Trumpet Maintenance

Table of Contents

Cleaning Your Trumpet

How Often?

Daily

Lubricate the valves

Wipe off excess sweat and dirt after each playing session, before you put the instrument away

Weekly

Brush out your mouthpiece with a mouthpiece brush

Monthly

Brush out your leadpipe and tuning slide with a cleaning snake

Every 3-6 months

Clean your entire instrument thoroughly

Why clean your instrument?

A well-maintained instrument plays better and lasts longer. The inside of the trumpet is a warm, moist environment – a perfect place for water and food particles to accumulate, creating a breeding ground for colonies of microorganisms. These will partially block the airstream, changing the inside diameter and shape of the tubing and therefore the “feel”, resistance, tone quality, and intonation of the instrument. Eventually, the acids they produce will corrode the metal, requiring expensive repair or replacement.

Oils and acids from your fingers and hands, which accumulate on the outside of the instrument, will also gradually eat through the lacquer and plating – and occasionally through the metal itself – creating bubbles and “orange peel” in the finish, thin spots and holes.

Above: Unwashed hands and acidic sweat have created “orange peel” on the 3rd valve casing and 1st valve thumb saddle, and eaten through the silver plating on 2nd valve crook, 3rd valve slide, 1st valve casing, and valve bottom caps.

Red Rot: Corrosion can also happen from within. “Red rot” is corrosion that eats the zinc in the brass alloy. It occurs most often in the leadpipe due to the acidity of food and saliva, and can eat pits and holes in the tubing. Prevent this by rinsing your mouth (preferably, brushing your teeth) before playing, and running a snake through the leadpipe at least monthly. Remove the main tuning slide and run water through the leadpipe while brushing it. While you’re at it, brush out the main tuning slide!

As the valves are operated in normal use, tiny flakes of metal and particles of dust will scratch and wear the plating on the pistons and cylinder walls, causing loose and/or sticky valves, and eventually affecting the tone quality and efficiency of the instrument.

Regular cleaning and lubrication can keep these problems to a minimum, extending the life of the instrument many times over, just as proper maintenance of a car can keep it running smoothly and efficiently for hundreds of thousands of miles.

Selmer and Yamaha sell complete cleaning kits that include everything but a valve casing brush (an additional dollar or so). Purchase at least two bottles each of valve oil and slide grease and a second mouthpiece brush, keeping one set in your case and the other with your cleaning kit. The second set will also serve as a backup in case the first set gets lost, which is not unusual even for professional players. You never want to be out of valve oil!

 Photo on Left, from top:

Two cleaning snakes. I prefer those whose springs are coated with vinyl, such as the one on left, to prevent scratching the insides of the tubing.

Cleaning rod. Insert a cloth in the slot to clean valve casings that are especially dirty. Be extra careful not to scratch the interior of the valve casings!!

Valve casing brush: best for routine cleaning of the valve casings. 

Two different mouthpiece brushes. Either one works.

Valve oil: I like Al Cass, but there are other good ones, such as Blue Juice. Valve oil should be petroleum-based. Avoid synthetics, which often contain PFAS.

Two good slide greases, from Schilke and Yamaha.

Getting Ready to Clean your Instrument

Make sure you have the following materials on hand:

  • Mouthpiece brush
  • Cleaning snake (for tubing) (preferred over cleaning rod and rag)
  • Valve casing brush
  • 3 to 4 soft, lint-free cloths for washing, drying, polishing, and buffing
  • Valve oil* (second set in addition to the one with your instrument)
  • Slide grease* (second set in addition to the one with your instrument)
  • Silver polish (for silver plated instruments – Tarni-shield is good)
  • Mild dishwashing detergent (borrow from kitchen)
  • Clean, soft towel (for setting aside parts that are in-process)
  • Q-tips, for getting into difficult-to-reach crevices

Complete Cleaning Instructions

The process of cleaning and maintaining a trumpet is much simpler than it may seem, although it can be time consuming. Washing a trumpet is a lot like washing dishes; it must be soaked, scrubbed, wiped, rinsed, and dried. Then, it must be oiled, greased, and re-assembled.

The most important parts to keep clean are the valves, mouthpiece, and leadpipe. Gunk tends to accumulate close to the mouthpiece and in the bends or crooks of the tubing. These are cleaned using the various brushes in your kit.

The valves and valve casings, especially, must be treated with the utmost care. Be sure never to drop valves or scratch the casings, since a tiny bend or ding can make them stick badly, and is almost impossible to repair without great expense. 

  1. Wash the tub (or large sink) with a non-abrasive cleanser and rinse it thoroughly – no grit from cleansers!
  2. If you have a rubber bath mat, use it. It will prevent scratches and dings.
  3. Fill the tub about 4-5 inches with warm (not hot) water – enough to cover the instrument.
  4. Swish in some dishwashing detergent.
  5. Disassemble trumpet. Remove felts from the valves and set them aside in a dry place.
  6. Place the pieces carefully in the tub on the rubber mat. DO NOT wash the felts.
  7. Let instrument soak a few minutes – longer if it has been awhile since you washed it.
  8. Use the cleaning snake to brush out the inside of the main body of the instrument, including slides, leadpipe, and bell. Keep the instrument submerged while you brush. You will often see a cloud of gunk come out of the pipes, especially the leadpipe. Keep brushing until there is no more gunk coming out.
  9. Use the valve casing brush (or cleaning rod with rag) to wash the inside of the valve cylinders. BE CAREFUL NOT TO SCRATCH THE CASING WITH THE METAL OF THE BRUSH OR ROD. 
  10. Wipe the outside of the instrument body with the washrag. Rinse in the faucet, towel dry, and set aside on a clean, soft towel.
  11. Clean the slide crooks in the same manner, rinse, dry, and set aside on the towel.
  12. Carefully wipe valves with washrag. Use snake or Q-tips to clean the holes. Rinse and towel dry. Re-assemble (with felts) and set aside on the clean, soft towel.
  13. Scrub the inside of the mouthpiece with the mouthpiece brush, wipe, rinse, dry, and set aside.
  14. Scrub inside of valve end-caps, wipe, rinse, dry, and set aside on the towel.
  15. If the instrument is silver-plated and has noticeable tarnish, polish it using a non-abrasive silver polish and two soft cloths (one to apply, one to buff). Q-tips are very helpful for getting into tight spaces around valve casings and valve crooks. Avoid getting polish into the inside of the instrument. DO NOT POLISH THE VALVE PISTONS!! Rinse and dry the pieces after polishing.
  16. Apply a thin coating of slide grease to valve- and tuning-crook slides, and reassemble. The knob on the second and third valve crooks should face outward (to the right as you are playing). Use a drop of valve oil to thin the grease and loosen up the first and third valve slides, if necessary. 
  17. Screw on the valve bottom-end caps. I use a touch of slide grease on the threads to make them go on more smoothly and to make them easier to remove, when necessary. Be careful not to get grease INSIDE the valves.
  18. Oil valves liberally (all over) and insert into proper cylinders. Valves have numbers stamped on the spring section. Usually, the proper position is with this number facing back toward the player (mouthpiece) end. Rotate each valve gently until it seats itself (with a faint click). The instrument will not play if the valves are not seated properly.
  19. Squirt about a teaspoon of valve oil into the leadpipe and blow vigorously through the instrument while operating the valves rapidly. This helps to prevent corrosion and gunk from accumulating inside the tubing. 
  20. Install the mouthpiece and try playing the instrument – a scale or something. Sometimes you will find that the valves need re-seating, or a bit more valve oil is necessary on the valves or third valve slide.

Keeping it Clean - An Ounce of Prevention...

You can minimize how often you have to clean your instrument by taking a few basic precautions:

  1. Rinse your mouth before playing. Better yet, brush your teeth, especially if you have just finished eating! Food particles in your saliva will get into your instrument and harbor fungus and bacteria. These are not healthy for you, they will secrete acids that eat through the metal of your instrument, and they will change the way your instrument plays… and not in a good way!
  2. Keep your hands clean.  Oils and acids on your skin will eat away at the lacquer and plating of your instrument over time. If you forget, be sure to wipe your horn down with a soft cloth after playing. 
    I actually wear soft white cotton marching gloves when I practice and when I perform. To facilitate fingering, I cut about 1-½ inches off the fingertips of my right glove. Wearing gloves  also keeps your hands warm!
  3. Use an anti-tarnish bag. Especially if you have a silver plated trumpet, you can greatly lengthen the time between polishing by wrapping your horn in a specially-treated tarnish bag. These are not very expensive, and they can save a lot of time and mess.