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Just wondering what everyone's methods are..

What bloke said. In addition, there are many, many threads on this topic where at least one member is in favor of each and all of the products out there, whether musical instrument marketed, automotive marketed, heating oil marketed, general lubrication marketed, and for the hundreds of members of the forum, multiplied, that means there are thousands of ways, methods and manners of application.

Personally, my opinion is that any good medium weight grease or oil will serve for the "non-movable" or "set-and-forget" slides, and any good lightweight grease or oil, from bear grease, to mineral oil, to Marvel Mystery Oil, to anhydrous lanolin, my favorite, Ultrapure Light, for the 1st valve slide and any others that are manipulated on an ongoing basis.

Does anybody besides me remember the Conn white bottles that had one sticker for "cork grease" and another sticker for "tuning slide lubricant" and it was all brown cosmoline?

Oh - and Roche Thomas valve oil.

I have changed one item in the last decade due to being shown "the light": don't use Vaseline or similar petroleum jelly. It is hydrophilic and will cause corrosion to the slides.

And don't get me started on Hetmans. Just say "No."

Depending on your regimen, your mileage will vary.

cristinacutts wrote:What is the best way to grease tuning slides?

Put the slippery stuff on the straight part of the slide, not where it bends around...

bloke wrote:... Use the cheapest STP Oil Treatment/Smoke-Away automotive product that you can find. It's just about ideal.....

+1.

++1 on the NO Hetmans; IMHO highly overrated valve oils, the dreaded green slime.

iiipopes wrote: I have changed one item in the last decade due to being shown "the light": don't use Vaseline or similar petroleum jelly. It is hydrophilic and will cause corrosion to the slides.

umm, Possibly not entirely correct (if I were feeling self assertive, I might even say "dead wrong") -

"White petroleum jelly is a semi solid, translucent substance. It comprises mineral oils and micro-crystalline wax. It is much lighter in color than crude petroleum jelly. It is nearly odorless and has a melting point just above the body temperature. This is the reason why it actually melts when applied on the skin. It is water insoluble and has strong hydrophobic (water repelling) properties. It is often compared with glycerol, which is hydrophilic. However, glycerol is an alcohol while white petroleum jelly is a hydrocarbon. Petroleum jelly does not oxidize upon exposure to air, which makes it a good quality lubricant."

Read more at Buzzle:http://www.buzzle.com/articles/white-pe ... jelly.html

Somewhere in the archives the search function can probably turn up an old thread that discusses methods for unsticking your slides if you leave anhydrous lanlolin on them in storage for a few months...

Curmudgeon wrote:Rancid bear grease.

bloke wrote:
serious answer:

Use the cheapest STP Oil Treatment/Smoke-Away automotive product that you can find. It's just about ideal.
.

Jesus told me that stuff becomes corrosive when exposed to water. Should I believe him?

bloke wrote:Hey, Seuss !

Yeah, that pronunciation: not the one some might think.