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Trombontine and Hetman's hydro-slide. I like to mix my own poison.

While I like/love MOST Yamaha products, I like the fact that the Yamaha slide lube is already mixed, but I HATE the way it smells. (I have a tube of it that I will happily give to almost anybody, because I don't want to breathe in that smell.)

The slide o' mix variant already sounds VERY appealing, because it probably doesn't smell like the Yamaha stuff; I may buy some for my own trombone soon. I also look forward to hearing from some trombonists' opinions on it.

Enjoy,
CJH

One of the trombone players in my community band uses Lemon Pledge on his trombone slide. Is there anything to this? ... or should I be shaking my head at him?

I use Slide-o-Mix exclusively. I have just recently tried the Rapid Comfort (Easter Gig). It worked alright. I think that the original seems to last longer. With either product, I like not having to take a water bottle with me! FWIW.

First off, I think the Slide-O-Mix stuff works fine. I use it and son't see any down side compared to the two-part version. Just like the two part stuff, though, it will get a little crusty after a while, say a couple weeks. You always need to clean your slide before re-applying.

TubaTinker wrote:One of the trombone players in my community band uses Lemon Pledge on his trombone slide. Is there anything to this? ... or should I be shaking my head at him?

This is the ultimate troll topic on the trombone-L list. Try it and you will get 50 pro and 50 con responses of near religious intensity; and that's just in the first hour before the topic gets pulled.

the elephant wrote:

LJV wrote:It'd be great to hear from someone using Slide-O-Mix Rapid Comfort.

It is great. I especially love the of the new Slide-O-Mix Rapid Comfort Wipes. They are just large enough, if you know what I mean. AND they're portable!

I thought Slide-O-Mix Rapid Comfort was something they drank in Yazoo City...

A serious answer....

As the Slide Doctor (http://www.slidedr.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank) has been warning people for ages, slide-o-mix leaves a lot of gak behind. I, of course, never heed such warnings and used it for years. You've got to clean the slide, inner and outer, much more frequently, but the overall lubrication result was excellent, so I stuck with it. The only frustration was whether you would get the way-too-thick version or the way-too-watery version. Very poor quality control where they bottle the stuff.

So, it should come as no surprise that when the rapid comfort came out, I jumped to that. Works just as well, cheaper than the 2 bottle version. Perfect... right? Used that for quite some time as well, until (and I can only GUESS quality control issues are at play again), the rapid comfort started leaving a nasty residue. We're talking the stuff hardening on the inner slide to the point you have to scrape it off with your fingernail. And, the same spackle on the inside of the outers. So, one bad bottle, and all of my slides had to go to the repair shop for a professional cleaning.

I tossed all of the slide-o-mix related products in my house, and switched to the Yamaha Slide Oil. It has a lame moniker, it's not slide "oil" like only the nerdiest kid in jr. high used, but a similar product to slide-o-mix. It works just as well for me, with no side effects so far.

Like I said, it was just one bad bottle that turned me off to rapid comfort. You may never encounter the same issue I did. But, given a choice, I say don't risk it.

I currently use Conn Formula 3 and Superslick, but have also used the two-part Slide-O-Mix. Formula 3/Superslick lasts longer and you have warning before having to reapply. My only gripe with Slide-O-Mix was that it worked for a week really great, up until the second it didn't, at which time the slide got really scratchy.

As always, rinse out the outer slide tubes with warm water and wipe down the inners with a rag. Either solution worked fine.

As the Slide Doctor (http://www.slidedr.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank) has been warning people for ages, slide-o-mix leaves a lot of gak behind.

The Slide Doctor isn't the only one saying this about slide o mix. The folks at Edwards have been saying it too, and only recommend using it if you clean it off everyday:

http://www.edwards-instruments.com/trom ... lide.shtml" target="_blank" target="_blank

http://www.edwards-instruments.com/blog ... n-youtube/" target="_blank" target="_blank

LJV wrote:Might buy a tube of Trombotine...

That stuff always seemed to work the best in various temperatures and humidities. I used Trombotine for years and never had an issue.

After using any number of products I've come back to plain old generic cold cream and a sprayer bottle of water. Cheap and works just as well as anything out there for me. YMMV.