How to care for your trumpet

Washing instructions:

You will need to have the following list of items:

An old towel

A bathtub/laundry tub

An old cloth that can get dirty

A polishing cloth (special brass instrument ones are available from your music store)

Lanolin (from the chemist – not coloured or perfumed)

Valve oil

A flexible “snake” cleaner

Singer sewing machine oil

Put an old towel on the base of the laundry/bath tub. The towel is placed there in order that both the trumpet and laundry/bath tub won’t be scratched.

Fill the bath/laundry tub with LUKEWARM water. Not hot and not cold (in between) temperature.

Take out all the slides – first valve slide, second valve slide, third valve slide and the main tuning slide. Also take the caps off the bottom of the valves but LEAVE THE VALVES IN (see diagram A).

Put all the pieces in the bath/laundry tub, on the towel, and let soak for about half an hour.

After this time, run some lukewarm water from the tap through all the pieces to rinse them, and if you have a “cleaning snake” (a flexible wire brush) you may push it through most of the slides, especially the leadpipe and the main tuning slide. DO Not try to push it through into the valves.

When everything is rinsed, dry the trumpet with a soft cloth, preferably using a lint-free piece. Make sure you tip out any excess water BEFORE you start drying everything.

Put Lanolin (the product looks like Vaseline, but is much thicker in consistency) on the second valve slide and the main tuning slide, but put Singer sewing machine oil on the first and third valve slides. Put them all back in and wipe off any excess Lanolin or oil. Do not put valve oil on the slides – it’s too thin. Make sure you press down the corresponding valve when moving the valve slides. For example, press down the 3^rd valve when moving the third valve slide – this keeps the seal around the slides.

THE VALVES. Make sure you take care when doing the valves because just one little tiny dent on the valve or valve casing will make the valve useless and will cost $100 or more to fix. Take them out ONE AT A TIME to clean them. Wipe all the dirt off and clean out the portholes. Clean the cap off the bottom as well with a cotton bud. Apply valve oil to the valve Do not swivel the valve in the casing – line it up BEFORE you put it in. Be careful and ask mum or dad to help you if you aren’t sure what you are doing.

THE MOUTHPIECE. You can get any gunk out with a pipe-cleaner and then to get rid of any germs you should boil it but NOT IN THE MICROWAVE. You will need to use a pot on the stove and boil for 2 minutes. Otherwise, just boil the kettle, put the mouthpiece in the sink and run the water over it. Be careful and ask mum or dad to help you if you aren’t sure what you are doing.

To polish the trumpet – use a soft coloured polishing cloth that should come in the case with your trumpet – it should be yellow in colour. You can buy these from any good music store. NEVER USE polishing creams or liquids like “Tarn Off”, “Silvo” or “Brasso” on your trumpet – these products will damage the lacquer and finish on gold and silver trumpets.

The procedures set out above should be carried out in full every three months or so. The valves should be attended to every 2 to 3 weeks – you need to take off old oil and replace with new oil. The mouthpiece needs to be attended to if you have been sick or if you have not played your trumpet for a while. Remember, the inside of the trumpet is moist and dark, a perfect place for bacteria and mould to grow. Polish the trumpet weekly to remove the build up of acid and perspiration from your hands. Over time it will damage your lacquer if you leave it on there.

How to care for your trumpet

Diagram A