As it turns out, cleaning a trombone is pretty straightforward. First, you’ll want to take apart your horn and submerge it in a bathtub. Then, you’ll want to snake all the tubing and remove excess buildup from the slides. When you’re finished, rinse the horn and reapply all lubricants. Finally, put the trombone back together and schedule your next cleaning in three months.

Of course, if that wasn’t enough detail for you, feel free to read the remainder of the article.

Trombone Cleaning Steps

In this article, we’ll be looking at a few techniques you can use to clean a trombone. Of course, we’ll be targeting tenor trombones, but these techniques can be used on most brass instruments.

For a high-level look at the process, here are the steps:

1. Disassemble the trombone
2. Soak the trombone
3. Clean the mouthpiece
4. Clean all inner surfaces
5. Clean all outer surfaces
6. Apply lubrication
7. Assemble the trombone
8. Establish a schedule

Below, you’ll find each of these steps in great detail with links to additional sources to aid in the process.

Step 1: Disassemble the Trombone

Before you do anything, make sure that you’re familiar with the anatomy of your trombone. After all, you will need to take your horn apart, so it’s important that you know how to put it back together. If it helps, consider recording yourself as you take it apart. That way, you have something to reference later.

In general, however, a typical tenor trombone is made up of five major pieces:

• Bell
• Tuning Slide
• Main Outer Slide
• Main Inner Slide
• Mouthpiece

If you have a trigger horn or a bass trombone, you likely have even more moving parts. For instance, pay special attention to extra attachments and tuning slides.

When you’re ready, take the trombone apart and place each piece on a soft surface like a towel to avoid scratching. If you have any issues removing any pieces (like a tuning slide), do not try to force them free. Instead, take the horn to a repair shop.

Step 2: Soak the Trombone

Now that you have the trombone disassembled, fill a bathtub or some other large container with warm water and some mild dish soap. In general, you’ll want to be able to submerge each section of your trombone, so bathtubs usually work best. Also, it’s a good idea to lay a towel in the bottom of the bathtub to avoid scratching your horn.

When you’re ready, place each section of the horn into the bathtub until all pieces are submerged. At that point, leave the pieces to soak for about ten minutes. If you’re weary of soaking like some folks, you can always run water over the trombone while actively cleaning it. Of course, for people like me who don’t have a bathtub, running water over the horn is the only practical way of cleaning it.

Regardless, the main idea here is you want to break up the gunk inside the horn with water before you try to use any tools. In the next step, we’ll talk tools.

Step 3: Clean the Mouthpiece

Of all the parts that make up the trombone, the mouthpiece is probably the easiest to clean. As a result, I recommend cleaning it first while the rest of the horn soaks.

To do that, grab a mouthpiece brush or part of a snake and run it through the shank or the tube end of the mouthpiece. While you’re doing this, it’s helpful to run some water over the brush to flush debris as you’re scrubbing. If you want a thorough clean, use some mild dish soap. Never use anything like bleach as it will strip the surface and reveal the underlying metal (been there; done that).

Once you’ve finished cleaning the mouthpiece, set it aside to dry. In the next step, we’ll dive into how to clean the remainder of the horn.

Step 4: Clean All Inner Surfaces

Before you clean the outside of the horn, it’s important to get inside the horn first. That way, your cleaning efforts aren’t a waste of time.

To clean the inside of a trombone, you’ll probably want a snake and a cleaning rod with a metal head. With a snake, you can clean out the curves of the main outer slide and the tuning slides. Meanwhile, the cleaning rod can be used in conjunction with cheesecloth to thoroughly scrub any straight pieces.

In general, you’ll want to run each tool through the tubing for a few minutes to break up more stubborn deposits. If successful, you’ll find that your slides go on easier during assembly.

As you clean the various inner surfaces of your horn, be sure to run water through the tubing to flush any remaining gunk and soap out of the horn. In addition, don’t forget to remove each piece from the bathtub when you’re done cleaning its inner surface.

Step 5: Clean All Outer Surfaces

With all the inner surfaces thoroughly cleaned, it’s a good idea to flush the bathtub of the dirty water. That way, you can continue to use the tub to clean the outer surfaces.

With the tub empty, you can begin rubbing down important outer surfaces like the main inner slide and the tuning slide. Both of these surfaces need to be thoroughly cleaned as they can contain buildup from lubricants and other debris. In many cases, it may be enough to use cheesecloth, but consider using some dish soap.

In some cases, you may find it useful to run a brush over the tuning slide. Unlike the main slide, the tuning slide doesn’t get as much work, so it may have some mineral buildup. Of course, you would have already noticed this while taking the tuning slide off.

As you rinse off the outer surfaces, take a soft cloth and hand dry them. Then, set each piece aside, and let them air dry for at least 30 minutes.

Step 6: Apply Lubrication

With the trombone completely clean, you can begin assembling the slides. However, you’ll want to apply your favorite lubricant first.

For the main slide, first apply your favorite lubricant to the stockings (the fatter ends) of the inner slide. Then, work the lubrication on one end at a time using the outer slide and a twisting motion. When the lubrication is thoroughly applied, spray the slide with some water.

If you’re not sure how to apply your specific brand of lubrication, I have a few guides you can check out:

• How to Apply Slide-O-Mix to a Trombone Slide

Also, if you’re in the market for a new slide lubricant, I have an article on that as well. To summarize, the three main lubricants I recommend are Slide-O-Mix, Trombotine, and Superslick. Of course, the manufacturer of your horn may have better recommendations.

For the tuning slide, you’ll want to use slide grease—not slide oil or slide cream—to lubricate the tuning slide. To apply slide grease, there’s a slightly different process which I have documented.

In short, the process for applying the grease is similar to the main slide. Specifically, make sure to apply a small amount of grease around the circumference of each tube. Then, work the grease on one tube at a time using a twisting motion. When there’s an even coating on both tubes, put the tuning slide in playing position and wipe away excess grease.

Step 7: Assemble the Trombone

When both slides are in position, you can finish assembly. In particular, I recommend putting the entire horn together as if you were going to play it. That way, you can ensure that horn works. For example, you’ll want to make sure that you didn’t break your water key or slide lock in the process of cleaning the horn.

To assemble the horn, replace all slides as mentioned previously. Then, attach the main slide to the bell and place the mouthpiece in position. If everything went smoothly, you should be able to operate all moving parts as expected. In addition, you should be able to produce quality sounds.

Step 8: Establish a Schedule

At this point, your horn should be in good shape. If your horn was in particularly bad shape before the cleaning, it might be a good idea to create a cleaning schedule. Depending on how often you use the horn, you should be shooting for a cleaning at least twice a year.

If you follow a regular cleaning schedule, you’ll extend the life of your horn considerably, and you’ll limit repair trips. Of course, if you run into any problems during the cleaning process, it’s not a bad idea to take your horn to a repair shop. There’s no shame in that!

Summary

In short, the best way to clean a trombone is to give it a good bath and reapply all the lubrication. Of course, you may find it useful to record yourself during the disassembly process, so you don’t forget how to put your trombone back together.

At any rate, thanks again for taking some time to learn about trombone care and maintenance. In the future, I’ll be looking to extend this article to include specific references for lubrication and other maintenance tips like greasing a tuning slide.

As always, don’t forget to respect the brass!

The post How to Clean a Trombone appeared first on Trill Trombone.

3 Steps to Apply Slide-O-Mix to Your Trombone Slide

In this article, we’ll be looking specifically at the Slide-O-Mix (affiliate link) that comes in two bottles—not Rapid Comfort.

For reference, I’ll be referring to the two lubricant components by the size of their bottles (large vs. small). If you’re in a hurry, I’ve also taken the time to bold the main directions in each section. Feel free to jump around the article as needed.

1. Clean Your Slide Thoroughly

As with many of these types of tutorials, the first step is to always clean your slide—especially if you are switching lubricants. That way, you’ll remove any sort of dirt from the slide, so it doesn’t interfere with the lubricant.

Cleaning can be done in a lot of ways, but it’s probably sufficient to use water and a rag alone on the inner slide. That said, be very careful not to damage the slide as the metal is fairly thin.

If you want to go the extra mile, you can use some mild dish soap or rubbing alcohol. Be careful not to use anything too abrasive near the lacquered surfaces.

Of course, why stop there? After all, old lubricant and other gunk has likely built up on the inside of the outer slide, so it’s a good idea to give the horn a full bath. If you have the equipment (i.e. snakes, cheesecloth, etc.), go for it! I’ve linked a great tutorial by Trent Hamilton if you need any help.

2. Apply a Small Drop of the Small Bottle to the Stockings

When you apply any sort of lubricant to your slide, you should target the stockings, the fat ends of the inner slide. After all, these are the portions of the inner slide that are going to come in direct contact with the outer slide.

To lubricate the stockings, you’ll want to lay the slide on a flat surface. That way, when you extend the outer slide, you don’t apply any torque to the inner slide which could bend it.

Once you have the slide in position, you’ll want to apply a small amount of the Slide-O-Mix to each stocking. In the official Slide-O-Mix directions, they recommend using a “good” drop—whatever that means.

With the lubrication in place, it’s safe to start spreading it out using your outer slide. I’ve seen some folks only lube one tube at a time while rotating the slide to get full coverage, but it’s probably fine just run the full slide up and down a few times. When you think it’s ready, move on to the next step.

3. Let a Generous Amount of the Large Bottle Drip Down the Slide

At this point, you can stand your trombone up so the slide is pointing toward the ground. With the horn in place, extend the slide, so most of the inner slide is showing. Then, apply a generous amount of the large bottle to the top of each inner tube.

If done correctly, the liquid should roll done the slide a bit. Once it’s near the stockings, begin spreading it out with the outer slide—a few cycles should give your proper coverage. If done properly, you’re slide should be running quite smooth.

As a bonus, you can always apply a little bit of water to the slide using a spray bottle. According to Slide-O-Mix, “water is always necessary because our preparation takes advantage of water’s gliding properties.” After a bit of research, I’d say I agree with their assessment: water is an excellent final touch.

Tips and Tricks

If you followed the three steps to apply Slide-O-Mix above, you should be in good shape. In the future, you will be able to apply water whenever your slide gets sticky to bring it back up to speed. If after awhile the water is no longer helping, it’s probably a good idea to start this process all over again.

As always, thanks for stopping by! If you found this article helpful, why not give it a share. In the meantime, remember to respect the brass!

The post How to Apply Slide-O-Mix to Your Trombone Slide appeared first on Trill Trombone.

In short, it’s unclear exactly why trombone players spray their slides, but my best guess is that the water droplets act as mini ball bearings to limit friction between the inner and outer slide. In the rest of this article, I discuss exactly how I came to that conclusion.

The (Speculative) Science Behind Spraying Trombone Slides With Water

Before I listened to the experts, I decided to look into the scientific relationship between oil and water. After all, I think most of us know that water and oil don’t mix. How can that relationship be useful for trombone slides?

When you apply oil to a slide, it creates a layer between the inner slide and the outer slide which reduces friction. To me, that should be enough to start playing.

Of course, some people go the extra mile and spray water on their slide after they apply the oil. Since there’s already oil on the slide, the water creates an additional layer between the two slides.

To me, that shouldn’t make much of a difference. However, something interesting happens when you spray your slide with water: the water beads up. Beading occurs because water molecules are polarized and are therefore attracted to themselves. This phenomenon is known as surface tension.

Of course, water doesn’t always bead up. For example, when it hits your shirt, the shirt soaks it up. So, what makes this scenario different? Well, the water is sitting on the oil.

As it turns out, oil is hydrophobic which means that it’s not attracted to water. As a result, when the two liquids come in contact, they stay separated. Since the oil is hydrophobic, the water attracts itself into a ball-like shape. That leads me to think that the water acts like miniature ball bearings between the inner and outer slide.

Now, I would imagine that water would mostly work on its own. After all, we slip on it all the time, and it’s not like the metal is going to soak it up, right? Then, I realized that water evaporates, so it makes a pretty bad lubricant. In other words, who would want to bother with applying it multiple times a day? That’s what makes oil the better choice.

What the Community Says About Spraying Trombone Slides With Water

If you straight up search “why do musicians spray their trombone slides with water?”, you’re bound to find nothing. At least, that was my experience. To answer that question, I found myself digging through slide oil guides and videos to see if anyone would mention the reason behind using water. In most cases, I found nothing, but occasionally, I’d strike gold.

For instance, when I searched “how to oil trombone slide,” I found an article titled How to Lubricate Trombone Slides by Matt Kerns. In it, Matt explained how to apply slide cream to a trombone. In the last step, he mentions the following:

At this point, the slide should feel fairly smooth, but for the best action use a spray bottle to apply a fine mist of water onto the inner slide tubes before and as needed while playing. The water will bead against the greasy layer of cream and act like tiny ball bearings to cushion the slide and make the action super-fast.

Matt Kerns, 2019

In very few words, it seems Matt has come to a pretty similar conclusion as myself as to why we spray trombone slides with water. Of course, I wanted to know more.

Somewhere in my search I stumbled upon an article titled Trombone Care and Maintenance on the Zachary Music website. In that article, the author talks about the various methods for lubricating a slide. For example, they mention slide cream as the best option, but it has to be used with a water sprayer because:

It is the water that activates the cream and makes it slippery for a great slide action.

Oddly enough, this reference to activation is something I had read a few times in product reviews, but I’m not sure how valid it is. At any rate, my search continued.

Eventually, I stumbled upon an article titled A Short Guide to Trombone Slide Cleaning and Maintenance by Micah Everett, an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Mississippi. In the article, Micah mentions that spraying water is really only appropriate if you use an “old-school” slide cream. In that case, Micah says to coat the slide with the cream before doing the following:

Finally, spray with a fairly generous amount of water—the water will “bead up” and provide the actual lubricating function.

Micah Everett, 2013

Again, my intuition seems to be on the money. Of course, I could just be letting confirmation bias lead me around the internet, but I think this many references to beading up is a good sign that we’re on to something.

Finally, I found a note on a Slide-O-Mix FAQ which mentioned the following:

Our trombone lubricant produces an optimal surface on which the slide can glide without stopping or sticking. In any case, water is always necessary because our preparation takes advantage of water’s gliding properties. The other reason is that, during extended playing, the gliding film wears out and can be “freshened up” with a touch of water.

Anette Königs

Apparently, they claim water has a gliding property which I think aligns nicely with my working theory. Of course, they also mention that water can “activate” or “freshen up” their lubrication as it ages which we’ve heard before. Perhaps, it’s a bit of both!

Survey Says!

Well, if you found your way here because you also wanted to know why musicians spray their slides with water, now you know that water beading is probably the culprit. Of course, if you actually know the history behind why we spray our slides or can confirm the science on it, let me know! I’d love to learn more.

With all that said, I think this article segues right into my list of the top 3 slide lubricants. Spoiler alert: two of the products are creams! In meantime, remember to respect the brass!

The post The Reason Why Musicians Spray Trombone Slides With Water appeared first on Trill Trombone.

As it turns out, there are a lot of different slide lubricants out there. In terms of the top 3, the original Slide-O-Mix is the best you’re going to get. Of course, if you’re interested in trying a cream-based lubricant, Trombotine Slide Lubricant and Superslick Slickit are excellent choices.

Review Criteria

Ideally, when looking for a new slide oil or cream, you’d want to try them out. Unfortunately, that’s always practical. Instead, I like to rely on the internet to collect some data. In particular, I used Amazon to dramatically narrow my search using the following criteria:

• Department: Brass Instrument Cleaning & Care Products
• Average Customer Review: 4+ Stars
• Search Terms: Trombone Slide Oil

As usual, I then sorted the products by average review rating to get the best reviewed products first.

3 Best Slide Lubricants

When it came to assembling this list, I just selected the top 3 slide lubricants based on my search criteria above. Then, I browsed the reviews to get an idea of what you’re going to get.

#1. Slide-O-Mix – $$

Coming out on top is the original Slide-O-Mix, a two-part lubricant mix. As you can see here, Slide-O-Mix comes with two bottles each containing a different component of the lubricant.

To use Slide-O-Mix, you apply a little bit of the small bottle followed by a more generous supply from the larger bottle. Like any other lubricant, you’ll want to move the slide around until the oil has properly coated the surface. After that, you can spritz the slide with some water. If you need more details, check out my guide on how to apply Slide-O-Mix.

Of all the oils in this list, Slide-O-Mix is the most expensive. That said, it’s certainly the most popular lubricant. In fact, some customers report that Slide-O-Mix gets better with age. In fact, some customers were so happy that they even shared their tips.

Of all the products I’ve seen on Amazon, this is probably the only one I’ve seen with a perfect score (ignoring the one 3-star review for confusion) after all these years. If that doesn’t speak to its quality, then I don’t know what will.

#2. Trombotine Trombone Slide Lubricant – $

While it might be hard to compete with Slide-O-Mix, there are a couple of excellent alternatives. For instance, you may prefer Trombotine, a cream-based lubricant for about half the price of Slide-O-Mix.

To use Trombotine, you’ll want to apply a small amount to your inner slide just like you would with most lubricants. Of course, since it’s a cream, you might need to wiggle the slide around a bit to get solid coverage. For an added bonus, spray some water on the slide, and you’ll be ready to go. If you need more details, I’ve already put together a guide for applying Trombotine.

One thing I found really interesting about Trombotine is that some folks make the argument that one tube will last you a lifetime. To be fair, I’ve gone through probably three bottles of oil in the last 13+ years, so you’re not exactly saving a ton of money by going the Trombotine route. That said, I think that’s a pretty solid claim.

In terms of reviews, everyone was pretty impressed. In fact, one customer claims they only need to reapply the Trombotine every two weeks. Apparently, even the professionals love it. Of all the reviews, the only complaints I could find were with the lack of directions.

Overall, if you’re not a fan or oil, maybe this Trombotine cream is right for you.

#3. Superslick Slickit – $

Last but not least is Superslick trombone slide cream and lubricant. If you couldn’t decide between Slide-O-Mix and Trombotine, this is sort of a best of both worlds. In this particular set, you’ll get the cream, oil, and spray bottle for just five bucks.

To use Superslick, you’ll want to apply the cream as described for Trombotine. In other words, apply a small amount of cream on the inner slide. Then, you’ll want to apply the oil as you typically would. When it’s all said and done, hit the slide with a few sprays of water, and you’ll be ready to go. Naturally, if you’re looking for details, I also have a guide on how to apply Superslick.

One thing I really like about this product is its heritage—at least according to one of the reviewers. Apparently, it’s been around awhile. As usual, I try to find a negative review or two to round out the review. In this case, most people seemed to be offput by how many steps it takes.

That said, everyone seems pretty satisfied with Superslick as well, so I figure it ultimately comes down to personal preference.

Summary

When I started my search for the best slide lubricants, I never expected to find such a diverse set of products. After all, I’ve been using regular slide oil for that past 13+ years.

Fortunately, I was never really led astray as my personal choice, Slide-O-Mix Rapid Comfort, comes in at #4 on this list. Of course, now I think I’m going to make my switch to the original Slide-O-Mix. Why settle for anything less?

At any rate, thanks for taking some time to check out this review. If you’re in the market for a budget tenor trombone, I have just the review for you. Otherwise, thanks for stopping by. As always, respect the brass!

The post 3 Best Slide Lubricants for Trombones appeared first on Trill Trombone.