The ball of dust in my violin has got bigger! Does this affect my sound? If, not, fine. If yes?! Can someone advise us an easy way to get it out? She has tried rice! That didn't work.

Can you poke at the ball of dust in the violin with a plastic drinking straw through the 'f' shaped hole and reduce it? Then you might just be able to simply shake out all the dust by turning the violin upside down or/and with the rice as well.

If the dust ball is mainly fluff, then to be honest, it's not worth bothering with. If it is made up of something more solid and has a tendancy to rattle then it is probably wise to remove it. Most old instruments will have a fluff ball inside them - it's part and parcel of the aging process of the instrument, dirt that has collected over maybe 100+ years, depending on the age of the instrument and whether any work has been done on it where the back or front has been removed.

Think of your fluff ball as provinence

Hi Tess, the way I get out dust ball is to get the ball to the F hole and pull it out with a pair of tweezers.

Hi violin-ann and amati! I shall try to answer on her behalf as she's going to bed very early - right now! A day at the fair has worn her out. Can't poke at the ball dust with a straw or pull it out with tweezers as it keeps rolling about and won't stop at all near the holes no matter how we tried!

Amanda, thanks very much for the reassurance. Inside her teacher's very old violin (maybe older than his more than 50yrs!) IS this fluff - just a big ball of pure grey dust.

Tess

Would it be possible to use a vaccum cleaner to get it out? Or is that a very bad idea? (I'm not a string player but this thread looked very interesting!) Perhaps a bike pump would be less likely to damage it.

I suppose a violin would be able to withstand it, perhaps the detatchable nozzle bit or a cordless hand one. It's probably worth a go.

If you can work a length of sellotape into one of the F holes and then roll the offending dust ball towards it you may well succeed in trapping the thing. Don't loose the tape inside though! Failing this just make a friend of it and give it a name. Arnold might be good

I wouldn't be brave enough to use a vacuum-cleaner in case it dislodged the soundpost even slightly.

I have the feeling that an instrument which has been laid aside for a while and is then suddenly played a lot tends to accumulate more dust - maybe the vibration loosens it, so it starts clumping into a ball??? I know I saw that in some of the older violins Viohazard had as a child.

His current violin is "older", but it has been completely rebuilt, so not too dusty yet. More problems with part of the wood lifting . His teacher currently rents a room off the luthier who put Viohazard's violin together, andit's quite something to see the expression on the luthier's face when the teacher comes downstairs (quite regularly) with Viohazard's violin in hand to discuss the many problems he finds with it!

Hi Rosemary and Isabel, VN herself has decided to let it be and left!

And yet, I can't help going back to her thread. It IS interesting. When she was out yesterday, I kept trying! It's a bit like an itch on my back I can't seem to stop myself from scratching. Hey no, a vacuum cleaner's small nozzle or a bike pump will not work on such an old violin - it looks so fragile to me!!! *scared*

Allears, that violin has always been played. From one student of his to another. Actually, he lends one fav pupil after another. The former player has just finished her diploma in performance! But I agree with you that the sucking action could dislocate the sound post.

However, I'm very impressed with Petrat's suggestion because it was the "rolling across the holes when tipped" that first alerted her to how BIG the ball was! She adores her violin and won't let me experiment with it. Aha, I'll definitely wait till she's gone and then will try the cellotape trick myself. Thanks, Petrat, for Arnold, too.

I have the answer.

I have one of those very small vacuum cleaners, about 6 inches long that plugs in to a USB port of your computer, and has three different small nozzle attachments, a long thin one, a round one, and one with a small brush.

Its for cleaning your keyboard with - don't we all get spec of dust, dandruff etc on our keyboards down the spaces between the keys etc?

Im sure they must be available form PC World , though I think mine came from a Debenhams chain store as a Christmas present.

Any further news of Arnold?

Hee hee... is Arnold the big grey dustball a softie or is he a tough nut? If cellotape doesn't work, maybe double sided tape will.. stick it to a straw or something, as the cellotape might just flop around uselessly inside and stick to the violin!

Will try again tonight. Think Arnold likes his home too much!

Time to give in now Arnold. You can retire from the violin and go to live somewhere far more quiet. But don't worry about the future. I expect that you will be kept in a matchbox and be perfectly happy.

When did he get christened Arnold?? I missed that!

All my fault! I suggested that if he was to be a permanent fixture and would not be moved she should make a friend of him and give him a name. Somehow Arnold sprang to mind.

I've seen it now that I knew what to look for

Muha! Any updates on Arnold?

Arnold likes his home too much now, apparently. Time to entice him with more sticky double sided tape.

Or maybe a skewer would do the trick once you've got him right under the 'f' shaped hole.

That sounds a bit mean, Ann. Might hurt him.

Great thread! Can't wait for an update.

What about using a drinking straw as a vacuum cleaner and suck him out. The danger is that Arnold might get swallowed!!

Ahh, but then you and Arnold would become one as you imbibed your violin's cultural heritage .

Sorry folks, we have (both) let you down.

I am afraid Arnold is being impossible! Behaves like one of those teenagers with brand new hormones - evasive. Reminds me of my nephew. You know, as my sis used to say, "... in bed when you are up and about and when you are in bed, he is up and about and up to no good!"

Tess

If he ever does come emerge please will you post a picture of him? He is gathering quite a fan club here.

Oh yes, Arnold the Invincible DustBall.
Hmm.. I don't think neither VN nor Tess would like to suck Arnold up! That might be awfully uncomfortable

But maybe he is not made of dust after all, but of biscuit crumbs, and then he might be really tastey

If there is anything resembling food of any kind it will be old and mouldy bu now. Please do not eat him! Is it totally impossible to get him to hovver over the one of the f holes and then grab him with fine tweezers?

Arnold (in a quivering voice): "Don't hoover or grab me with tweezers, pretty pleeeeeaaaseee...leave me alone!!!"

Don't be alarmed Arnold. We mean you no harm. Its just that you would be better out of the prison where you have lived all of your life. Think of the tweezers as a kind of forceps delivery to freedom.

First, I'd like to report that VN once said thoughtfully that a baby finds light and sound a bit too much to bear in the outside world and cries bec he doesn't want to be dragged out like her brother.

Secondly, Arnold is not in prison!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Petrat, do you not fancy living inside Maxim's violin? Moments of calm peaceful rest when he's not working and passion or bliss when he is? (By the way, no one's suggesting VN plays anywhere near that. Just illustrating, as usual.)

Wouldn't say Arnold is a friend yet. Just mutual tolerance.

Tess

PS. Must remind VN to read this thread! She had probably thought we couldn't get Arnol out - end of matter.

Maybe tickling Arnold with a big feather might just get him to stay under the f hole.
It's alright, Arnold dear, we shan't hurt you!

I am not really sure that I would like to live inside Maxim's violin! It would be a little bit like being a ship forever in dock and never at sea I think. I would want to be more of a free spirit, at liberty to roam wherever the gentle breezes took me, rather than confined to one place. If I really had to be a dust ball I would choose to live hidden in one of the wings of a famous, and very busy opera house.
In school I remember being asked to write about a day in the life of a penny. I found this so dull that I wrote about a day in the life of a bottle instead and included some very dubious ideas from one of my father's surgical manuals. The teacher was not at all impressed! I would have written about a dust ball like Arnold had I but known.

Back in my schooldays the best violinist was called Arnold.
I have no idea if he's still 'with us' (Ashes to Ashes , Dust to Dust)

Should that not read "Arnold to ashes, dust to dust"? Very sorry if this is an utterly tasteless remark. I mean no offence.

Hmm.. yes, except that Arnold is a dustball, and dustballs are not ashes.

I can't believe that I haven't bothered to skim through this thread before! I was obviously missing out....

It's alright, what you don't know will leave Arnold in peace.
I must admit that hearing about Arnold the dustball is like an itch I have to scratch - I keep longing to think of a solution for getting Arnold out!

But what would he do in the big outside world?? He might be really scared and want to crawl back in.

If he comes out he ought to be found a new home inside a shoe box for a while until he gets used to it...and he will need to played music to everyday.

I'm sure that's no problem! VN plays her violin everyday, so Arnold can just sit in his box and listen. She must be playing fabulously by now, the way she has been practicing. Who knows she might be Grade 6-7 level right now.

Please may we have an update on Arnold? I keep checking this post, but there's nothing! Is no news good news?

I must say, we REALLY enjoyed reading the creative responses here! Thanks, everyone.

Well, to conclude this saga, we lost to Arnold in the end. He is so tenacious. He just cannot be persuaded to come to the light? Maybe Arnold doesn't want to lose his dark entitlement to affect VN's sound? (He has now been returned to VN's teacher's.)

VN now has (on loan) an old 7/8 French violin which seems totally naked inside.