Burke T of open door harps has customized a bunch of harps for me and I contacted him about cleaning them. He suggested using kaboom and then rubbing alcohol as the cheapest way. All those chemicals didn't sound very good to me. I thought about it and Dr Bronners Magic Soap came to me. I have been using it since the 70's for just about everything from bathing, shampoo, to cleaning the floors. I cleaned a few harps that were a bit gunked up and it seemed to do a great job. I thought I would share this as a more ecologically friendly alternative to what most are using. Check out the Dr Bronners Magic Soapbox documentary if you get a chance. Walter
---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
Hey thanks for the trip down memory lane. We used to use Dr. Bronners exclusively for our Appalachian backpack trips. Many a week using that stuff to wash your dishes, clothes, body, and brush your teeth. Reading the label is a hoot!
I guess it would work well for harps. I can verify that is OK for teeth brushing so should OK to clean things you put your mouth on.
AW: Why don't you still use it? I always would marvel at the label and wondered what kind of man would create such stuff? I found the answer when I watched the documentary. A very determined visionary he was and inspirational to me to keep on my passions. Walter
---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
We have been using Kiss-My-Face brand "Peace" soap which is 100 per cent Castille soap (environmentally friendly, not animal tested, etc...) The bottle label design is interesting and I guess I understand why now - it's a tribute (ripoff) to Dr Bonners.
I have used a drop of Castille soap in my ultrasonic cleaner but I usually scrub the reedplates with toothpaste. If I switch to using Castille soap to scrub the reedplates, I will be 100 percent environmentally friendly and cruely-free! I don't know why I didn't consider it before! Great idea! Thanks Walter!
Dr. Bronner's soap company gives most of their profits away, has capped the highest salaries and gives employees mega bonuses each year. I am contacting Ralph Bronner, Dr. Bronners son about donating soap to my classroom bakery. They are all green, fair trade, organic. It doesn't get much better than Dr Bronner. Watch the documentary. It is inspirational. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
Fantastic product line. The Bronner soaps have been around forever. Growing up in San Diego, Bronner Soap and the WD40 compound were the pillars of non-toxic mojo. The first time I ever saw Bronner's soap was back in the early 70's. Doc Paskowitz was using the peppermint soap just as AW mentioned above: shampoo, dishsoap, toothpaste etc. The Paskowitz Clan was camped and surfing on the same stretch of beach that we were down in Baja. At dusk one evening Doc was out in the surf cleaning up for dinner. Whatever he was using to shampoo was lathering in saltwater. What the hell? That caught my attention. I walked down and met him as he was walking back up towards the campfire. As I got close to him I could smell the fresh minty aroma there in the seashore evening. Been a believer ever since. I've hauled Bronner's soap with me all over the world and (like Walter) I preach the Bronner gospel to everyone that asks. I'll be checking the magic properties as they can be applied to harp cleaning this evening. Thanks for the tip Walter. Viva Doc Bronner! ---------- ~Buzadero Underwater Janitor, Patriot
Bone, I'm around. Just busy. SoCal, back to the Bay, Alaska, back to the Bay, home, Colorado, home, Gulf of Mexico, home, back to the Bay, ad infinitum.....
Good thing these instruments are portable and compact.
I'm on a flight to Sandy Land tomorrow morning (just in time for the next stormfront).
I leave you with one more Bronner endorsement: the Almond soap is a a very smooth shave......
Buzadero: You will be in my neck of the woods. I spent all my summers at ortley beach NJ. My grandfather owned a couple of bungalows there. Ortley is right next to the amusement pier that fell in the ocean at seaside hts. My family all still live in NJ and from I can gather it is like another Katrina there. You better bring a supply of Dr Bronners. I doubt you will find it there.
My first experience with it was when I hit Ca fresh from NJ and ended up living in a commune in Sonoma County. I tripped out on the pepperment, the label, and the whole concept. Nothing like that existed in NJ. My harps are playing great after the Bronner cleaning. Walter
here is a link my sister sent me of the before and after Sandy beach pictures. The second one is Ortley Beach. I wonder if my granfathers old bungalows are still standing.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/specials/hurricane-sandy-before-after-photos/ ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
Thanks for the tip! Now, I had to go through an undisclosed big online seller to get it here in Europe, which seems paradoxical, but it's on the way, and I'm looking forward to it!
Couldn't get it here, but in the US, a cleaner should be available from them also.. perhaps that works better than soap?
Tried it yesterday (the forum was down for two days?). It doesn't seem to work as well as Jason Ricci's method from a cleaning perspective. But it has the advantage of being faster (only 1 product needed) and giving your harps a nicer taste then the alcohol, whose remains are pretty nasty. I think this will help me to clean my harps ofter, and more environment-friendly. I don't know if rust will appear because of not finishing of with the water-free alcohol.. I think it 'll be fine though!
