TubeNet

I pulled out a really old mouthpiece to clean up an give to a friend to borrow . It looked really bad so I decided to clean it up with some silver polish. I noticed the cup looked ugly too so I figured what the heck and I polished it with the silver polish too .

When I was done the inside of the cup was really clean, shiny and smooth.

My question is this : Is there any benefit to doing this on a regular basis ?

I think we would want nothing to disrupt, deflect or roughen the flow of air into the instrument. What might get in the way? Dents, scratches, caked on saliva deposits, breakfast leavings, lip gloss, silver tarnish and any other incidental crud. Clean the mouthpiece every time you put the horn away.

John

Oldbandsman .. I appreciate your opinion . But I was not asking about cleaning out the mouthpiece after every use . I think that it goes with out saying that it should kept clean and free of saliva and whatever else might get in it . I was asking specifically about polishing the bowl with a polish periodically . I want to know if this is a good thing or a bad thing to do .
You mentioned not interrupting the flow of air . If polishing the bowl keeps the surfaces smooth wouldn't this be a good thing ?

It would seem to me that each time you polish the mouthpiece, you are taking a small amount of the silver off. From my experience, once the mouthpiece is shiny it is fairly easy to keep it that way by simply cleaning it. That would be my recommendation.

schlepporello wrote:You don't have to polish a Kellyberg.

Actually, I believe Wayne has provided the definitive answer here.

schlepporello wrote:You don't have to polish a Kellyberg.

No.... but, you STILL should clean it once in a while. Greenish crud inside those clear ones as pretty ugly!

Toothpaste and a toothbrush works great for polishing old tarnished silver mouthpieces. And, it is not as abrasive as silver polish.

There will only be silver polish chemicals left over if you don't rinse it off like you're supposed to.

Stainless & titanium mouthpieces clean up at least as easily as lexan, too -- which are all easier and more corrosion-resistant than silverplated mouthpieces.