Brass Cleaner for Valve Ports

Trumpet_Mom · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2004 5:05 pm Post subject:

Great news! I was able to clean the black discoloring from the valve ports with common household items. It worked great and I now have some very clean valves ports. Here's the solution is case anyone else is interested. I've reduced the amounts to what I used:

1 TSP flour
1 TSP salt
1 TSP powdered detergent ( I used Spic and Span non-ebrasive powder.)
1 1/4 TSP white vinegar
1 TSP warm water.

I used a very small toothbrush and scrubbed the inside of the ports. All of the black cleaned off, plus I shined up the ports that weren't discolored. Worked great!

riffdawg2000 · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 3:40 am Post subject:

How about some more detail .... i.e. ... how long did you allow the valves to soak prior to scrubing w/ toothbrush, etc ...

Step by step deatils would be nice.
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Joel Thomas

Trumpet_Mom · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 5:46 am Post subject:

There's no soaking involved. It's a slightly thick, soapy mixture. I just dipped the toothbrush into it and scrubbed. I continually dipped the toothbrush as the mixture dripped off. The extremely black stains took about 10 minutes of scrubbing each, (two of them, both upper ports on valve one and three), but the other ports clean up in a couple of minutes. And I scrubbed the upper parts of the valves where the springs are located. There must have been something built up on the metal valve guide slots, because now the the valves move much better. I'm going to use the mixture on the brass slides on another trumpet to see if it takes some black staining off of those. If this works, I would assume that I can use it inside the trumpet as well. I bet It would do a great job on the inside of a brass leadpipe.

The toothbrush that I used was one with very little bristle and a narrow handle. The dentist gave it to me to use my wisdom teeth. I've never used it, so it finally came it handy somewhere. A regular sized toothbrush will not fit properly into the ports. You can buy this type of toothbrush at any store.

Trumpet_Mom · Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2004 6:48 am Post subject:

I just wanted to update this. I used this solution inside of the trumpet last night and I couldn't believe the amount of greenish-black gunk that came out of my horn. I poured it separately in each part and scrubbed with my flexible brush. And I used it on the slides, which now look like new. This solution is a great addition to anyone's cleaning procedures to keep your horn clean. (I recently paid over $50 for a chem clean at the local shop. I'll never do that again.)

It can be used on brass or copper. And I noticed that my horn sounds brighter, so the build up inside the horn definitely affected the sound. Great stuff!

Waxer · Regular Member Joined: 15 Nov 2003 Posts: 26

Lessee now, Flour, salt, vinegar, soap and warm water. That sounds familiar. I know where I've seen that mixture...it's mama's nasty-word wash your mouth out biscuit dough.

Are you sure the salt is neccessary? I suspect that's asking for zinc corrosion=red rot.
Richard

Trumpet_Mom · Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2004 10:11 am Post subject:

I think the lemon juice or vinegar neutralizes any effect from the salt. I'm not good with chemistry, but one of those items is a neutralizer.

AeroStud1026 · Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2004 5:10 pm Post subject:

maybe you could substitute the flour or one of the other ingredients for baking soda i know thats a neutralizer

Mr. Stomvi · Heavyweight Member Joined: 01 Apr 2002 Posts: 1062

Where did you come up with this formula ?

Seth Moore
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"He has Van Gogh's ear for music."

Billy Wilder

Trumpet_Mom · Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 5:23 am Post subject:

I found the brass cleaner solution on at http://www.make-stuff.com. The recipe states powdered detergent, but not what kind. I used Spic and Span's powdered cleaner and that worked great. I ran out and tried powdered dish washing detergent. That did not work at all.