How to Clean a Trumpet
When holding a trumpet, you’re not just holding a piece of brass, you’re holding a piece of extraordinary history. Starting in the 13th century, the trumpet was believed to be a signaling device in Greece and Ancient Egypt. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the trumpet started to take on its folded form, being able to produce harmonic tone. By the 19th century, the trumpet was now known as an orchestral instrument. The trumpet of this era was in the key of F, and was now louder and easier to clean due to improvements made throughout the years. In order to clean the trumpet, the following supplies will be needed; a large tub or sink, a mouthpiece brush, a long flexible bore brush (snake),a valve casing swab rod, valve oil, slide grease, paper towels, hand towels, a cotton cloth (an old dish towel will do just fine), bleach free dish soap, and polish (depending on the type of finish; brass or silver), and a polishing cloth. There are 4 steps when it comes to cleaning the trumpet; Disassembling and removing parts of the trumpet, cleaning and rinsing, drying off, lubricating, and reassembling the trumpet, and finally shining the trumpet.
The first step when cleaning the trumpet is to disassemble and remove the different parts of the trumpet. Set the mouthpiece to one side on the towel you've laid out flat. Unscrew the top valves caps one at a time. Take the valves out and place them in order 1-2-3 on the towel. Then unscrew the bottom valve caps and place them in order underneath the valves. Finally, remove the first, second, third and tuning slides but lightly pulling on them until they are all of the way off the horn. Place them in order to the side of the valves. Next, take a sheet of paper towel and carefully wipe any oil off the valves. Pick up each slide and wipe any slide grease off the tubes. If the body of the trumpet has any inner slide tubes wipe any grease of these also. Now take a corner of the cotton towel and feed it through the...