What to cover exposed brass with?

[Triggerfish]

I have a bit of exposed brass on the top bow of my tuba where put arm to adjust my tuning slides and it's causing a bit of rash to form on my wrist. I was wondering what would be a safe material to cover that area of raw brass with? I've heard that leather and some types of plastics can harm the brass.

Thanks for any help anyone can provide!

[GeoffC_UK]

Morning,
There will be people on this forum that will provide better advice and product suggestions than I can.
However, I wondered the same thing about a year ago.
I ended up using elasticated and self-adhering bandage bought off Amazon, which was advertised for use with injured pets.
Inexpensive. Fits around a tube easily. Stays in-place. Colourful. (Self sticks to itself, not the metal)
Over time I found it tarnished beneath the bandage, but with a bit of polish this was easily removed.
But do monitor this, if you take this route.

I avoided leather because I was concerned that it would leach 'unknowns' from the leather over time, but others may know better.

Hope you find something that is safe and does the job.

[tubist]

What was there before. Lacquer.

[Easy Mac]

Keep in mind that leather that has been VEGETABLE-TANNED is just fine, but it usually is very thick and hard to work with. On a tuba, it will not look very good. (Think baseball glove thickness.) CHROME-TANNED is the type you would naturally want to use, but it is also the type you need to avoid. You do not want that to live against metal or skin for extended periods unless it has been *very* carefully tanned, and that is usually pretty expensive and harder to find. You can find vegetable-tanned leather that is both thin and supple, but you have to look for it.

Here is some interesting, good-to-know stuff to think about…

https://www.axesswallets.com/blogs/blog ... -chrometan

[2ba4t]

The following is no doubt blasphemy and heresy:

Do not cover it. Being extremely gentle at the edges of the surviving lacquer - polish with SILVER polish until it is indistinguishable from the lacquered areas. Polish again. Clean it with white spirits then real soap detergent. Then remove all grease again with spirit. Then thinly and sparingly paint it in a warm room with very slightly warm ordinary clear nail varnish (hold the bottle in your hand for a few minutes or put in sunlight) in a thin coat. Keep doing this after leaving long enough to dry completely and harden. Three coats will do. You can always use nail varnish remover if it looks messy and start again).
Obviously if the area of raw brass is bigger than 2-3 inches square, consider using a clear, polyurethane car lacquer spray - but that needs a lot more prep, covering other parts, airy room, even spraying etc. I often spray the car lacquer into a shallow plastic bowl and manually paint it on - but beware of runs, thickening etc.

I agree that any other covering up there is a little unsightly - unless for a charity concert when you affix a huge bowtie or pink bow.

[timothy42b]

Nail polish for the win.

Clear if it shows, whatever you have if it doesn't. That's what I use (I get a rash too if i don't.)