Best way to polish silver euphonium

[jcemu07]

Hello all,

Any recommendations on products to best polish up a silver euphonium? Any tips, lessons learned? Do repair shops provide this service? TIA.

[RickF]

Hey Josh. I like to use Hagerty’s silver polish myself. The spray on works best for me along with old clean T shirts. For getting into tight spots I cut a T shirt in strips then feed it thru tight spots and ‘rag it’ (pull back and forth with both hands). There are some shops that will do the polishing for you but it might be costly.

[daruby]

What Rick said.

[Alloybrass]

I agree with Rick as well re: technique. Personally, I’ve used 3m Tarnishield with good results, but certainly choose a non-abrasive polish.

I think it’s important for you to do this work yourself, rather than paying a shop. It gives you the chance to get to know your instrument better, and enhances pride of ownership.

I see by your signature that you play a Hirsbrunner. What a beautiful horn, and deserving of loving care!

[jcemu07]

Thanks all for the tips. I'll definitely take a crack at it myself. Want to treat this horn right!

[franz]

I have always used " white earth", a non-abrasive antibacterial product, suitable for cleaning metal surface and more. The product is passed on the surface to be cleaned with a damp sponge and rinsed with water. Simple, practical, fast.

[leisesturm]

I have a silver John Packer euphonium. Before buying it, I read just about every thread on this site about caring for silver finish horns. Other sites as well. As I understand it, no polish is truly non-abrasive. Some are more abrasive than others but, if its' a polish, it's going to be abrasive to some degree. Takeaway: use polish sparingly, if at all. The Blitz polish is supposed to be least abrasive, but something a bit more abrasive like Hagerty's may be necessary to get a badly neglected horn to an appealing state of shine. Four months in and my JP still looks amazing. I use only Windex (vinegar formula) and/or rubbing alcohol to remove fingerprints. I have some "Hagerty's Silver Protection Strips" inside the case. They are supposed to absorb gases that tarnish silver. They were cheap enough, I figured what the hay. TL;DR: I am not planning to polish my horn more often than yearly. In between polish events, glass cleaner and microfiber cloths really are non-abrasive and do shine up the horn to a mirror finish. FWIW.

[bbocaner]

I like glass plus or regular blue windex and fine microfiber towels for regular maintenance. If I have tarnished or extremely dirty instruments that this is insufficient for I will follow this procedure:

1. disassemble instrument
2. do a bath with warm water and a gentle detergent like dawn dish soap
3. gently scrub exterior surfaces with a microfiber towel, rinse and dry.
4. spray hagerty aerosol (the pump sprayer and wipe-on versions don't work as well for me) in a light coat on the exterior of the instrument, being careful not to get much or any inside valve casings or slides. You shouldn't need to use any pressure or force here. Spray on, gently wipe off. If there is still tarnish, repeat the process on that spot. If the plating is cloudy, you need to visit a professional to have them do a buffing. You will add scratches if you are not gentle on this step.
5. allow it to dry, then wipe off gently with a microfiber towel
6. use small strips of an old t-shirt to get the extra polish residue out of the hard to reach spaces.
7. spray instrument with hand sprayer and cold water to remove any extra polish residue, with extra attention to flushing anything out of the valves.
8. dry again with fresh microfiber towels.
9 carry around a small paint brush or more scraps of t-shirts for the next week to remove any polish residue you missed. you will keep finding it.

the one thing to be aware of with microfiber towels is they will pick up little bits of grit and hold on to them forever, so I only use new microfiber towels on my instruments.

[daruby]

What Barry said!

This is mostly the same process I use when there is tarnish buildup. Thanks for making it straight forward, Barry. I always appreciate your thoroughness.

Doug

[DaveBj]

My bottle of Hagerty's came from Amazon today, so just a few words about it. That stuff stinks to high heaven, but by yumpin' yimeny, it WORKS! The Dolce looks almost like new.

D