Clarinet Maintenance

You will need

• A clarinet.
• A cleaning swab.
• Cork grease.
• A reed.
• A ligature.
• Non-gummed cigarette rolling paper (French brand).
• A soft piece of cloth or non-treated cotton cloth.

1. After assembling a clarinet, if it is wooden, let it heat to room temperature. Starting to play right away while a wooden clarinet is still cold can cause it to crack.
2. Have a clarinet at hand to rest your clarinet on. It helps prevent stress on the instrument.
3. Each time before disassembling the clarinet, clean it with a cleaning swab. Don't pull the swab through too quickly and don't use too much force. This could cause the swab to either get stuck, or break.
4. Take the reed off the mouthpiece. Leaving it on can shorten the reeds life and cause a germ buildup.
5. Use the non-gummed cigarette rolling paper to dry wet pads.
6. Wipe fingerprints off the clarinet after practice. Use a soft piece of cloth or a non-treated cotton cloth. NEVER use water! Wiping off fingerprints helps prevent tarnish.
7. If it is difficult to assembly put the parts together, apply cork grease to the corks. Too little cork grease can cause the corks to crack.
8. Wipe of any extra grease.
9. Hold the segments of the clarinet in places that won't cause keys to bend when putting the clarinet together (e.g.- the bottom segment should be held in the area below the cluster of 4 keys with the thumb at the top).
10. Make sure segments of clarinet are entirely together as you may need to pull them out when tuning.
11. Soak the reed in your mouth while assembling the clarinet.
12. Place the reed flat against the mouthpiece, and secure with the ligature.
13. When disassembling make sure not to bend any keys.
14. Make sure to store the clarinet in its case around 70 degrees and 50% humidity, especially if it's wood.