A Tuba-cleaning question

[bldg. 450]

Does anybody know of a good product for cleaning a silver plated tuba? I'm looking for something that I can put in a big tub and dip the horn into it, rather than using a soft cloth and hand-polishing. Also, what's a good ratio, e.g., 1 pint of cleaner to 10 gallons of water, etc,

Thanks!

[sloan]

Does anybody know of a good product for cleaning a silver plated tuba? I'm looking for something that I can put in a big tub and dip the horn into it, rather than using a soft cloth and hand-polishing. Also, what's a good ratio, e.g., 1 pint of cleaner to 10 gallons of water, etc,

Thanks!

If you have a big enough tub that you can use for a long period of time, you might try the standard silver jewelry polishing recipe:

a) prepare the tuba for full immersion (i.e., take off everything that you don't want to get wet)
b) line the bottom of the tub with aluminum foil
c) fill the tub with warm water - add salt and baking soda (Google "silver polish salt baking soda" for quantities)
d) wait

The only truly essential ingredients are the aluminum foil and the water. The warmth, salt, and baking soda
simply speed up the process. [I think this is right - but "I am not a Chemist"].

My wife uses this method to "polish" all of her silver jewelry - it works like a charm. I've never felt the need to try it on my silver plated tubas - but I will...someday...just for the experience.

I think I would take apart all slides and do them separately in a smaller tub - the one essential item is that the piece to be "polished" must be IN CONTACT with the aluminum foil.

[bldg. 450]

Thanks Ken. Do you mean that I would have to wrap the aluminum foil around the tuba bell, or is it ok just to have the bottom of the tub in foil? (Sorry, I'm feeling a little dense about this ... I'm no chemist either!)

[sloan]

Thanks Ken. Do you mean that I would have to wrap the aluminum foil around the tuba bell, or is it ok just to have the bottom of the tub in foil? (Sorry, I'm feeling a little dense about this ... I'm no chemist either!)

I don't think wrapping is necessary, but there should be significant contact. I believe you need a good solid *electrical* connection. For small pieces, we simply line the bottom of a tray with foil and put the pieces on top of the foil. The "polishing" occurs everywhere the water touches the surface - not only where the aluminum touches it.
The main reason I would remove the slides is to process all the smaller pieces in a separate bath. [I also might experiment with one slide all by itself first - to get a feel for what it takes and how you like the results - pull the #2 slide and process it in a small 2" deep tray before committing to immersing the entire body in a bathtub]

Please report results! Pictures (before, during, after) would be realNice!

My wife just walked in and I asked her "how long does this take?" - she reports that it takes only a few minutes to polish small pieces of jewelry.

[Lee Stofer]

I would just add this to Dr. Sloan's comments; The instrument parts need to be thoroughly cleaned with a degreasing agent, such as Dawn dishwashing liquid. Any oils or greases will hamper the chemical reaction. And, after cleaning the silver in this manner, be advised that the metal is at least somewhat de-stabilized, and will tarnish again readily unless you polish the instrument with a tarnish-preventative, such as Tarni-Shield or Hagerty's Silversmith Polish. If you thoroughly polish the instument with one of these, and wipe down the instrument after use with a soft cloth such as an old (clean) T-shirt or cloth diaper, the instrument will stay very nice-looking for a long time, 6 months to a year, depending upon conditions to which the instrument is exposed.