Giving Your Trumpet a Bath
When I first started playing trumpet, it was difficult remembering to clean out the valves and avoid over-oiling them. This made for sticky situations, and naturally they almost always occurred at concerts -- when a bad moment is least welcome.
My band instructor at the time asked if I ever gave my trumpet a bath. I thought he meant general cleaning of the valves, so I told him yes. He asked me: “So you’ve taken it completely apart and washed it in the bathtub?”
That was something I hadn’t done. Being both new to the instrument and eleven years old at the time, I had just assumed that water was bad for all instruments -- not just the wooden ones. Boy, was I wrong.
When you give your trumpet a bath, it’s important to use just the water, no soap is necessary and would probably do more harm than good. Take all of the valves and slides out of the instrument and let them soak in the water for a little bit. As for water temperature, slightly warm or body temperature (where it feels like you’re not touching anything when you put your hand in it) because brass can be very malleable if submerged in too high of a heat.
After the instrument has soaked for about two minutes, take a scrubbing brush and scrub every area you can get to: inside of the valves, as far into the slides and their spots as you can get, and the bell and mouthpiece area. Sometimes, if you haven’t given your trumpet a bath in a while, this can be a bit disgusting with all of the grime that comes out. But remember, this is a good thing!
It’s important to let your instrument air dry for at least a few hours -- if not an entire day -- so never give your instrument a bath within three hours of needing to play it, or else you’ll get a watery gurgle along with your notes. If you have a trumpet stand, set it on that with a towel underneath so the water can drip out. Also, don’t put the instrument back together until it’s fully dry.
When putting the trumpet back together, you might need to use some slide grease and valve oil. That’s normal, so no worries! Cleaning it was still beneficial!
A good time frame is giving your trumpet a bath once a month or every two months, depending on how often you play. Professionals might clean their trumpets once a week, plus a full bath once a month. Just depends on your goals with the instrument!
The next time you go to play your freshly cleaned instrument, you should notice a difference -- playing should be a bit easier, use less pressure and the valves and slides should also move with ease.
That is, until the next time it needs a bath. :)
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