Best way to clean an old mouthpiece

[markp]

I have a whole drawer full of old mouthpieces. Many of them are black holes inside. Whatever germs there may have once been are long dead, and whatever slime and sludge there was has now hardened. Most of them are structurally perfect, but how can you get them completely clean?

I'm guessing it is not truly clean if I simply pass a mouthpiece brush through it a couple of times with lots of Dawn liquid.

What is the best way to scrub the inside and outside down to the metal, to get all buildup off? And at some point is there going to be some natural discoloration that just won't come off?

How about insertion marks? Can you ever get them off?

[Don Herman rev2]

An ultrasonic cleaner would probably do it. BY hand you might try a mild concentration of CLR or something like that after the Dawn and brush method. Tarnish will require some extra work, either a good tarnish polish, or try the baking soda method (search -- place them on an Al pan in a vat of hot water and baking soda).

Insertion marks are scratches; they could be buffed out and the mouthpieces replated if need be, but I would ignore them.
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"After silence, that which best expresses the inexpressible, is music" - Aldous Huxley

[markp]

Ultra sonic seems like a good idea. Maybe I could take the whole bunch of them to the music store to do all in one batch.

How about chemical/acid bath at the repair shop? Would that do it?

[Don Herman rev2]

[Quadstriker]

[A.N.A.Mendez]

I use 50 -50 water and CLR. Soak over night, brush and clean in and out. Light polish.
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[deanoaks]

Any of the above would work fine. Ultrasonic machine would be the best. When I was in undergrad, people bought these little desktop jewelry ultrasonic machine for relatively cheap to clean out mouthpieces. Alternatively, you could ask your repair tech to throw them in the tank for you when you go in to get your next cleaning.

If you're trying to disinfect at home without the ultrasonic, you should be able to use a mouthpiece brush with hot + soapy water. Maybe give it a few passes and top off by cleaning them with isopropyl alcohol if you want to cover all the bases.

This is going to sound bizarre, but I use this method about twice a year on some of my mouthpieces that start to tarnish. Get a large bowl and cover the inside with tin foil. Put the mouthpieces on top of the foil and then cover the mouthpieces with baking soda. You can be pretty generous with the amount your pour on. Then, cover all the mouthpieces with near-boiling water. I set my kettle to about 185 degrees. Let the soup marinate your mouthpieces for 5-10 minutes or so. Throughly rinse and then clean your mouthpieces (carefully, they will burn your hands) and you should see a good majority of the tarnish clear off.

[Irving]

Try the dishwasher. If there are deposits in the shank that won't come off in the dishwasher, try and find a small brass wire brush. Not steel. This will get out the hardened deposits in the shank.