Cleaning Mouthpipe and Tubing

The greatest single cause of damage to cup mouthpiece instruments is the mouthpiece corroded or stuck fast in the mouthpipe. In the attempt to loosen and remove the mouthpiece, braces arc torn loose, mouthpiece receivers are pulled away from the mouthpipe, and the mouthpipe itself is bent and broken. If the mouthpiece becomes stuck, don’t go beyond gentle methods, such as tapping the receiver with a wood mallet or wood handle, applying kerosene or penetrating oil and letting stand overnight. When tapping the mouthpiece receiver, lay it against something solid, such as table top or block of wood. If these gentle efforts fail, you’ll save yourself costly repairs by letting a repairman do the job.

The mouthpiece should be kept clean all the time. The throat is the critical spot in the mouthpiece as it does not take much dirt in this narrow throat to spoil the performance. Look Below to get an idea of this narrow throat and the construction of mouthpipe receiver, ferrule, and mouthpipe.
Good mouthpieces should be kept in a pouch or bag. This protects the rim from dents and the thin edge of the stem from becoming mashed. It also cultivates the habit of removing the mouthpiece after every performance.

Never put your instrument away at the end of the season with the mouthpiece left in. If you do, much trouble awaits you when you pick it up again.

Dissolve some castile soap in warm water. Pour this into the bell, working the valves so the solution will pass through the valve slides. This will loosen corrosion and dirt which may have been blown into the instrument. After this has been done, the inside of the instrument should be rinsed in cold water, either by pouring it into the bell or with a hose and a reducing nozzle to fit the mouthpipe. If you use latter method, avoid excess pressure; a medium flow is sufficient. This process of cleaning the inside of tubing should be followed by thorough cleaning of valves and valve slides, to remove from these parts any dirt dislodged from the interior of the instrument.

Avoid poking swabs down mouthpipe and be careful if you use a weighted string, for inside the mouthpiece receiver and ferrule is a more or less delicate mouthpipe which must not be damaged.