Jim Crutchfield writes:
"But on second thought, do we really want to use /any/ polish or heavy-duty cleanser on harmonica reeds? All that stuff is at least an irritant and maybe toxic; and it's bound to leave some residue for you to suck into your mouth. Over time I'd imagine you'd get a fairly appreciable dose in the mucous membranes. Isn't a good cleaning with alcohol enough?"
At the risk of sounding endlessly repetitious...'All that stuff is' NOT 'an
irritant and maybe toxic'...that's the specific reason I DO use MAAS
....and why Fjm himself (our listowner) mentioned what a terrific product it was
here long before Winslow brought up his use of it.
It was developed by an American housewife precisely to be NON-irritating,
FAR less toxic AND less 'heavy-duty' than other silver/metal cleaners on
the market, and has long been promoted for polishing up other wind
instruments (saxophones/trumpets to be precise) due to her own problems with the
metal cleaners on the market at the time.
I've gone into detail before and thought I made it clear here again with my
last post - After polishing with the MAAS I wipe down any surface my mouth
and hands are going to be touching when playing, with 91% isopropyl
alcohol. And then the harmonica is buffed again with a dry cloth. If I don't have
the rubbing alcohol handy I've substituted Clorox' Anywhere hard surface
spray instead (I dip a cloth into some poured into a dish for that last
wipe-down), which is safe to use on home cutting boards, baby high chair
surfaces and around our pets.
So I do wish you would not scare people off until you do actual research
into this specific polish, Jim. MAAS does not leave any residue to be
'sucked into one's mouth'. And no, over time one does not get a 'fairly
appreciable dose in the mucous membranes'. I've been using this product on my
harmonicas for 5 years now, have extremely sensitive skin, can't so much as eat
an orange or a strawberry without mouth irritation and have had absolutely
no problems whatsoever with my harmonica polishing regimen. I'd never
suggest use to other players of anything I hadn't tried out myself and found to
be an amazing product with no harmful effects at all.
Perhaps Simichrome - the polish you suggested might cause such irritation
and problems, but MAAS does not, which is why it's THE polish of choice.
But just to be completely safe and sure, I've long made a point of telling
anyone who plans to use it that I personally do an extra wipe down with the
91% alcohol afterwards before playing any instrument.
FTR, some people are allergic to or can't use alcohol for other reasons
(such as being recovering alcoholics) and don't wish to use it in any form on
their instruments and so cannot follow your advice about 'a good cleaning
with alcohol' being a sufficient cleanser.
Out of all the metal polishes on the market MAAS is the one made for
jewelry and delicate antiques...which leaves brass reed plates and silverplate
mouthpieces as well as metal covers (including the undersides) highly
polished and spotless. Removes rust without major scrubbing or use of tools which
can harm the instrument and will stave off future rust while leaving brass
specifically with a very soft feel... the precise reason I use it on my
Super 64's and Seydel Deluxe Chromatics. So I can have a much smoother
surface on my chromatic mouthpieces (making them far easier to play) without the
worry of ingesting anything remotely harmful.
Specifically too, I keep reminding everyone here that just a 'tiny dab' of
the polish goes very far...one polishes it in and then buffs it off.
Michael had brought up Jason Ricci's method specifically - his use of Kaboom,
which formula has been recently changed.
To me and quite a few other people I gather (since this is one of several
such ongoing discussions on Slidemeister), a beautifully polished
mouthpiece, cover plate and reed plates makes for a better playing harmonica and
leaves a silky smooth surface which permits the chrom to go a lot longer
between major cleaning sessions...allowing for mere wipe-downs with a damp cloth
after playing, and giving it less of an attractant to dust. I covered this
issue the first time I ever mentioned trying out MAAS, since I'm pretty
fanatical about not ingesting or being exposed to any toxic chemicals. I'm
also specifically talking about chromatics, not acrylic bodied diatonics,
which are far easier to clean than chromatics.
Ymmv.
Elizabeth