…The miracle that is Brasso…

Also titled “How to Clean Your Brass Instrument”

Just so we’re clear—any time you are using metal cleaners you should be in a well-ventilated area. Not locked
in the bathroom or your bedroom. Also, never use metal cleaners over carpet—one spill and you’ve wrecked
it. Lay out a towel or something over a countertop.

Also, if you read this and you’re still not sure what to do—don’t guess. You’ll break something. Ask your band
director, private teacher, someone who knows what they’re doing. Unless your parents are brass
people—don’t let them try and find “other ways” of doing things. They mean well—but usually, this results in
more harm than good (at least it did with my dad).

It should also be noted that you could just pay your local music store to do all this for you. The bigger the
instrument—the more it will cost.

You will need:

● A cleaning snake for your instrument (I like the ones with rubber around the metal coil)
● Toothbrush
● Slide grease/Vaseoline, Slide cream/Slide-o-Mix (trombones only), Valve oil (duh…valved instrument
only)
● Rags—about four of them. I like to use old cut up t-shirts or CLEAN cloth baby diapers (stop
laughing…they work great).
● Silver polish (if appropriate)
● Brasso (see below)
● Towel (to set wet instrument on to dry)
● Mouthpiece brush (if you need it…which you probably do)

For a full cleaning:

● Brass instrument should be completely disassembled (take all slides and valves out and remove bottom
valve caps). If you have a lot of slides (some tubas, double horns) you may want to somehow label
your slides to make sure they get back in the right place. Maybe tie a piece of string around certain
slides to keep track. Whatever works for you.

● Any slide that does not come out by hand should be sent in to the shop to avoid further damage (how
many dings are in your instrument because you tried to “gently” tap it out with a hammer?)

● Fill a bathtub or sink with luke warm water (not real hot or cold—this could damage the finish on the
instrument) with some soap (dish soap is probably fine) and submerge the instrument and all parts.

● If you play tuba, you may not have a big enough bathtub to submerge the instrument—you may be
stuck just using the shower.
 ● Use a snake to thoroughly clean the inside of the lead pipe and all slides. Use a toothbrush (not
yours…or any family members) to scrub off any especially gross parts on the outside of the instrument.
Also, snake or scrub off any gross stuff on the holes in valves. Use the mouthpiece brush to scrub out
the mouthpiece.

● Take out all instrument parts, wipe off excess water, and allow to dry off completely on a towel. If you’re
in a hurry, go ahead and dry them off yourself—otherwise just let them sit and dry on their own. Make
sure all the water is out of all the nooks and crannies first.

● If you have a silver horn, use silver polish (almost any kind is good—I like Wright’s Silver Cream in the
small tub). Apply a thin even coat using one rag/sponge and allow to dry. Wipe off using a new rag.

● If you have a brass colored horn—not too much else you can do to clean the outside at this point. A
normal polishing cloth that comes from a music store is going to get it just about as shiny as anything
else.

● For the inner parts of all slides (including big trombone slides) and all valves—use Brasso. My
experience is you can get it at most any hardware store for a few bucks. Using a clean rag, apply a thin
coat to the dirty area, allow to dry, then wipe off using a new rag (the harder you scrub—the more stuff
will come off). Your slide/valves have probably never looked this good. Don’t put any slides or valves
back in yet, though.

○ WARNING: I don’t care if it’s called Brasso—DO NOT use this on the pretty part of any brass
colored horn—it will take the lacquer right off.

● Use slide grease (or vasoline if you don’t have any) and apply a little to each slide (except big trombone
slides) before you put slides back. If it is a third valve trumpet slide, you might also put A FEW DROPS
of valve oil on the slide to make things go quicker.

● All valves should be oiled before going back in (I prefer “Blue Juice” myself—but they’re all pretty much
the same). Big trombone slides need oil or slide cream (not grease). I’ve had better results with slide
cream than oil—but the absolute best is something called “Slide-o-Mix.” The stuff is AWESOME—but it
is expensive.

● If you find that any slides or valves still don’t work very well after a thorough and you’ve talked to your
band director/private teacher, you should probably send it in to be cleaned or fixed professionally. Don’t
try a home repair—they never go well.

For a fast “I just need things to move faster on my instrument” cleaning:

● Just take out the slides/valves, wipe them all off clean with a rag and follow above instructions on
applying Brasso.