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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > Submerging Stainless Steel
Submerging  Stainless Steel
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DanP
422 posts
Oct 01, 2019
10:34 PM
I was surfing youtube a few days back for some harmonica related videos and I came across a video by J.P. Allen who cleans his Seydel Silver harmonicas by putting the whole harp (not disassembled) in a glass of hydrogen peroxide full enough to submerge the harmonica fully and leave it for about 5 minutes and then rinse it out with regular tap water. I think it was the common 3% solution that you can get in about any store. The only Seydel harmonica I own is a Blues Session Steel (the one with the orange comb) but it has about the same makeup as the Seydel Silver: stainless steel cover plates, German steel reed plates and stainless steel reeds, the only difference is the comb material plastic for the Session Steel and polymer for the Seydel Silver. I know that hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizing agent but the parts are resistant to rust (or supposed to be). Anyway, I was wondering if any Seydel Silver players clean their harps this way
florida-trader
1457 posts
Oct 03, 2019
2:17 PM
I am not a Seydel Siler player per se, but I think I can offer some pertinent advice. If you hang around on the harp forums long enough you will read or see people talking about cleaning their intact harmonicas in a variety of ways. Immersing them hydrogen peroxide is one. Putting them into an ultrasonic cleaner is another. Simply rinsing them under the faucet has been suggested. And even the term “Dishwasher safe” has been bandied about over the years. Not quite sure if that one is literal or figurative. All of them can work and in my opinion, all of them have the potential to do some harp to your harp. I look at it this way. Basically, there are two ways to clean just about anything. Chemically or with good old fashion Elbow Grease. When I say chemically, I mean something as benign as hydrogen peroxide, Dawn dishwashing detergent or vinegar. It would be nice if all we ever had to do to maintain our harps was to put them in some sort of solution and voila! – out pops a perfectly clean harp. Doesn’t quite work that way. You can certainly move a “dirty” harp in the right direction with this strategy and there’s a pretty good chance that you will even be able to get a harp that might be “stuck” to become “unstuck”. But there is no panacea. Eventually, you’re going to have to take your harp apart and scrub each component with a toothbrush (and some Dawn) to remove all the dried-up mouth juices and caked on gunk. If you have never completely disassembled a harp that you’ve been playing for a while and had look inside - brace yourself. You will be amazed and perhaps disgusted at what you will find. It is what it is. If you really want to clean your harp, this is the only way to do it. The potential damage of what I speak is rust. Harmonicas typically have three different kinds of metal attached to each other. With a Hohner, we have brass reed plates and chrome plated covers fastened together with steel screws. With Seydels, we have German Silver (nickel steel) reed plates, chrome plated covers and steel screws. The different types of metal connected make a perfect little battery. Throw in a reagent and you have a recipe for corrosion. The longer you leave you harp submerged in any liquid, the greater the chances of corrosion. It is not a big deal. It is easy to clean off. But you gotta take your harp apart to do it. Just sayin’.
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Tom Halchak
Blue Moon Harmonicas
Blue Moon Harmonicas
DanP
423 posts
Oct 03, 2019
3:49 PM
I appreciate it, Tom. In your business, you are certainly in a position to know. Thank you for responding and for your many contributions to this forum.
jbone
3020 posts
Oct 03, 2019
4:06 PM
I've used 91% isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush for a long time. Disassemble harp, soak reed plates, comb, and covers in a shallow dish for a short time, scrape/brush "stuff" away, rinse with warm water, dry parts off, reassemble.

In a pinch I do a warm water rinse if I'm say at a gig and have a note act up on a harp. Gentle rinse, shake out, and wrap in a cloth and tap out. Gently play for a minute to get more water out of the crucial areas.
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Music and travel destroy prejudice.

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