Silver Sousa Woes

[Z-Tuba Dude]

Nothing looks quite as impressive as a shiny silver sousaphone in a parade! BUT....If you have a silver sousaphone, do you find yourself annoyed at the work it takes, to keep it polished? I use TarniShield, that leaves a protective layer, which is supposed to last about 6 months (a GOOD thing!).

My annoyance comes from the fact that I generally only do a few parades May-July. By the time the next marching season comes around, it's time to polish it again! I think that the fact that I keep the sousas in the garage, causes some of the problem (exhaust fumes tend to speed the tarnishing process).

Anyone ever tried big plastic bags to help keep the horns shiny?

I guess I am just venting, because I just spent 2 1/2 hours polishing horns! I suppose I could just trade them in, for lacquer horns!

Any thoughts on the subject?

(I don't mind it so much for the silver tuba, because I get to use that all year 'round.)

[hup_d_dup]

You might want to try silicon spray. It makes the instrument too slippery for use, but if you spray it on after the last parade in July and wipe it down in May, the sousa should still look pretty good. Easy to use and safe for you and the instrument.

Hup.

[tokuno]

I've found inexpensive silver cloth at most any nearby franchise sewing store (e.g. Joanne's Fabrics), that I use as a liner in the cases of my silver horns. Seems to help.
If you wrap your horn in it prior to storage, it might help preserve the shine.

[Z-Tuba Dude]

I am thinking of getting big plastic bags (for those ancient sousas & helicons that have no case - of which I have a surprising number - given the few parades I do!), and tossing a piece of Pacific Silver Cloth into the bag for good luck!

Kinda wondering if anyone else has done something like that...

[daytontuba]

I certainly agree with Bloke - Wright's Silver Cream is not too harsh, easy to use, and the surface protection it provides seems to last a reasonable amount of time. Wright's is what we used on the Ohio State sousaphones back in the 60's. I also use it to clean mouthpieces as it does a nice job of tarnish/crud removal and is non-abrasive - once I have used the Wright's cream on them, I rinse them completely, then rewash them with some regular dish soap to ensure all the cleaner is gone. I figure if the dish soap is good enough for the fork you put in your mouth, it is good enough for the mouthpiece. Wright's Silver Cream is carried in our local Kroger stores, and a tub of it costs a bit less than five bucks - and if you follow Bloke's advice about thinning it a bit, a tub will last a long time.

[ezmusic94]

I think bloke has the right stuff. At my high school we would use Wright's Cream at the beginning of marching season and then once before District MPA's and our silver horns would usually stay pretty clean. And my high school is in South Florida! Wright's is good stuff