Harmonica - cleaning tips?

[Manc Chris]

Orright all. Happy new year!

Was passed an old harmonica over the holiday. A 60's Hohner. Nice little thing it is, but full of gunk. (Lord knows what it could be). Anyway, wondrin' how best to clean it? I'm tempted to just shove it in a bucket of water - but, can't really see that course of action doing it any good. Any ideas?

[toine6]

I'd be dumping it in some hot soapy water myself, but I don't know what I'm doing. It should be made for moisture, I'd think. Maybe blowdry it lightly afterwards?

[Lunatique]

If it's got a wooden comb, then you do NOT want to dunk it in water--in fact you want to keep it away from water or the expanding/shrinking of the wood will cause the comb to crack. If the comb is metal or plastic, you'd still want to be careful since there are metal parts inside that could rust if you aren't careful. If it's not wood, I would suggest warm soapy water, then rinse it out the best you can, and then make sure you dry it well (shake excess water out and then use hair blow dryer?). Once you get it clean, you don't want to get water in there again. Before playing make sure your mouth isn't full of food, juice, soda...etc. After playing, just knock it against your thigh to get your spit out, then wipe it down and air dry.

[Hink]

Was passed an old harmonica over the holiday.

That must of hurt, I can see why you would want to clean it. What note did it play when you farted?

Seriously, it used to be an old blues harp player trick to soak the harp in water anyhow. Take it apart and clean the holes with a small round brush.

[Hink]

If it's got a wooden comb, then you do NOT want to dunk it in water--in fact you want to keep it away from water or the expanding/shrinking of the wood will cause the comb to crack.

Although not generally recommended nowadays by either players or manufacturers, some past players have felt soaking their harmonicas in warm water, and even beer, whiskey, or vodka helped break them in, believing that this facilitates bending of the notes. This is done only with aged wood combed harmonicas; as the wood ages, it can shrink, and in the case of the Hohner Marine Band harmonica (or any harmonica with wooden parts) soaking causes the wood to swell and makes the instrument more airtight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonica_techniques (near the bottom of the page)

[Lunatique]

Right, but once the wood swells, it'll have to dry out eventually, right? It's not like you'll keep it constantly soaked in liquid? Once the wood shrinks, you risk it cracking.

[Hink]

Right, but once the wood swells, it'll have to dry out eventually, right? It's not like you'll keep it constantly soaked in liquid? Once the wood shrinks, you risk it cracking.

I think it's a minimal risk if any at all. If we were talking just a piece of wood it would be one thing but we're not. Let's put it this way, I use to rehearse in an old mill. There was a fire in one of the rooms and in another room that had no fire damage a guy had a strat he was refinishing and it was sanded to bare wood. It soaked up a lot of water, he got the advice of many and tried to dry it out slowly but in the end it split.

But the wood in the harmonica is not untreated, it's fairly well known by instrument manufacturers that instruments played by mouth has a spit concern. So in treating it protecting it from moisture would be a high priority, also note that my link said "aged" and this is an old harp. But does this carry over to wood that is immersed in water?

Any sailor will tell you that wooden boats are a thing of beauty, but that beauty takes work. The same principle is at work here, a wooden boat when returned to the water after being in dry dock will sink if not tended to when put back in the water. Sailors refinish the boat yearly but that's more to keep it's beauty, when it first goes back in the water the wood needs to swell and until it does it leaks badly.

I think the key is that the wood is indeed treated and designed for moisture. I think also the drying process is key, for instance if you put it in your oven to dry faster I'm thinking it would split very quickly. However left to dry naturally I do not think the risk is as high. Is there a risk? Absolutely, but I don't think it's a big risk especially just from cleaning with water. Soaking it like the old harp players surely increases the risk. Other cleaning liquids might be worse as often they are intended to dry fast, but I would feel safe cleaning it in water myself...but I could easily be wrong

[Hink]

from a quick google everytime it mentions a wooden comb it says skip the water, but most answers also suggests that unless germs are a factor cleaning it may not be good. In fact one link suggested most harmonicas wear out before they need cleaning.

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=n ... +harmonica

[robogone]

I've owned many over the years, but never one with a wooden comb. First thing I would suggest is taking it apart to clean it. Don't overdo the cleaning, just get it as sterile as you're comfortable with.

Just wipe the metal parts with a wet cloth, don't use any chemicals on them as you'll end up tasting it when you play it again. To clean the comb, use a small amount of alcohol on a q-tip. Just be careful not to rip the q-tip apart and leave any of if inside the comb.

Dropping a harmonica into water or alcohol is fine if you're planning on buying a new one at the end of the life of that one. That's why players used to do it - they weren't planning on using that one for their entire life. If you're planning on keeping this one, you probably shouldn't go there.

When you put it back together, be careful to align everything right, and don't overtighten anything.

Bottom line, clean it as much as you really need to and no more.

[Lunatique]

Maybe not dunk it into water/alcohol--just use one of those hand sanitizers. They are a lot thicker than regular alcohol, but will kill bacteria just the same. I'd squeeze out some the size of a dime onto a clean dry cloth and then wipe the harmonica down inside and out (you'll have to take it apart). This should work fine as there's no soaking and you still get to sanitize the whole thing.

[Hink]

I'd use a spiral wire brush, you could buy one small enough at sears for under 5 bux. But I'd still use water and not chemicals, especially since you wouldn't be using that much. There certainly wouldn't be enough to saturate it

Actually thinking about it I'd probably take the comb to my buddies house and use an air hose first.

[Hink]

you know, k-mart sells gun cleaning supplys, I bet the bristle tip for a .22 would work awesome

[dburns]

I wouldn't use any wire brush on a harmonica. Just a Q-Tip moistened with water or ispropyl alcohol. A wire brush may score the reeds or comb. It could even gouge out the holes, ruining the harp.

If you get it wet enough for the comb to expand (by dunking it in water) the wood may not even dry back to its original size. I've had harps with wooden combs expand, but not fully contract after drying.

I'd ask if you want this thing for playing or as a keepsake. If you want a playable instrument, I'd advise buying a new one with plastic comb. It's going to play much better, be cleanable, and last longer. Your old wooden comb harp probably has rusted reeds, air leaks, a bad taste, and won't play well no matter how you clean it.

Try a Lee Oskar harp. It will blow any Honer out of the water (pun intended). It will last longer, stay in tune longer, sound clearer, and be very easy to take apart and clean. And, you can file or replace the reed plate instead of buying a new harp, when necessary.

[Lunatique]

Really good quality harps are so damn cheap anyways (compared to other popular instruments), so if the old antique is a PITA, you might as well just buy new ones. Today's harps are much better made, with superior durability and playability, and the good ones cost about as much as a typical meal (unless it's a chromatic--then it's a bit more expensive).

[Hink]

I wouldn't use any wire brush on a harmonica. Just a Q-Tip moistened with water or ispropyl alcohol. A wire brush may score the reeds or comb. It could even gouge out the holes, ruining the harp.

If you get it wet enough for the comb to expand (by dunking it in water) the wood may not even dry back to its original size. I've had harps with wooden combs expand, but not fully contract after drying.

I'd ask if you want this thing for playing or as a keepsake. If you want a playable instrument, I'd advise buying a new one with plastic comb. It's going to play much better, be cleanable, and last longer. Your old wooden comb harp probably has rusted reeds, air leaks, a bad taste, and won't play well no matter how you clean it.

Try a Lee Oskar harp. It will blow any Honer out of the water (pun intended). It will last longer, stay in tune longer, sound clearer, and be very easy to take apart and clean. And, you can file or replace the reed plate instead of buying a new harp, when necessary.

I forgot about Lee Oskars, I sold them a long, long time ago in a small store.