How to care for your musical instruments
Caring for your flute
You will need to purchase a cleaner rod and a cleaning cloth from your local music retailer or online.
To clean your flute, follow these simple instructions:
- Disassemble your flute in the reverse order to setting up.
- Thread the cleaning cloth through the cleaning rod.
- Gently push the rod and cloth through each joint. If there is any resistance, take it out and try again. Be sure to polish the joints after use to stop gunk from building up, which can make the joints tough.
- Make sure each piece of your flute is back in the right spot before you close your case. Don’t force your case closed – if it doesn’t close properly, check how you have packed your flute away. Do not put your book or anything else on top of your flute as this will damage the keys.
- Make sure your case is closed and locked properly before you pick it up.
- Your flute will require regular servicing to keep it in proper working order.
Caring for your clarinet
You will need to purchase cork grease and a cleaning pull-through cloth from your local music retailer or online.
To clean your clarinet, follow these simple instructions:
- Disassemble your clarinet in the reverse order to setting up.
- Drop the string of the pull-through cloth into each joint and pull the cloth through. Do this carefully otherwise the cloth will become stuck. If you have trouble, pull it back out and drop the string through the other end.
- Make sure you have taken the reed off the mouthpiece before you clean it. The reed should be stored in its plastic case to prevent bacteria from building up. The reed will need to be changed at least once a fortnight when you first start playing. By the middle of the year you should be changing your reed once a month.
- Make sure each piece of your clarinet is back in the right spot before you close your case. Don’t force your case closed – if it doesn’t close properly, check how you have packed your clarinet away. Do not put your book or anything else on top of your clarinet as this will damage the keys.
- Make sure your case is closed and locked properly before you pick it up.
- Be sure to grease all the corks with your cork grease before assembling your clarinet.
Caring for your saxophone
Alto Saxophone & Tenor Saxophone
Always lift your Saxophone out of the case by the bell
When assembling your instrument, firstly place the reed on the mouthpiece, then put the mouthpiece on the gooseneck and finally fit the gooseneck on the sax
Remove the reed after playing and put it in a reed guard. Dry the mouthpiece out.
Dry the instrument after use with a proper pull through. DO NOT PUT AWAY WET.
Always put the instrument away in its case after use.
Never place the instrument on your bed or seat as you may sit on it.
Oil the key work every six months with key oil.
Do not use fluffy pipe cleaners.
If there is a problem with your saxophone—DO NOT TRY TO FIX IT YOURSELF. Take it to your tutor and they may be able to fix it or they will advise where to take it to be repaired.
Cleaning products can be purchased from all good Music Stores or should have been supplied with your rental.
Caring for your trumpet
Trumpet, Trombone, Euphonium, Baritone, Tuba
Never drop or bang your instrument against anything. All brass instruments will dent fairly easily so be careful.
Oil your valves once per week or if one begins to get stuck. Remove valves from casings one by one, ensuring that you know where each valve came from. (There are numbers on the side of each valve and on each casing. Valve 1 is closest to the mouthpiece). Apply valve oil to each valve and replace in the casing.
Always ensure that you have a drink of water before you play your instrument. Otherwise you will end up with food stuck in your instrument which will affect your playing and could damage the instrument.
The slides on your instrument should move easily. To maintain this, remove the slides every couple of weeks, and apply a small amount of Vaseline or slide grease to the slide and then a couple of drops of valve oil. Replace the slide and then wipe away any excess grease.
Ensure that the mouthpiece is kept clean at all times, especially after illness. Submerge the mouthpiece in warm water and use a cotton bud to clean the inside barrel.
If a slide or mouthpiece become stuck, DO NOT use force. Bring the instrument to a local music store. They will have a mouthpiece puller to remove stuck mouthpieces.
Most instruments should come with a cleaning cloth (if not they can be obtained cheaply from a music store). Use this cloth to polish the instrument and keep clean.
Instrument Cases are designed to hold the weight of the instrument only. Discourage your child from sitting on their case.
If at any time the instrument will not blow, DO NOT PANIC. A slide or valve may have been replaced incorrectly and can be easily fixed.
Bathing your instrument
Your instrument must be thoroughly washed out once a term. Remove all parts of the instrument (remembering where everything goes) and submerge in lukewarm (never hot) water. Let it soak for no longer than 20mins. Run the cleaning snake through the lead pipe and slides. Use the mouthpiece brush in the barrel of the mouthpiece. Remove your instrument from the bath and rinse with cold water. Allow to drain upright overnight in a safe place. Replace all parts in the same positions. If you have problems with this please contact your tutor. Bathing of the instrument is best left to the parents or at least it should be done with parental supervision.
All cleaning products, valve oil and slide grease can be purchased from all good Music Stores or will have been included in your instrument rental. Please let us know if you are missing something.
Caring for your trombone
Trumpet, Trombone, Euphonium, Baritone, Tuba
Never drop or bang your instrument against anything. All brass instruments will dent fairly easily so be careful.
Oil your valves once per week or if one begins to get stuck. Remove valves from casings one by one, ensuring that you know where each valve came from. (There are numbers on the side of each valve and on each casing. Valve 1 is closest to the mouthpiece). Apply valve oil to each valve and replace in the casing.
Always ensure that you have a drink of water before you play your instrument. Otherwise you will end up with food stuck in your instrument which will affect your playing and could damage the instrument.
The slides on your instrument should move easily. To maintain this, remove the slides every couple of weeks, and apply a small amount of Vaseline or slide grease to the slide and then a couple of drops of valve oil. Replace the slide and then wipe away any excess grease.
For Trombone Main Slide: Apply slide cream to the inner section of the slide. A spray bottle of water is then used to spray water on the slide to improve the movement of the slide.
Ensure that the mouthpiece is kept clean at all times, especially after illness. Submerge the mouthpiece in warm water and use a cotton bud to clean the inside barrel.
If a slide or mouthpiece become stuck, DO NOT use force. Bring the instrument to a local music store. They will have a mouthpiece puller to remove stuck mouthpieces.
Most instruments should come with a cleaning cloth (if not they can be obtained cheaply from a music store). Use this cloth to polish the instrument and keep clean.
Instrument Cases are designed to hold the weight of the instrument only. Discourage your child from sitting on their case.
If at any time the instrument will not blow, DO NOT PANIC. A slide or valve may have been replaced incorrectly and can be easily fixed.
Bathing your instrument
Your instrument must be thoroughly washed out once a term. Remove all parts of the instrument (remembering where everything goes) and submerge in lukewarm (never hot) water. Let it soak for no longer than 20mins. Run the cleaning snake through the lead pipe and slides. Use the mouthpiece brush in the barrel of the mouthpiece. Remove your instrument from the bath and rinse with cold water. Allow to drain upright overnight in a safe place. Replace all parts in the same positions. If you have problems with this please contact your tutor. Bathing of the instrument is best left to the parents or at least it should be done with parental supervision.
All cleaning products, valve oil and slide grease can be purchased from all good Music Stores or will have been included in your instrument rental. Please let us know if you are missing something.
Trombones: Pour lukewarm water into the outer slide and insert into the inner slide. Then “slush pump”. Move the slide in and out slowly with water inside, then remove and dry thoroughly. Use cleaning rod and a soft lint-free cloth to clean slide.
Caring for your bass guitar
Cleaning your bass guitar should be a very easy job. It always helps to have clean hands!
- Use a soft cloth and some gentle polish to wipe your guitar down and get it shining like new. You can buy guitar polish from a music store but regular polish should be fine. Keep the polish away from the strings and the fingerboard.
- The ‘hardware’ is any metal or brass attached to the wood. You can clean this with a gentle cloth and polish too.
- You can also wipe the strings down after you play with a soft cloth.
- We don’t advise removing the strings yourself for cleaning. Please take this to a guitar store for full cleaning or return to Presto Instruments.
Caring for your acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar – Caring for your Instrument
Caring for your Acoustic Guitar
- Use a soft microfibre or lint free cloth that won’t shed threads and get stuck under the fret edges.
- Use a gentle guitar polish to bring back the shine so it looks like new.
- Wipe down the body guitar with polish and cloth ensuring to keep polish away from strings and the fingerboard. Using a separate lint free cloth (no polish) wipe the strings. Clean strings can have a huge impact on the sound of the guitar.
- Whilst a guitar looks great on the wall or stand, they get dusty quickly so always place your guitar back in its case to protect it.
- We don’t advise removing the strings yourself for cleaning. Please take this to a guitar store for full cleaning or return to Presto Instruments.