How to Clean a Trumpet

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Part of the video series: How to Clean Wind Instruments

Types of Wind Instruments

Summary: Thoroughly cleaning trumpets and other wind instruments. Learn how to clean wind instruments, from woodwinds to brass, in this free video.

Views: 508 | Tags: wind, cleaning, brass, instruments, air, musical, woodwind, vibrating, mouthpiece

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About the Expert

Bill Parker Bill Parker has been a music educator and repairman for over 30 years. He has served on the faculty at Fullerton College, Las Vegas Academy for the Performing... read more

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Video Transcript

How to Clean a Trumpet

Hi, this is Bill Parker on behalf of Expert Village. In this clip we would be showing you how to clean your trumpet. When washing your trumpet use only a very small amount of a mild dish washing soap. To much would leave a residue on your instrument. Use only lukewarm water in this soaking tub. Never use hot water, hot water could destroy the lacquer finish on your trumpet. The only part of the trumpet that we don't put in the soaking tub are the pistons. Because they have springs and also felts. While the rest of the trumpet is soaking we can clean the pistons. The first thing to do is to check the holes for any build up. If there is some take the mouth piece brush and clean it. Once it is clean we simply wipe down the pistons with a lent free cloth. Now that the trumpet has had time to soak we can start by cleaning the valve casing with a valve casing brush. Clean each valve by bruising in a up and down motion. The rest of the trumpet is cleaned with the snake. The snake is runned through all the tubings on the trumpet. The tubing closes to the mouth piece would be the ones that are the dirtiest. After cleaning each of the tubings you put the trumpet in the water, rinse off the soap and then set it on our towel to dry. You clean the slide the same way that you clean the trumpet using the snake. Be sure after cleaning the slide that you rinse it thoroughly in the water before setting it on the towel. If the valve caps are dirty when you take them out of the water use a cloth to clean them off. Otherwise just rinse them in water and place them on the towel. Last is the mouth piece and for the mouth piece we would use the mouth piece brush. When possible to let the instrument air dry it is a good idea to wipe down the wet areas to keep the finish smooth so you don't have any water spots. A paper towel is excellent for doing this. Once you finish wiping down the wet spots on your trumpet you can let it air dry. It is best to let it air dry for up to a hour so we would not have any excess moisture in the instrument when we reassemble it.