Steamrollin Stan
590 posts
Oct 11, 2012
4:13 AM
|
I sometimes use "Dihydrogen monoxide" mixed with a little detergent to wash and rinse my harps, not often, but it seems to clean the gunk away just nice, would others use this chemicle or not?
Its often used in pesticides in farm agriculture with no ill effects, so far so good.
Last Edited by on Oct 11, 2012 4:27 AM
|
arzajac
865 posts
Oct 11, 2012
4:50 AM
|
I use toothpaste and toothbrush. Only as needed.
----------
|
S-harp
65 posts
Oct 11, 2012
5:55 AM
|
I clean my harps every once 'n awhile, specially before tuning.
Purple Kaboom or Cillit Bang with a tooth brush works great!
You' ve probably all seen Jason's vid on how he cleans his harps.
----------
The tone, the tone ... and the Tone
|
ElkRiverHarmonicas
1325 posts
Oct 11, 2012
3:04 PM
|
Kaboom! is what I call the Jason Ricci method - I'm pretty sure Jason came up with it and it works. I used Kaboom! for a long time. You gotta be careful with the toothbrush, so you don't get bristles in the reedslot.
I've been using one of those ultrasonic cleaners Hetrick sells. All it needs is water, but a shot of lemon juice in the water helps - you drop it in, push a button and walk off. If the reedplates are really dirty, I change the water two or three times.
----------
David
____________________
At the time of his birth, it was widely accepted that no one man could play that much music so well or raise that much hell. He proved them all wrong.
R.I.P. H. Cecil Payne
|
rdfindley56
26 posts
Oct 11, 2012
3:10 PM
|
FYI - you can get the same sonic cleaner Hetrick sells for about $32 from the jungle retailer.. Just sayin'
Also, I think the reed plates and covers in butter sauce demo is BS. Not realistic and also heating the parts in an oily substance likely had something to do with the reed plates coming out shiny.
Regardless of the demo, these cleaners seem to work well. I've been using white vinegar, which probably works similar to lemon juice.
|
ElkRiverHarmonicas
1328 posts
Oct 11, 2012
3:41 PM
|
Chris Michalek used to use oil. I never did.
----------
David
____________________
At the time of his birth, it was widely accepted that no one man could play that much music so well or raise that much hell. He proved them all wrong.
R.I.P. H. Cecil Payne
|
HarpNinja
2751 posts
Oct 11, 2012
4:53 PM
|
Having actual first hand experience, the cleaner Hetrick sells is industrial grade and has a two year warranty. His price is the same as the retail price from the company.
Regarding the cleaner being BS, try the experiment. Or even just try lemon juice and water in a cup with a regular harp. It works really well!
I do not like using toxic anything on harps. I know people like Bar Keeper's Friend, but it is abrasive.
----------
Mike
OOTB Harmonica Price List
VHT Special 6 Mods
Note Layout Comparisons
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
|
bonedog569
651 posts
Oct 11, 2012
5:46 PM
|
Tried the kaboom once - eve with repeated rinsing , the harp tasted mildly toxic for a long time.
----------
|
MakaInOz
74 posts
Oct 11, 2012
5:46 PM
|
I use "Dihydrogen monoxide" in my ultrasonic cleaner - the combination is very effective!
But you need to be careful with "Dihydrogen monoxide" - if you ingest too much it can kill you (a bit is OK - in fact some folks recommend regular ingestion).
Quite a few people in Australia die of "Dihydrogen monoxide" overdoses each year, strangely many of them at the beach.
Gotta love chemistry!
Cheers
Maka
|
Jehosaphat
318 posts
Oct 11, 2012
9:47 PM
|
@steamroller,don't worry mate, Dihydrogen monoxide goes well with Gin so mix up a big glass, use some to clean the harps and drink the rest..^
|
sonvolt13
119 posts
Oct 12, 2012
5:28 AM
|
I soak my special 20's in 91% isopropyl alcohol for 15 minutes (once a month). I then tap as much alcohol out as I can and lay them on a paper towel to let the rest of the alcohol evaporate. I'm considering getting an utlrasonic cleaner. I wonder how using the alcohol in the cleaner instead of water would work?
|
florida-trader
194 posts
Oct 12, 2012
7:32 AM
|
A couple of months ago I had a customer ask me about cleaning reed plates and I shot these before and after pictures of a set of Special 20 reed plates. I use BarKeeper’s Friend with a toothbrush followed by an ultrasonic cleaner. By the way, it is important to use a high quality tooth brush. I’ve tried the cheap ones but the bristles tend to snag and pull out whereas the name brand toothbrushes are just plain built better. The bristles don’t pull out. I guess that’s why they cost more.
Aside from the cleaning aspect of these pictures it is interesting to do some forensic comb analysis. If you notice the plate at the top of the Before picture – which is the draw plate – there is quite a bit of staining around the 2-3-4 slots and the stains run together. The plate at the bottom of the photo (the blow plate) also has some staining but the stains are separated by clear dividing lines where the reed plate is still (relatively) shiny. The dividing lines show where the tines of the comb meet the reed plate. What this tells us is that the draw plate on this harmonica had some leaks. The stains are caused by saliva and if the saliva is running between the reed plate and the tines of the comb then it stands to reason that air is also leaking between the chambers.
Whenever you mount a set of reed plates on a flat comb you can look at the edge to see if any light shines between the reed plates and comb. Light shining through, of course, equals leaks. However, this is not possible with a Special 20 comb since the lip that runs around the edge of the comb hides any leaks. The lip also makes it impossible to flat sand the comb to fix the leaks. This is why a lot of people experience an improvement in how their harp plays when they replace the stock comb with a flat comb.
----------
Tom Halchak
www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
Last Edited by on Oct 12, 2012 7:33 AM
|
arzajac
866 posts
Oct 12, 2012
8:53 AM
|
In keeping with the theme of the original post, that is cleaning with only soap and water (i.e. Dihydrogen monoxide), I must say that cleaning a "vintage" reedplate to a shine decreases playability, in my experience.
Just my 2 cents.
I have tried a lot of different products and I can get a harp to look brand-new, but that harp will never play as well as it once did. I've found that less is more.
I don't know if the harsher cleaning product eat away at the brass of if it's the scrubbing, but I can say that I can consistently get an old harp to sound awesome if I don't worry about appearance. I use toothpaste and water and scrub away the nasty stuff, I may work a little on rust spots with some other methods, but I avoid soaking the harp if something like CLR or vinegar, salt/vingar, etc...
And it is possible to make a stock SP20 comb flatter than out-of-the-box.
A great determinant of airtightness is how well the harp can be set up for sustainable and bendable overdraws. You can get an idea of how airtight the harp is by playing or by covering the slots with your fingers and gauging the airleak as you puff your cheeks on the blocked hole, but I find playing the overdraws more objective since even a small airleak will cause the overdraw to become very difficult.
----------
|
STME58
261 posts
Oct 12, 2012
9:05 AM
|
@florida-trader,
Your before reed plate images remind me of what an automotive engine block and cylinder head look like when a head gasket has blown, clear evedenice of gasses and fluids passing betwenn chambers.
|
HarpNinja
2752 posts
Oct 12, 2012
9:20 AM
|
I love everything in @arzajac's post and second all of it.
----------
Mike
OOTB Harmonica Price List
VHT Special 6 Mods
Note Layout Comparisons
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
|
HarpNinja
2753 posts
Oct 12, 2012
9:20 AM
|
I love everything in @arzajac's post and second all of it.
----------
Mike
OOTB Harmonica Price List
VHT Special 6 Mods
Note Layout Comparisons
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
|
rdfindley56
27 posts
Oct 12, 2012
9:30 AM
|
@HarpNinja
No kidding, I got the exact same unit for a lot less.. I was checking it out for several days first. The one I have also has a 2 year warranty. Also not beating up Hetrick.. A person does have to make a living and I'm sure he's marking it up a bit.
My comments about the demo were really pertaining to the fact he heated the parts in oil before putting them in the sonic cleaner, which is what I think caused them come out shiny and is not something someone will typically do with their harp parts. He was just trying to show them as extra dirty.
I'm using the cleaner with white vinegar. I spray the parts with undiluted vinegar and add a TBSP or so to the water in cleaner. It does work well, though I did have to put a couple of pretty gunky combs through twice. I may add a drop or 2 of dish detergent to see if that improves the process.
Also, my goal is not to make the reed plates shiny.. just get the crap out and enable the harp to play better.
|
MrVerylongusername
2426 posts
Oct 12, 2012
1:06 PM
|
Dihydrogen monoxide aside...
polishing = removing the oxide layer (patina)
The oxide layer is what prevents further oxidation
Oxidation is inevitable, you cannot prevent it and play your harps - so why bother? Remove the patina and you're just weakening the reeds.
Add ammonia based cleaners and you'll drastically increase the possibility of stress corrosion cracking. Purple kaboom contains amines which are ammonia derived compounds. It will also react with the brass and increase the risk of stress corrosion cracking.
On the other hand that dihydrogen monoxide stuff sounds good if you feel confident want to take the risk of working with a chemical which causes 450 deaths a year in the UK
|
Harp2swing
61 posts
Oct 12, 2012
5:49 PM
|
For Aussie harpers,your local Aldi store has some ultrasonic cleaners at the moment for $24.99
----------
|
Harp2swing
62 posts
Oct 12, 2012
5:54 PM
|
p.s just uploaded my photo,but how do I move it to the left-hand bottom corner? or maybe I should just leave it, always wanted to be the centre of attention.
----------
Last Edited by on Oct 12, 2012 7:15 PM
|
ricanefan
127 posts
Oct 12, 2012
8:02 PM
|
Stan - "Dihydrogen monoxide" is a fictitious product; someone has scammed you. Try using hydrogen hydroxide with your detergent. You should be able to find it in at least one local store...
|
ElkRiverHarmonicas
1333 posts
Oct 12, 2012
11:55 PM
|
I don't think dihydrogen monoxide is fictitious. If it were, I would not be addicted to it. I can't kick it, no matter how hard I try. DId you know billions of dollars of TAXPAYERS money are spent on pumping this poison directly into people's homes!
The cravings only go away when I use. If I kick it for only a few days, I pass out and they take me to the hospital. Do you think they put you in Dihy rehab? Hell no! They stick a needle in your arm and pump it directly in your veins!
----------
David
____________________
At the time of his birth, it was widely accepted that no one man could play that much music so well or raise that much hell. He proved them all wrong.
R.I.P. H. Cecil Payne
|
ricanefan
128 posts
Oct 13, 2012
1:54 AM
|
"Dihydrogen monoxide" would indicate that two hydrogen atoms bonded to each other and then bonded with an oxygen atom. In the case of the liquid Stan uses to clean, and you feel so compelled to drink, one hydrogen atom bonds with an oxygen atom, forming a hydroxide molecule, which then bonds with another hydrogen atom to become the hydrogen hydroxide so many of you wish to use so irresponsibly!
My recommendation for this liquid if you are going to drink it, and I believe that you, Dave, follow this practice yourself, is to fortify it with maltose, and sanitize it with humulus lupulus and saccharomyces cerevisiae, before drinking it. (And give it at least two weeks - one to two months is better - before drinking.)
|
Steamrollin Stan
593 posts
Oct 13, 2012
4:15 AM
|
In its solid state its nice with a good Scotch whiskey, or a Jack Daniels, you's know what i'm sayin here..!!
|
