Another valve oil substitute

[Art Hovey]

Since my last post on this thread I have experimented with Kirkland detergent powder for dishwashers. It seems to have an anti-foaming agent, but it also tends to corrode brass about the way that salt water does. (NO GOOD!
I tried cleaning a piece of brass with steel wool, and then applying a drop of tap water, a drop of Dawn diluted with water, and a drop of the dishwasher solution to three spots on the clean brass. The dishwasher stuff left a salt-like residue, and the others did not.

[hald]

I started using Superlube, per the suggestion by Tubatinker in another thread. I think it is a fantastic product.

I've considered synthetic motor oil on valves- but all the ones I've tried have an unacceptable smell. Does ultra pure lamp oil have a good smell? Scented? I just wondered; I may try it.

What brand of dish soap is recommended?

-hald

[Dan Schultz]

I started using Superlube, per the suggestion by Tubatinker in another thread. I think it is a fantastic product.

I've considered synthetic motor oil on valves- but all the ones I've tried have an unacceptable smell. Does ultra pure lamp oil have a good smell? Scented? I just wondered; I may try it.

What brand of dish soap is recommended?

-hald

You might qualify that 'SuperLube' is my choice for SLIDES. It's waaaay to heavy for valves.

Ultra-pure lamp oil has no smell. Some of the lamp oils are scented but I stay away from anything that is smelly or has color to it. A few drops of motor oil in several ounces of lamp oil will give it a little more body and 'staying power'. You'll want to experiment with the getting the right mix as too much motor oil will slow down the pistons. It is nice to be able to adjust the mix for worn pistons.

[Dan Schultz]

.....This is a very inexpensive inert petroleum product like mineral oil or baby oil but with lower viscosity.....

Most cheap valve oils are refined kerosene.... or parafin if you wish. Same stuff as ultra-pure lamp oil.

[toobagrowl]

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.

Has anyone here used baby oil or mineral oil?
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

[Søren]

I do not think that using detergents should harm your horn. I would though be careful of the pH and the amount of salt in the detergent solution. Either might accelerate corrosion in the horn. Come to think of it, using a non-ionic detergent might be preferable to the SDS or SLS found in normal cleaning products.

[Michael Bush]

Has anyone here used baby oil or mineral oil?
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

When I had old pistons, I used a mixture of lamp oil and food-grade mineral oil. Worked great.

[toobagrowl]

Thanks I'm gonna try cleaning the pistons first and then applying a couple drops of baby oil (baby oil = lightly scented mineral oil) on each piston and see how that works. If that doesn't work, I'll try the lamp oil + baby oil formula.

[Art Hovey]

After experimenting with soaps and detergents and anti-freeze for a while I have moved on to pure glycerin diluted with water. It's odorless, non-toxic, available in drug stores, and works as well as anything.

For a tuba with old and well-worn pistons, "break-free gun oil" works well. It does not dry out when the instrument sits in a case for long periods. I think it was Al Baer who recommended it here, diluted with ultra-pure lamp oil. I found it on display in a local gun shop. It's also very good on tuning slides.

[Art Hovey]

There is a solvent called "Goo-Gone" that I found at Homey Depot which softens the "Lime" pretty well without damaging lacquer or plastic parts.

[toobagrowl]

I've been using pure lamp oil on my piston tubas for a while with varying degrees of success depending on piston condition of each tuba. I recently mixed a few drops of 3-in-1 oil with the pure lamp oil and it seems to work better for the more worn pistons.
And just today I tried the Art Hovey method of Dawn liquid detergent (blue) on my "main" Eb tuba. One drop on each piston. So far, so good I will 'gauge' it over time to see how it works out. At least it "cleans" the pistons as I play, and it smells good!
It's fun experimenting with different 'formulas'.

Bump

[toobagrowl]

^Don't you just grab whatever left-over valve oil that is in some school horn case? I seem to remember you stating that several times. Yeah......that doesn't always work for all piston tubas