Cleaning a tuba - ideas?

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konna4
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Cleaning a tuba - ideas?

Post by konna4 »

I have a Boosey & Hawkes Imperial E-flat tuba, silver plated with matte coating. It has become quite dirty outside and smells bad inside so I thought about cleaning it thoroughly. I'd like to have some advice so that I don't end up damaging the tuba...

My initial plan is to spray the outside with a cleaning foam and use a pressure washer at low power setting. Would this make any sense? Or is it still too dangerous for the coating? Cleaning every corner manually with a brush or a cloth would be very tedious. Fragile parts could be covered with heavy plastic or something.

How about cleaning the interior? I thought about attaching a hose and a detergent injector to the leadpipe and just let the water flow...
What kind of chemical could be used? I thought about citric acid (safe and easily available) but I'm not really sure if it would be useful.

After cleaning, I would put new grease to the tuning slides and oil the valves. Unstucking the slides may require some effort...

The case should be cleaned as well, and I might rent a spray extraction cleaner for that job. It should be pretty straightforward.
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Re: Cleaning a tuba - ideas?

Post by pecktime »

Give it a bath, or take a shower with it.

Take all the valves and slides off first.
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Re: Cleaning a tuba - ideas?

Post by enhite »

The late Bill Ricker developed a very nice system for cleaning euphoniums and there is no reason it shouldn't work for tubas. (You may need to slightly modify the insert that fits into your lead pipe.) Here is a link to his system: http://stores.quickhornrinse.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank
Of course, after using this system, it wouldn't hurt to remove all slides, valves, etc. and giving them a good soak and cleaning. As for the soap, many of us like Dawn dish detergent.
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Re: Cleaning a tuba - ideas?

Post by BrassedOn »

Whoa whoa whoa. Start gentle. No need for pressure washer.

If you’re expecting a lot of regular cleaning, nothing beats a ginormous plastic bin with a bottom drain but a bath tub with something to line to prevent scratches works. I use a rubber mat and old towels . Disassembl all the way. If you have stuck slides maybe time for a pro with the right tools. I usually go as far as a few tugs with long section of lamp,oil wick looped around the slide. but past that I’ll get someone with the right tools.

Small bins for slides and parts. Dish soap in the weather for parts. Not too much or citrus scent will linger. 100% cotton cloth. Really check for zero synthetics which can scratch. use a long flexible brush “snake” specially made for instruments with the water soap mixture.. The tuba snakes are bigger than the trombone ones. A worthwhile purchase. 100% cotton oil lamp wicks good for getting in all the crevases.

Avoid soaking in acid like vinegar overnight. Never know, the corrosion might be what’s holding together!! but after you remove caps and felts good, vinegar is good for soaking and cleaning valves. Toothbrush very handy.

Rinse well in clear water. Buy a cheap flexible garden hose and cut off the brass male end so you don’t scratch the horn. You can hold over the pipe openings. You can alternate hose with brishing all slides and tubes. Be sure to brush threads in valve caps.

Nothing special for matte finish. I use Wright’s silver CREAM for polished silver plate only. Others will have their preferred substance. Clean polish buff.

Dry with clean towels. Buff polished parts again to ensure luster and remove remnants of the cream. Let set till totally dry inside and out.

Lube. Assemble. I like to blow extra valve oil through leadpipe and the whole horn. Just in hopes of some little protection.
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Re: Cleaning a tuba - ideas?

Post by GC »

Alternative: professional chem clean.
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Re: Cleaning a tuba - ideas?

Post by PMeuph »

Buy a rubber hose and use the hottest water you can, heat (say around 140 F) is better for the horn then pressure from a pressure washer.

The citric acid you mention could be good, but depending on the concentration it may be too strong. Vinegar is a safe diy solutiong, CLR is also a diy solultion (Albeit one that should be used with care.
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Re: Cleaning a tuba - ideas?

Post by smitwill1 »

Brushes...lots of different sizes and shapes to get into every nook and cranny. However, make sure that the ends of any metal-handled brushes are protected to prevent scratches.

I think of it like brushing my teeth: use frequent regular brushing and flossing to get the "soft scale" out before it hardens in place. Go to a professional to get the "hard scale" out once a year or so. In this case, I'll second the recommendation for a chem clean by a pro who has all the right acid baths, bright dips, etc...

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Re: Cleaning a tuba - ideas?

Post by ZIMETMUS »

For the outside, I'd start with the plastic tub and a hose. Put tuba in bell down. Spray with Windex from the bottom up (avoids
streaks), rinse and repeat. Then soap and water (dawn works great). You want it very clean before invest any time in polishing.
One readily available product to try after it is clean and before polishing would be TarnX https://clrbrands.com/Products/Tarn-X/T ... et="_blank
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Re: Cleaning a tuba - ideas?

Post by greenbean »

Any ideas on how chem cleaning compares with ultrasonic cleaning? Effectiveness and cost...

Thanks.
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Re: Cleaning a tuba - ideas?

Post by Matt Walters »

I WANT TO SEE the Youtube video of someone else's tuba (Not mine!!) propped in the corner of a driveway retaining wall being aggressively power washed. Full throttle and the wand tip just inches away!! Yeah!!! Go For it!!!!
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Re: Cleaning a tuba - ideas?

Post by Patrase »

I recently cleaned a very filthy Besson Sovereign.

I read a lot of Bloke's posts. I used my fingers (grow your finger nails!) to scrub inside the knuckles between valves using warm water and detergent and a snake down the leadpipe and slides.. I then used Vinegar to try to dissolve some of the lime or hard stuff.
Then nuetralised it by poring water with baking soda dissolved in it liberally over/in the instrument.

But that was with all valves and slides removed. For those I used warm water and detergent to dissolve grease and oil. Then Used CLR mixed with water as an acid to dissolve the lime/hard stuff. But for a much shorter length of time than with vinegar. Then nuetralised it with water/baking soda.

For the body just wash it with detergent. Don't use a pressure washer - that is crazy talk.

The tuba was much nicer to play and the funky smell was gone. The valves also worked a lot better with all the surrounding pipes cleaned.

Saying that it was nowhere as good as what I imagine a professional clean would do.
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Re: Cleaning a tuba - ideas?

Post by tubasoldier »

Great advice in this thread. Never use a pressure washer.

I've used vinegar a few times and it does work well but I would recommend not letting it sit for too long. Ten minutes did it for me. That and lots of dish soap and brushes.

As far as silver polish I really love the Hagerty's Silversmith's Spray. I don't personally like pastes or creams because they are harder to clean up. The spray is much easier to polish off and it leaves a clean looking silver plate afterwards.

Just my two cents.
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Re: Cleaning a tuba - ideas?

Post by konna4 »

Thanks for all advice.

Pressure washing seems to be discouraged by many so perhaps I'll not do it... although I have an adjustable washing lance which can be set to very low pressures. Not much stronger than a garden water gun I think.

This device http://stores.quickhornrinse.com/" target="_blank looks pretty good. I might buy one.

Pure citric acid is available at some hardware/home improvement shops here (~5€/750 grams) and it can be diluted to suitable strength.

Any ideas where to find a suitable "snake"? I guess drain snakes are too large at least, and bottle cleaners aren't long enough.
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