

When they get built up enough, they will disrupt airflow inside the horn and in severe cases, they’ll make parts that move, like the rotor valves in a french horn, slow down and eventually seize completely.Īnother issue that can come up if you don’t clean your horn is the dreaded red-rot. They’re actually little crystal formations growing on the brass. So when that saliva gets blown into a horn, if it isn’t cleaned out every so often, it will cause calcium deposits.Ĭalcium deposits inside a horn appear as flaky, green, material that’s stuck to the surface of the metal.

Saliva is acidic if it wasn’t, it would take a lot more chewing before you could swallow your food. When you play, you’re blowing a good amount of saliva and hot air which condenses in the tubing of the horn. It’s important to clean your instruments. Posted in Brass Repairs, Repair, Uncategorized, Woodwinds Repairs | Tagged band, band instrument repair, brass, brass instrument, brass repair, cleaning instruments, instrument repair, marching band, music repair shop, NAPBIRT, red rot, trumpet repair, ultrasonc cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning | Leave a reply Red rot looks like this I can’t say enough good things about ultrasonic cleaning. This prevents build up of calcium and dirt which can rot your leadpipe and damage your valves.

It’s recommended that instruments, especially brass instruments, be ultrasonically cleaned and serviced once a year. The only downside is that the machine is expensive…very expensive. The cleaning process is fast, safe for instrument lacquer and finish, second to none in quality, and environmentally friendly to boot. These bubbles get into every tiny space on the object you’re cleaning and gently remove the dirt. Ultrasonic cleaning is a process where transducers, on the bottom of a tank of water and mild cleaning detergent, generate millions of microscopic cavitation bubbles with sound waves transmitted through the water.
