Steam Cleaning Horns ? Anyone Tried It ?

[Abraxas]

I'm doing a home brew chem clean (CLR) to hopefully clean up some nice but cheap horns. Think garden variety Ambassador kind of grade. As I have a steam cleaner, I'm curious as to whether anyone has tried blasting steam through their horns ? It would seem to be the ideal for removing water soluble contaminants as distilled water is a far more potent solvent than tap water. Trapped steam can get really hot, far beyond the boiling point, so yes I will be careful. Has anyone given this a try ?

[hartleymartin]

My main concern would be whether or not it would affect the finish, especially lacquered brass. Also, just watch out for steam under pressure going through pipes. It can come out as a stream and give you a nasty burn.

I have generally found that the hot bath with a little dish soap works well for cleaning. If you want to get further, use a trumpet snake with a little isopropyl alcohol to scrub out the tubes. I used to smoke pipes, and found that a pipe-cleaner dipped in cheap whiskey or vodka god everything cleaned out best.
_________________
Martin Hartley

[Abraxas]

WHAT ?? You wasted whisky and/or vodka on a horn ? Mind you, if a guy put a few ounces in a horn and nobody noticed.....Have like a 4th valve with a flask in it ...

I hear you about the steam and yes it can blast flesh off a bone so of course one needs to be extra cautious. The Ideal Gas Law tells us that the boiling point of water is only 100 C (212F) at atmospheric pressure but goes up with pressure increases. Magma from a volcano is rock melted from subterranean, pressurized steam.

[Brad361]

I would think that’s overkill, plus could damage older horns (finish, maybe solder?). I guess you can try it since the horns are not valuable to you, personally I wouldn’t.

Brad
_________________
When asked if he always sounds great:
"I always try, but not always, because the horn is merciless, unpredictable and traitorous." - Arturo Sandoval

[jimspeedjae]

I had one of those hand-held steam cleaner things...decided once to see if it would clean a lead pipe with a bit (presumably years) of build-up, so let it boil up and shoved the nozzle in the receiver with the tuning slide out.

The ground-breaking result of this research was that it didn't do a thing. Maybe it softened it up a bit, or maybe it baked it on even more.

I now have a large ultrasonic and a few gallons of Tesch degreaser and cleaner which will keep me going for years. Very effective and made for the job.

[cheiden]

My understanding is that horns don't like the temperature needed to produce steam. There's bound to be better ways of cleaning the horn than risking the high temperature.
_________________
"I'm an engineer, which means I think I know a whole bunch of stuff I really don't."
Charles J Heiden/So Cal
Bach Strad 180ML43*/43 Bb/Yamaha 731 Flugel/Benge 1X C/Kanstul 920 Picc/Conn 80A Cornet
Bach 3C rim on 1.5C underpart

[cgaiii]

I would be concerned about the sudden increase in temperature and the difference in coefficients of expansion of the brass and the finish. Probably at the temperature of steam, no problem (since horns are subjected to much higher temperatures locally in manufacturing and repair processes), but I would not think that the sudden introduction of steam would be such a great idea to a system like a trumpet.
_________________
Bb: Schilke X3L AS SP, Yamaha YTR-6335S
C: Schilke CXL, Kanstul 1510-2
Picc: Kanstul 920
Bb Bugle: Kanstul
Bb Pocket: Manchester Brass
Flugel: Taylor Standard
Bass Trumpet: BAC Custom
Natural Tr: Custom Haas replica by Nikolai Mänttäri Morales

[Brassnose]

Dishwasher? Works with my silver plated student horn. Obviously, sensitive parts like felts should not go in the DW. The corks were fine.
_________________
2019 Martin Schmidt eXcellence
1992 Bach 43GH/43
1989 Kühnl & Hoyer Model 15 flugel
1980/2023 Custom Blessing Scholastic C 😎
1977 Conn 6B
1951 Buescher 400 Lightweight
AR Resonance, Frate, Klier

[Rod Haney]

I have cleaned silver plated horns for years with steam, just be careful as the horn will be VERY HOT while steam roll thru. It takes all oils and grease out of horn and will take stink out as well. I have been advised against using it on lacquer horns but it works fine on gold, raw brass and nickel as well. Cleanest way to sanitize a horn I’ve found but only for finishes that can tolerate it. Seriously I have a very hi dollar Eclipse and don’t hesitate to use the steam about 3 times a year.
Rod

[tom pennell]

Does the suggestion of not using steam on lacquer horns suggest that steam could be used as a stripping agent, either as an alternative or an aid, to taking horns back to raw brass?
Anything to minimise the use of harsh chemicals would be useful.
Regards

[Rod Haney]

All I have heard in that regard is that it can bubble lacquer, that warned me off but I have not confirmed this nor do I want to. Perhaps someone like Jim Becker can address this as I’m sure he would have a much better foundation than I do.
Rod

[Tritone]

You will want to make sure to remove ALL the slides first -- otherwise, you may blast them off, with injury to the slides when they hit the floor or, worse, unexpected steam on yourself.

One of my students once blew some slides off with a hydro-washer device (one of those that's kind of like a baby pressure washer that you connect to a faucet) -- no steam to harm anyone, just water to mop up. And a story to tell his teacher.

Not sure whether the pressure drop along the horn would allow "gunk" to be blown off on the far downstream side of your steam jet -- or just baked on.

Interesting idea -- please let us know how it goes if your try it.