Disinfecting instruments

[Rick Denney]

Soap and water at room temperature. The soap breaks down the lipids on the skin of the virus and deactivates it effectively.

Rick “plain old soap” Denney

[Rick Denney]

Soap and water at room temperature. The soap breaks down the lipids on the skin of the virus and deactivates it effectively.

Rick “plain old soap” Denney

that would be true, i was thinking more dramatically ...

we have some of the Dawn spray on dish detergent... that would probably work.

this instrument has been chemically cleaned and only the tech has handled it. i feel certain of him, yet with this virus a person can have it for a long time and not know it.

i'm feeling guilty handing him cash after reading how long the virus can live on surfaces.

Unless he was coughing and played your tuba, then you only have to clean what he could have touched. The chemical he used for cleaning will have sterilized the interior effectively. If he played it, then you can just leave it in the case for a couple of weeks. That’s far beyond the viability of any virus on the surface and you’ll also know if he got sick.

Wash your hands after handling cash.

Don’t share instruments or mouthpieces.

Play in ensembles where you can maintain six feet of space between players.

Rick “taking this seriously” Denney

[bone-a-phone]

Copper alloys are supposed to kill or impede this virus, but I have made a habit of cleaning the inside of my trombones with alcohol, at least the slide. Some tuba players seem averse to cleaning the inside of their instrument, which is unfathomable to me. In the current situation, I think it might be worth giving it a try.

[tbonesullivan]

I have a bunch of mouthpieces I've been trying to sell, which thankfully I carefully cleaned, disinfected, and placed in plastic bags months ago. Still, right now the used market has gone totally in the crapper for pretty much all instruments, especially wind instruments.

I mean, it might be a great chance to pickup an affordable instrument, and a great chance to pick up COVID 19.

I was going to bring my tuba and euphonium down to Dillon Music to have some work done, but now I'm not even sure they are open for repairs.

[tbonesullivan]

I've considered the lamp oil thing for the inside of my trombones. I'm tired of getting mineral deposits. But I'm also worried of oil getting down into the slide, where it would mess with whatever slide treatment I'm using that month.

[NCSUSousa]

Copper alloys are supposed to kill or impede this virus, but I have made a habit of cleaning the inside of my trombones with alcohol, at least the slide. Some tuba players seem averse to cleaning the inside of their instrument, which is unfathomable to me. In the current situation, I think it might be worth giving it a try.

First - Copper, copper alloys like Nickel-Silver & Brass, and Silver (including plating) are all anti-microbial. They still need cleaning, but the virus lifespan is reduced.
I don't think Nickel plating has the same anti-microbial benefit. Iron, carbon steel, stainless steel, galvanized steel, aluminum and titanium do not have any anti-microbial benefits to my knowledge.
Second - Dryness is a requirement for the antimicrobial effect. Viruses can live on the surface of water - and thereby avoid the copper or silver below.

Lacquer is like paint - it has no inherent anti-microbial properties. An aged or worn lacquer surface has pores and/or textures that may hold microbes until they're washed away by soap and water.

Regular dish soap with lukewarm water is ideal for cleaning lacquer. Too warm may damage lacquer. Too cold is just uncomfortable to you.

Peroxide or any oxidizing agent is bad for brass. Ultrapure water (sold as deionized) is similarly an oxidizing agent.
Vinegar and other acids can be used, but must be rinsed out to avoid any issues with any unlacquered brass or silver. (See Bloke's post above - rinse well if you use any acids like vinegar).

[Donn]

I tried a 6 month or so experiment based on Joe's recommendation for the lamp oil. I bought the lamp oil Joe posted here a while ago, and it seemed to work reasonably well, although my rub test led me to believe the lubricity was slightly lower than Blue Juice.

Plain lamp oil, or did you mix in a small amount of anything else? (I use motor oil, for example.) While it isn't terrifically volatile, I expect oils will tend to evaporate over time, and the lighter the oil, the faster it goes, that's my theory anyway.

[iiipopes]

Occasional leaning vinegar ($2 or so) soaks, though, (followed by a water rinse and slide lubricant reapplication) will avoid any undesirable lubricants-blending.

And rinse. And rinse again. And rinse. And....

[iiipopes]

Snake brush and hot soapy water from the receiver through to the 1st bow after the valve block/main tuning slide, including the individual valve slides and being ever so careful with rotors and casings, then let the water drain out the bell, then rinse to dissipate the soapy odor, and re-apply fresh slide lubricant and valve oil and 3-N-1 oil to rotor linkages, and sewing machine oil in the wells of the bottom rotor caps, all as needed.

[NCSUSousa]

New research related to 'anti-microbial' as it relates to COVID-19 - https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-re ... s-surfaces
From the article's 1st paragraph - COVID-19 lasts 4 hours on copper, 24 hours on cardboard, and up to 2-3 days on stainless steel or plastic.

Yeah - Wash your instrument if you get to play it in public, or if you get sick. If it's silver (assuming silver and copper are equally anti-microbial for this), you might be able to get away with drying it off and leaving it alone overnight. If it's lacquer, you need to either leave it alone for 3 days or wash it before you touch it again.