cleaning

Robin

Robin

I've just recently noticed that some keys have gone not very silver? not sure whats its called, I think they need to be polished, but not sure what to use, also they just suddenly became like this, in like the last 2 days or so, not sure why it would have all of a sudden
can anyone help? it would be greatly appreciated
thanks!
 
Are your keys silverplated or nickel plated ?
what kind of clarinet do you have ?

As Gandalfe said the silver strips will help to slow down the tarnishing process for silverplated keys. Alot of jewelry stores will have those silver polishing clothes. They are also available at music stores.

If you have nickel plated keys the silver polishing stuff really won't work well. You have to get a standard cloth from a music store. But even then so it may take alot of "elbow grease" and patience.

I'm also curious if it "all of a sudden changed" versus changed over some time and you just now noticed.
 
not sure what the keys are, its a buffet, if that tells you anything, I have a polishing cloth, and have tried polishing with it, but maybe i just need to do more of it,

and it possibly could have happened over time, but I feel as though i would have noticed that change,

thanks for the help!
 
Robin said:
not sure what the keys are, its a buffet, if that tells you anything, I have a polishing cloth, and have tried polishing with it, but maybe i just need to do more of it,

and it possibly could have happened over time, but I feel as though i would have noticed that change,

thanks for the help!
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That doesn't sound like silver. Silver vs. Nickel is easy to clean and you notice the difference immediately if you are using the correct silvercloth. I wouldn't use a silver paste or Tarnex though. With Nickel you are most likely stuck with the way the looks now.
 
Gandalfe said:
That doesn't sound like silver. Silver vs. Nickel is easy to clean and you notice the difference immediately if you are using the correct silvercloth. I wouldn't use a silver paste or Tarnex though. With Nickel you are most likely stuck with the way the looks now.
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Nickel is very tough to polish. The only way I've ever had any success with nickel is by machine buffing. Just do what you can, and learn to live with it. Besides, any horn that is too clean tells me that it doesn't get much use. Think of a little tarnish as a badge of honor. One that is earned through playing.
 
if you go to a hardware store they may have polishing clothes for brass. These will work just fine for nickel too. They are a bit more coarse looking and may look a dark red but those are the agents that clean up nickel really well.

you can also use a product like Maas metal polishing creme. Though it's creme and you don't want to get it on the pads and you may end up with paste in various places you don't want it.

of course, machine buffing does wonders but one has to be careful if you do it without an overhaul at the same time because one can damage the pads quite easily.
 
Robin said:
not sure what the keys are, its a buffet, if that tells you anything, I have a polishing cloth, and have tried polishing with it, but maybe i just need to do more of it,

and it possibly could have happened over time, but I feel as though i would have noticed that change,

thanks for the help!
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And "Buffet" really isn't enough data. If you said "Buffet R13", we'd say "silver plated keywork". Buffet B12, nickel plate.
 
oops sorry not thinking, its an E11

and i used my polishing cloth alll day yesterday and it looks alot better but not perfect, I would understand if it was an older clairnet, but its only a year old! also some of the springs are blue, as of about 6 months ago, not that i really care about those, they add character

thanks for all the help everyone, I kinda freaked when I first saw it, but i;m getting used to it now
 
Silver-plated keywork (the Official Buffet Page).

It has blue steel springs, BTB. Common on a whole host of horns. Maybe not as much on clarinets, where some folks expect that they're all nickel-plated, but hey.

I don't *think* that Buffet uses a sealant over the silver plate -- some manufacturers do -- so the first comment was probably the best: use a silver polishing cloth. Be gentle. Then get some anti-tarnish strips.

The only thing I know of that can cause instant tarnishing is exposure to a lot of moisture. Or using Brasso on silver. Brasso turns silver black.

The E11's a nice horn. I would want to clean it up, if I could. If it's really bad, you haven't abused the horn and you've done the recommended maintenance on it, send it in for warranty: I seem to remember a couple sax manufacturers that were shouted down for finish problems, so there's no reason a clarinet manufacturer couldn't have similar problems. However, be warned: if you have abused it, they'll know.
 
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silver plated keywork should clean up quite easily and quickly with a silver polishing cloth. I normally recommend the Selmer ones that can easily be bought in the music stores.

If you are rubbing "all day" ?? then you may have the wrong polishing cloth. Or are you just taking all day to polish it up ?

the E11 i believe has blued steel springs. So those are fine. But i can double check, I have one down on the shelf somewhere.
 
SteveSklar said:
the E11 i believe has blued steel springs. So those are fine. But i can double check, I have one down on the shelf somewhere.
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Psst. Steve. Read my post above yours. :D
 
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