I haven't been able to play my clarinet or sax for a couple of weeks now, due to a particularly nasty crop of mouth ulcers, which I'm prone to when I'm a bit run down. I now seem to have something nasty going on in the back of my throat too, so will be leaving my instruments alone until I'm properly recovered.

In the meantime, I want to make sure that my mouthpieces aren't harbouring any germs, as the last thing I want to do is reinfect myself. I am quite meticulous about swabbing out instruments, mouthpieces, washing pull throughs etc but I would like to give the mouthpieces a more thorough clean. Both are less than a year old - my tenor is a basic plastic David Hite but my clarinet mouthpiece was rather more expensive, so although I want to be thorough, I don't want to inflict damage! I was thinking along the lines of a wipe out with cotton buds using TCP or possibly tea tree oil. I would prefer to use tea tree oil, rather than TCP but can anyone advise on how much to dilute or even suggest an alternative?

Also, I know not to use hot water on the ebonite mouthpiece but is there anything else I need to be aware of? Any advice gratefully received!

Another thought....but I haven't tried this out so not sure if it would affect the surface of the mouthpiece material!... A diluted Milton's solution - there is advice re the dilution on the packaging, but it is very effective killing most of the lurgy - we certainly use it in the medical profession.

Yes, used to clean high chair trays with this when my children were little! However, I'm not sure that it would be suitable for the ebonite mouthpiece - I may be wrong but I think it has a mild bleaching effect...

I'd just use lukewarm water and detergent : that should kill off any buggy things in your mouthpiece. If you are still concerned, anti bacterial mouthwash won't do your mouthpiece any harm, but that shouldn't really be necessary.

Thanks, Barry. I don't usually do anything other than dry it and am probably being slightly paranoid but I'm so frustrated with not being able to play that I just want to make sure I've killed any nasties off!

I use miltons for an extreme bleaching effect. It is brilliant on tile grouting, when normal bleach doesn't work. That is however without diluting it. I would be wary of using it, even diluted, on anything I cared about! Plastic high chair trays are fairly robust and usually white.

Won't be using it on my mouthpiece but that's a brilliant tip about the tile grouting - will be putting that to the test on our shower cubicle next week!!

Milton's is not a great idea for clarinet mouthpieces...

Likewise!

I wouldn't get too hung up on trying to sterilise your mouthpieces. The vast majority of bacteria and viruses don't survive very well in a dry environment, so the odds are that if you haven't played your mouthpiece for a couple of weeks it will be fine. Plus if your immune system has seen off the invader once it will do it again in mega-quick time.

If you are using it neat be very careful where you splash it. Your grouting will be very white, but you don't want to spalsh it on the carpet / your clothes! I find a little drop in a bowl and a cotton bud to apply it to the grouting works.

Thanks for this - my usual philosophy is that if the mouthpiece is dry, you are limiting the chances of any nasties taking up residence. It was actually my husband who suggested that I do something a bit more serious with it but I think he's just got fed up of hearing me complain about not being able to play and wants to make sure it doesn't happen again!



Don't worry - I will treat it with the respect it deserves. Fed up with scrubbing the grouting with an old toothbrush - this sounds like a much better plan!

I was going to say the same thing, no pathogens can survive with neither moisture nor body heat, so the easiest thing is to leave it somewhere that is dry and relatively cool. Then you don't have to worry about any kind of damage occuring, and so long as you don't take it from the cold and start playing immediately or plunge it into a hot room then getting cold shouldn't be a big deal. Bugs need to eat too, they will starve without a host to live in. The rate at which they will starve and the conditions they need to die off vary, but I'd be more worried about the husband than the instrument as a potential source of re-infection.

Why not hydrogen peroxide?

For clarijo's problem, I'd consider that unnecessary

I've heard from a reliable source that white cider vinegar in water is good!

Oh my gosh, Carl's come back to the forum

I've never tried the above tip, but apparently you're right, it does work...

Well, I've played my clarinet several times now and have not been stricken down with anything, so it seems all is well!

For future reference, I am interested in the white cider vinegar solution - how much should it be diluted?

I've never tried it, but as with anything acidic, I'd imagine very sparing on the vinegar would be the way to go. Would still much prefer detergent though...

Lol @ Barry

I'm pretty sure it is very sparingly- just a dash added to some water. I'll find out more when I go for my lesson next week!

When I've used it I've used about a 50 50 mix - but didnt soak long. It's good for getting stubborn calcification type gunk that can weld itself to he mouthpiece.

Sorry, haven't read the whole thread so apologies if this has been mentioned already: this link might be useful to you

I've actually seen this before and had forgotten about it but it's a great link, thank you!

Thanks to everyone else who has posted too - I've learned an awful lot about something which I hadn't previously given much thought to!