Trumpet Maintenance
How To Look After Your Trumpet
How To Clean Your Trumpet
In this video I will show how to clean your trumpet to make sure it always plays its best.
To clean your trumpet you will need-
- Some washing up liquid
- A pull through brush/snake brush (must have)
- Mouthpiece brush
- Cleaning brushes or cleaning rod.
- Cloths
- Valve Oil and Tuning Slide Grease
To clean your trumpet you will need:
Trumpet Snake Brush
You will need a snake brush to clean the inside the pipes of your trumpet. Dirt inside the pipes can make your trumpet play badly.
Mouthpiece Brush
It is important to have a mouthpiece brush. Even a tiniest bit of dirt in bore of the mouthpiece can make a noticeable difference.
Valve Casing Brush
This brush is useful for cleaning the inside the valve casings. This will help keep your valves running smoothly.
Slide Grease
Once you've cleaned your trumpet you will have to grease your slides when you put them back.
Step 1
The first thing to clean is the mouthpiece. Use a mouthpiece brush to clean the bore removing any debris or blockages. This can make a big difference to how your trumpet plays. If you you don't have a valve brush you could use a pipe cleaner.
Step 2
Remove the valves and clean them separately. I like to soak them in a mug of warm soapy water making sure that you don't get the velts wet. A small amount washing liquid will do the job. Wipe with a cloth, don't use anything that could scratch them.
Step 3
Remove all of the slides from the trumpet and soak in a warm bath (not hot) of soapy water (washing up liquid) for about 20 minutes. If any of the slides are stuck they might come out after a soak. Then while the trumpet is submerged in water use a cleaning snake brush to clean the inside of all of the tubes. Use a valve brush or a cleaning rod with a cloth to clean the inside of valve casing. Wipe the outside of the trumpet and the legs of the slides with a cloth. If any of the slides are really dirty you i show how to clean them in how to clean sticky slides.
Step 4
Rinse the trumpet through with clean cold water and then leave to dry. Once dry use tuning slide grease to grease slides and then put them back in. Then carefully screw on the bottom valve caps being careful not to cross thread them. Once this done you can then put the valves back in making sure you use valve oil as I show in how to oil your valves. You can apply a bit of valve oil to the greased 1st and 3rd valve slide if you want them to move more freely.
Step 5
To polish your trumpet you can use a dust cloth. It's always a good idea to wear cotton gloves while you polish so you don't leave finger prints.
For lacquered instruments you can use a bit of furniture polish to add a bit of a shine.
For silver plated instruments you can use a silver cloth but make sure you finish off with a normal untreated to bring to a shine.