Trumpet Boredom - Tips - How to Clean Your Horn

Question: What is the proper way to clean out my horn?

Answer: Ah, finally one I can answer. I've received this question about 5 times before. Apparantly no site really does a good job explaining what you should do when you clean your horn. They mostly say take it apart and throw it in water then put it back together. And, well... I'm essentially going to do the same thing. But I'm going to do it with pictures as well! Let's get started:

Step	Picture
1. Make sure you have all of the proper materials. Towel, Cleaning Cloth, Vaseline, Snake, Mouthpiece Brush, Paper Towels, and Valve Oil.
2. Fill up a sink or bucket with warm water. Not extremely warm, but warm enough to be about 10º above room temperature. If your horn is lacquered, don't have the water any hotter than lukewarm. This is very important.
3. With the horn still together, fill up a glass with warm water and put it down the bell. Then let the water drain out (most of it will come out the leadpipe)
4. Take out the valves, put them in the water, clean them off, dry them off, and then put them off to the side. DO NOT SOAK THE VALVES IN WATER!!!!
5. With the horn still together, minus the valves, let it sit in the sink for a while and soak up some water.
6. While the horn is soaking, take out your mouthpiece and run some water through it. Then, take a mouthpiece brush and brush out all the crap that builds up in the mouthpiece.
7. Take the horn apart... by any means necessary. Note, when taking apart the horn it is important not to use too much pressure. If, for instance, the mouthpiece is stuck, there are tools to remove it. If a slide won't move or come off, put some valve oil in the crack and let it sit for a while, then try again. If you still don't have any luck, take it into the shop.
8. With all the parts off the horn, let them soak again in the water. Note, the valves are still not in the water.
9. Run the snake through the various pipes and slides.
10. Dry off the parts of the horn, drain the sink, and put vaseline on the slides before putting the horn back together. Check out the sink, if you cleaned your horn out right, you'll get this effect going on. This is a good time to pause and reflect on what you eat before playing trumpet, and if you should continue those habits. This step looks extra cool after Marching Band season or when you've had a cold/flu.
11. Replace the valves. If you don't know which order they go back in, look on the valve. It will have a number on it somewhere, that coincides with where it is placed in the horn. 1 is the first valve, or the "f" key, etc.
12. Oil the valves... don't put the oil in the bottom of the valve while turning the horn over. That does nothing. Take the valve out, oil it, then put it back in.
13. Bust out the polishing rag and polish off the horn.
14. All done. This is a good time to try to play a few notes and make sure you put the valves in right. If you can't blow air through the horn, you put them back in wrong.

Hope this helps. Keep that horn clean!
-Matt
Matt@TrumpetBoredom.com