Has anyone here used baby oil or mineral oil?Staravoski wrote:In my short time playing a valved brass instrument I've bought four or five bottles of "valve oil", each a different brand but all seeming to work equally well. One of them smelled of wintergreen. They've all been water-white. My impression is that they're all pure or close-to-pure light liquid paraffin. This is a very inexpensive inert petroleum product like mineral oil or baby oil but with lower viscosity, mainly used for making medicines or cosmetics. It doesn't oxidize or turn to a sticky gum as vegetable oils tend to do.
I have used Blue Juice, Al Cass, pure lamp oil, etc. They are all too thin/watery. Blue Juice and lamp oil both stink too.
I am using Hetman's "Classic" and it works better than the above mentioned oils for the old worn pistons on my Eb tubas. But there is a greenish film that builds up in the valve ports and sometimes gets between the pistons and casings and causes the valves to be sticky....especially the first valve. So I have to wipe the film crud off every now and then. Wondering if baby oil would work on old pistons