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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
harp cleaning
harp cleaning
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1
judhug
1 post
Mar 08, 2009
3:14 AM
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what is the best method for cleaning harps, is it best to take it apart and soak the reed plate so it wont affect the wood, and if so which kind of solution is best, has anybody got the answer.
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Oisin
137 posts
Mar 08, 2009
4:05 AM
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Hey there judhug....welcome to the forum.
You've picked a good subject to start with but I would brace yourself for a flurry of different answers on this one.
You are right about the wood comb, you definetely don't want to get this wet as it will swell. However there are some people (Adam included) who never clean their harps. Some people say not cleaning them will keep them more airtight as the gunk that builds up will help to seal holes. Other just clean out the gunk that builds up at the holes entrance with a toothpick. Some people take their harps completely apart and clean them with many different products, some people just run them under a tap (plastic combs only) and some people use ultrasonic baths the clean them.Some people even stick them through a dishwasher!! (look down the list of threads on this page and you'll see one about that)
So you see there are a lot of different things you can do. Perhaps the best question to ask yourself is why do I need to clean it? If it's because the reeds are sticking due to crap getting in there then you will need to disassemble them and clean them. Or maybe you just want a nice shiny harp? They are all valid reasons and you will get a lot of good answers on this site.
Personally I like to clean my harps every few months or so and I just use alcohol to clean the inside and an odour free metal polish for the coverplates. I have a few really old harps that I would like to restore and I have been recommended something called "Barkeepers friend" cleaning powder for cleaning the tarnish off the old brass reedplates, although I haven't actually used it yet.
Hope this is helpful
Oisin
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