOXON work very well. DO NOT use them on lacquered finishes! Even catsup/ketchup works because of the acid. The polishes like BRASSO are extremely toxic and you should exercise care and wear gloves when using them in a well ventilated area, of course. Not that any of you smoke, but they are also extrememly flammable, so you don't even want to be around someone smoking because of the vapors.

After polishing, you might want to wear cotton gloves to keep from tarnishing the horn with finger prints and put the horn back in the case as soon as you're done playing.

We had lacquered bugles when I first joined corps in 1964. We used, are you ready? Lemon Fresh Pledge furniture polish and it worked well on the chrome when we finally went chrome.

[MarkT-GCS]

For silver plated horns I use Hagerty's....at least I think thats the name. I cant find my can at the moment. Its a simple product to use. You spray it on and let it dry for about 30 seconds then you just wipe it off with a clean soft cloth. It leaves a nice finish that helps protect also.

[Shadow_7]

Pledge works well on brass horns. Probably not ideal for marching horns, since it makes them a little slippery. We used to use pledge on our trombone slides. Pretty good stuff aside from that wax-y buildup.

For chrome horns, if it's tarnished use some form of metal polish to untarnish it. If it's not, then get it wet, whipe it off, admire it's beauty.

For silver horns, use silver polish. If it's big and you're in a hurry, then wrights or haggerty's is probably best. Just follow the directions. Do NOT spray it directly on the horn. WHY? because it gets into every nook known to man, including those that can't be reached, even with Q-tips, and it gets and builds up on your valves. Including the valve stems, which runs into the valves depending on how much you use. Ever wonder why your white felts turn black?

For brass horns, unless you want it to be lacquer free. A desired traight for some trombonists wanting a thinner bell and brighter sounding horn. You should not use any polish. Even soaking a lacquered horn in warm/hot water can cause the lacquer to come off(*cough* Bach *cough*).

If you get the polish inside the horn, it can damage/ruin the horn. As long as you keep it on the outside and completely whipe it off afterwards you should be fine.

[flashofthunder]

I find that Wright's usually works very well for lacquered horns. You don't need a thick coat, just rub it in with a bit of elbow grease, and then rinse it off.

For the black tarnish that appears from time to time, I use Brasso. HOWEVER, you must be very careful when using it. Apply it ONLY to the black area and rub it until the black spot is gone. It should take only a few rubs. Then make sure you wash the area as soon as possible so it does not eat away the lacquer. I'm always open to better ideas for removing the black tarnish, which may be safer for the horn and more convenient. But so far that's the best way that I've found.

[Dave]

I don't know of any American drum corps using lacquered horns; horns that are silver-plated aren't lacquered. So, polish is going to be okay for them. However, you don't want to pick one that's too abrasive. Wright's is good because it comes in a convenient can with its own sponge and everything, but in my opinion it's too abrasive for silver-plated horns (my own tuba being evident of that). There are less-abrasive polishes out there; one brand, I think, was Sparkle, although I'll have to double-check that. In my experience, if it comes in liquid form instead of a semi-solid like Wright's, it will be less abrasive, but this won't always be true.

Another thing: I disagree with the "put the polish on and then just rinse it off in the shower" school of thought. Proper polishing requires wiping it off, otherwise you're just leaving a new layer of water spots to polish off, and you're not letting the polish do its real job, which is to scrub off the grime that normal rinsing can't get off. Taking your horn in the shower is good for getting the sweat and dirt from a normal rehearsal day out of the inside and outside of your horn, but polishing should be a separate situation. Yes, it takes a little while, but it's a better result in the end.

[Martybucs]

Yeah, I agree you have to rub or polish to get the full effect of the polish.

It's a two fold process. An acid wash to remove the oxidation and an abrasive rub to help it along and make it shiny.

Plus it usually leaves a protective coating if you rub it off as opposed to rinsing.

Tarnex works well also at removing tarnish, even in nooks and crannies without rubbing, but doens't leave much of a shine.

[Martybucs]

also for small spots of missing lacquer. Polish the spot and carefully apply some clear fingernail polish. Not as durable as a factory coat, but if the spot isn't too big it will last a pretty long time and is easy.

[melligene]

For silver plated horns I use Hagerty's....at least I think thats the name. I cant find my can at the moment. Its a simple product to use. You spray it on and let it dry for about 30 seconds then you just wipe it off with a clean soft cloth. It leaves a nice finish that helps protect also.

I've pretty much tried them all, but I find that Weiman's Royal Sterling Silver polish (Made by Herbert Stanly Co. if you can find it) works the best for me. WARNING: It's not for Slackers. It requires a little more "elbow grease" but well worth it. Quicker, easier, is only temporary. Just my opinion.

[Gary Matczak]

polish sausage!