Owning a musical instrument can be like an investment – an investment both in the instrument and in yourself. If you’re the kind of person who’s been looking for a way to protect that investment, then this article is probably the right one for you. Maintaining your instrument and keeping it clean doesn’t have to be a hassle – in fact, it can be downright easy (note: we’d never use the word “fun,” just to be realistic). If you’ve always wanted a way to clean a musical instrument without making it into backbreaking work, then you’ve come to the right place. In fact, we’ll give you four ways!
1. Use a can of compressed air to clean out difficult-to-reach places. This tip is so important that you’ll find it as #1 at DrumTips.com – but this doesn’t only apply to drums. If you have a woodwind instrument like a clarinet, then there are a lot of hard-to-reach spots that need to be cleared of gunk and dust. A quick blast of compressed air can handle that for you without requiring a lot of sweat or labor.
2. Keep your instrument stored away. If you want to keep good maintenance of your musical instrument a habit, then store it every time you’re not using it. If you own a piano, cover the keys with the board cover in the piano, if your piano has one. If you own a flute, put it away in its case. If you make this a habit and do it every time, eventually you won’t even have to think about it – how’s that for clean and easy maintenance?
3. Find instructions specific to your instrument and learn them. Sites like Windshoppe.com have articles that explain how different instruments should be maintained. Make sure you look up your specific instrument and understand the typical problems that you might encounter, and how to prevent them.
4. Schedule some time each month or week for cleaning. This is a time management technique known as “batching” – essentially, you want to put some time apart regularly so that you can handle your instrument and clean it. Depending on your instrument, you may not need a lot of time – you may just need ten minutes every week. But setting that time aside and following through with it will be crucial. If you handle that cleaning on a regular basis, you’ll find that your instrument will generally remain free of gunk and dust that would have otherwise gathered.
