How to Clean Your Saxophone

Care After Playing Your Saxophone

When you are finished playing the instrument should be taken apart with the same care with which it was assembled.

Drying the Mouthpiece

Remove the reed, wipe off the excess moisture and place it in a reed case/holder.

Thoroughly clean the mouthpiece with a small cleaning swab. When doing this, be careful not to scratch the tip of the mouthpiece. Store your mouthpiece in the case with the ligature and cap on it.

Drying the Neck

Use a sax neck cleaner to clean out and dry the interior of the neck.

Drying the Body

Remove the neck from the body. Feed the weighted end of a sax swab into the bell and turn the saxophone over so that the weight drops out the other end. Pull the swab through the instrument bore a couple of times.

Put the end plug back into the neck receiver and put the body back into the case.

Drying/Cleaning the Pads

If a pad becomes sticky, it can be cleaned with cleaning paper. Take one sheet of the cleaning paper and insert it between the pad and tone hole. Lightly press the key closed while gently pulling the paper out. Repeat this several times. This will clean off residue and excess moisture.

Cleaning the Surface

Using a polishing cloth, wipe the length of the body, taking care not to apply stress to the keys. Be careful not to damage the pads in the key areas.

Cleaning the Octave Key

The octave key tone hole is small and clogs easily. Clean it using the tone hole cleaner. Be careful not to allow the metal part at the tip of the tone hole cleaner to scratch the tone hole.

Weekly Maintance

Cleaning the Small Spaces

Clean small, hard-to access areas at the key sides and around the key posts. 1. Twist some polishing gauze into a rope shape for use in cleaning. Be careful not to apply excessive force to the keys. 2. Use the tone hole cleaner to clean small spaces between keys. Be careful not to scratch the pads.

Cleaning the Mouthpiece

Dirt buildup in the mouthpiece can be washed out with warm soapy water using the mouthpiece brush .

Monthly Maintance

Key Check

Screws may loosen naturally. Therefore, keys should be checked once a month. Tighten the screws if necessary.

Oiling the Keys

Add a small amount of medium key oil at the spots where the keys move. Be careful not to add too much oil.

When you are finished, move the keys so that the oil works in thoroughly.

If oil ends up on the body, thoroughly wipe the keys and body to remove the oil.

Cleaning the Neck

Create a solution from brass soap and water (in a ratio of 10 to 15 parts warm water (30-40ºC) to one part brass soap). Remove the key from the neck, and wrap adhesive tape around the cork so that it does not get wet.

Soak the brush included in the saxophone cleaner kit in the brass soap-water solution, and use it to clean the interior.

Once the interior has been cleaned, rinse the brush in clean water to remove the dirt and brass soap.

After allowing the water to drain out of the tube, run a cleaning swab through it to dry it completely.

Important Tips

NEVER put the saxophone in water! Doing so would result in costly repair. The mouthpiece and reed are a crucial part of tone production on the saxophone. A chipped or cracked reed or mouthpiece will hinder your ability to play properly.

Avoid squeezing the keys and rods.

Even though the saxophone is attached to a neck strap when playing, it is not a good idea to let the instrument hang freely. Keeping one hand on the saxophone at all times will prevent it from being bumped or dropped accidentally.