Maintenance
How to Clean A Saxophone: Guide for Beginner Players
Feb
t’s so important to keep your saxophone clean and hygienic – now more than ever! Here’s a step-by-step on how to clean a saxophone after each practice session.
Keep Your Saxophone Clean and Playing its Best
We’ve all heard stories of sax players becoming ill because they never clean their saxophones. So it’s important to do some basic maintenance to keep your sax clean and safe to play.
Plus, cleaning your sax will help to keep it working properly and sounding great!
A Warning
Don’t be tempted to take your sax apart to clean it. Even if you can put it back together, it might not play as well. Leave that to the experts.
When should you clean your sax?
It’s a great idea to get into the habit of cleaning your sax after each practice session or rehearsal, before you put it back into its case.
A warning: Don’t be tempted to take your sax apart to clean it. Even if you can put it back together, it might not play as well. Leave that to the experts.
What You Need
Though you can get a saxophone cleaning kit (which contains a mouthpiece brush, thumb rest, cleaning cloth, cork grease, key oil, and random color cloths), there’s no need to buy one yet. You can just use a pull-through swab and an old toothbrush to clean your sax.
I like to use a pull-through saxophone cleaning swab like this one. There’s a smaller lint-free cloth for the mouthpiece and neck and a larger polishing cloth for the body. They come in two sizes, for tenor or alto saxophone. They’re great for absorbing moisture inside your sax, and you can also use it to polish your sax. Throw the swabs in the washing machine when they need freshening up!
Some people use a padsaver which you leave inside your sax when you’re not playing it. Make sure you choose a good quality one so it doesn’t shed fibres inside your saxophone. The disadvantage with these is that they keep moisture inside your sax, which isn’t good for the pads.
How to Clean Your Sax
It’s the same process for tenor and alto saxophones.
Watch my video to see how I use my cleaning swab to clean the body of the saxophone. Take care that your swab doesn’t get stuck inside! It should gently pull through easily.
To clean the mouthpiece and neck, start by taking off the ligature and the reed. Watch the video below to see how I use the smaller swab to clean the mouthpiece and neck.Keep Your Saxophone Clean and Playing its Best
We’ve all heard stories of sax players becoming ill because they never clean their saxophones. So it’s important to do some basic maintenance to keep your sax clean and safe to play.
Plus, cleaning your sax will help to keep it working properly and sounding great!
A Warning
Don’t be tempted to take your sax apart to clean it. Even if you can put it back together, it might not play a
Use your swabs to polish the outside of your sax and neck, too, to keep it looking great. You can give your mouthpiece an extra deep clean by running it under cold water and cleaning it with an old toothbrush. Never use warm or hot water on your mouthpiece.
