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I may be borrowing a British baritone for the next month, and it's my policy to wash stuff before I possibly breathe in what's inside it. I actually have a bathtub (I didn't for the travel trailer years) so could actually give it a bath. What is the recommended for an instrument that does not overtly smell but which I'd like to have "clean as possible without spending $$$?"

What I do first is use a small plastic bin (the tub works for this as well) and fill enough to submerge all slides, valves (after removing corks and felts of course), screws, etc. I don't usually soak the entire horn but it can't hurt unless the water's too hot and it's lacquered; room temperature is best for this. If you want to do that, put some Dawn in there and stir it up some, do the same with the slides/valves/etc. Then I use a trombone snake and run it through all accessible tubing as well as I can with Dawn and water, not just running through but actually scrubbing with some oomph if there's especially stubborn crud build up. After that, I rinse really well by running the horn under the shower head until all of the sudsy water comes out, dump, repeat a few times then scrubbing on the outside with some more dawn and a washcloth or something. All of this is followed by a polish if needed and then lubing for re-assembly. I do this process all the time whenever I get a new horn, before I sell a horn, etc. and it gets the instrument clean, looking well, and most importantly, playing well every time.

PS As long as the valves are disassembled, check and make sure they're aligned, I've been stumped as to why something played as bad as it did before only to find out I needed some thicker felts.

Pretty much the same as above, but (I already typed all of this out before so...) here is my process for cleaning my horns:

1.) Disassemble the horn as much as possible
2.) Place everything in the tub (except for the valves as I clean those separately in the sink)
3.) Fill the tub until the instrument is as submerged as possible with warm water (I use water temp that would be good for a baby's bath)
4.) Mix in a little bit of dawn soap and let sit for a little bit (I usually aim for about 30 mins but often forget so longer will be fine)
5.) Snake all of the slides (inner and outer) and the lead pipe; I tend to put a little bit of dawn on the snake bristles. Do the same with the valve casing and a valve brush.
6.) Remove horn and parts from tub and empty them of water. Let air dry on a towel
7.) Wash valves in sink with a little soap and valve brush. Let valves dry.
8.) Reassemble and grease/oil

Hope this helps.

In supplement to a soak in a warm degreaser - dish soap or what have you - and water solution plus a good scrub, it's important to run water through the horn to rinse out all the gunk you've loosened

I like using the handheld hose in my shower stall, but a backyard water hose works well too.

I like to light some candles, put on some Barry White and then 'get down to business'

pecktime wrote:I like to light some candles, put on some Barry White and then 'get down to business'

I'm assuming you do your "tuba bathing" in a luxurious hot tub.

For a mobile person like you, I'd suggest a Quick Horn Rinse system. The new one is quite nice, it is portable and will allow you to clean a horn with a garden hose outside, in a small shower or a bath tub.

Thanks for all the input. I have to go buy a trombone cleaning brush.

A bottle of CLR added to the bath will clean up the lime. Degrease with detergent first, rinse, soak in the CLR solution and snake out, then another good rinse. A good DIY chem clean for little money.

Don't know what CLR is, but citric acid a common descaler for stuff like hard water deposits in espresso machines.

I just pull the valves and slides and soak em in the swimming pool.

edsel585960 wrote:I just pull the valves and slides and soak em in the swimming pool.

Wow, this just made a light come on in my head. Not sure if you are serious, but we've got a swimming pool and I never thought of this. Maybe a decent option to the QHR for really large ammunition, or a place to soak the horn while using the QHR (which has been an obstacle for me). The only problem, the gunk that comes out into the pool.... Disinfection from the chlorination. an added benefit. Any issue to lacquer from the chlorine content in the pool water? BTW, another gross thing, but I know someone who soaks her sons' hockey protective equipment in the pool then air dries in the sun.

I use a small fountain pump and vinyl tubing to flush the instrument. Yank the mts, soapy water, water, something to remove lime then water. Tape a valve down one at a time for a bit to clean the slide area. Works well enough in between real (tearing the horn apart, brushes, actual work) cleanings.

Well, turns out all valve slides are stuck as hell, and I'm not one to be struggling with slides on an instrument that is not mine. Also, no green goo, just a smell of "old spit" basically. Probably cleaner inside than my own horn, right now, but it's not my dirt, so I soaked it in the tub with warm water and some chlorine dioxide, which should have de-germed it quite well. Chlorine dioxide is a water purifier, used by some municipalities, but I had it reasonably concentrated in the tub water. Took the valves out and also soaked them (sans felts) in a similar solution. I'm pretty sure now that I'm not going to catch the plague from it. Felts could be replaced but valves are operating fine so I just put them back.

Tampaworth wrote:

edsel585960 wrote:I just pull the valves and slides and soak em in the swimming pool.

Wow, this just made a light come on in my head. Not sure if you are serious, but we've got a swimming pool and I never thought of this. Maybe a decent option to the QHR for really large ammunition, or a place to soak the horn while using the QHR (which has been an obstacle for me). The only problem, the gunk that comes out into the pool.... Disinfection from the chlorination. an added benefit. Any issue to lacquer from the chlorine content in the pool water? BTW, another gross thing, but I know someone who soaks her sons' hockey protective equipment in the pool then air dries in the sun.

I was totally serious. Most horns I work on have lacquer issues so I'm not too worried about the finish. I wouldn't soak an nice, new horn in the pool but it does help get the "crud" off of the horn and out of it. I figure a little gunk in several thousand gallons of water won't mess thinks up too much. I have found after using stripper to take horns down to bare brass ( and rinsing off well) that applying a "scotchbrite satin" finish is easier in the pool. Just sit there and polish with a scotchbrite pad and looks great. Plus you get to cool off in the FL heat.

The kids in the touring drum corps stay in school gyms, and just bring their horns along when they hit the showers.
And sometimes, the pots and pans from the food trailer.

TheHatTuba wrote:I use a small fountain pump and vinyl tubing to flush the instrument. Yank the mts, soapy water, water, something to remove lime then water. Tape a valve down one at a time for a bit to clean the slide area. Works well enough in between real (tearing the horn apart, brushes, actual work) cleanings.

That's actually pretty clever.

MaryAnn wrote:Well, turns out all valve slides are stuck as hell, and I'm not one to be struggling with slides on an instrument that is not mine.

Ah. So the person you borrowed it from is possibly not a stickler about playing in tune.

Hopefully the main slide is where you can reach it if you need to.

Donn wrote:Don't know what CLR is, but citric acid a common descaler for stuff like hard water deposits in espresso machines.

I use white vinegar for my horns. Yeah, it smells a bit funky but that doesn't matter if you rinse well, and it also works on descaling coffee machines.

Not a bath per se, but my third rotor needed some help. I have no particular training in this. I put a brush for cleaning air brushes through the backing plate hole, a little Brasso on the bristles, and it did the trick. The valve never felt so quick, after a simple procedure.