Setting Up

To prepare the bathroom for cleaning, I:

• Cleaned the bathtub - no reason to get dirt, dust, or mildew pieces back into the trombone
• set down a soft, non-abrasive cloth on the floor - this will be used for air-drying parts
• pulled out a medium-sized box to rest my trombone slide. I used an old photocopier paper box with some bottles inside for weight.

We are out to set up a nice, clean, well-lit area to work in. Avoid a traffic bathroom. It's dangerous to set parts or pieces anywhere that someone might pass by and knock them down, or step on them!

As a rule, I avoid putting my slide on the ground. It may pick up a little grain of sand or another abrasive that will damage the slide. I don't want to set my slide somewhere it may fall, either. I just set my slide on a cardboard box with some weight inside.

The bathtub provides a soak for parts, and also a space to work. I filled the bathtub with about 4 cm (~ 2 inches) of warm water and put in a good dab of non-moisturizing hand soap.

I avoid moisturizing or perfumed soaps because I don't want a film left on the instrument surfaces. I don't like inhaling lavender when I play trombone, either. Abrasive and aggressive cleaning products (like Bam, Jif, bleach, or Easy-Off) should never be used on an instrument. They can eat the finish and the metals, basically destroying the instrument. Worst case, they might react with the instrument metals and create something poisonous in your tub. Keep it simple - use some gentle hand or dish soap.

Also, specifically avoid using very hot or very cold water. Hot water may permanently fog or remove the lacquer, and icy cold water risks doing the same. I imagine that sudden changes or wide differences in temperature may loosen soldered joints, too. Be smart - fill the bath water the way you would for a small child.

As final preparation, I removed the leather slide cover. This cover protects my slide from getting nicked by rings and general use. Getting it wet is bad for the cord and leather, though, so it has to come off. Before unwrapping, I inspected the way the cord is wrapped - I'll need to know that for when I retie the leather cover at the end.