Sax on the Web Forum

Sax on the Web Forum Archive / Selmer saxes / Old silver selmer sax...shine it up?

SaxColuss
User ID: 0860834 Jan 27th 12:04 PM
Yo! Jez curious to noe, wat do u guys use to bring back the old shine on the old,very soiled selmer sax? m planning to take out all the parts out n clean/ polish it.... "silvo" to polish,anyone? or just soap and warm water? Ur information is greatly appreciated!! Peace y'all!! Keep on Saxin'......(",)

King Bee
User ID: 9753653 Jan 27th 2:50 PM
If you're going to take the horn apart, then cleaning the silver will be much easier. A sax has a lot of crooked nannies (nooks and crannies). I'd try a product called "Tarn X" that removes silver oxide (or chemically reduces it). It's a free-flowing liquid and very easy to use. There are also a number of pastes that use the same chemical. Finally, there are jeweler's polishing gloves you can buy, but I've never tried them. I have used Tarn X and it works quickly and well. Don't let it get on the pads tho!

amasax
User ID: 9600383 Jan 27th 8:30 PM
SaxC, you the guy who bought that nasty looking BA alto on ebay a few days ago? Looked like it'd been under water for a few decades, but also looked like it'd clean up really nice.

Larry G
User ID: 2073324 Jan 28th 1:42 AM
Well Tarn X is said to be a very baaad cleaner for silver by my girl the antique store owner.She say's it makes it clean but very dull .Harsh cleanser and looks flat after. Says that she can spot silverware that has been Tarn X'ed and won't buy it for resale. Try it on your Winston maybe ??

Tom
User ID: 9997253 Jan 28th 6:24 AM
I polished a silver Conn C-Sax once that was literally black with tarnish. I used Hagerty's silver polish for most of the tarnish and when the body was pretty clean, I used strips of treated cloth to pull around the posts, tone holes, nooks and crannies. It looked virtually like new when I was done but took me probably 8 hours total working a little bit at a time at night.

Oh...and the springs will poke you until you bleed no matter how hard you try to avoid them !!!

silveralto875
User ID: 1564944 Jan 28th 10:28 PM
I have a silver alto & touch up maybe once every 6 months with a Flitz silver polishing cloth from my local music store. It's used for flutes, silver plating, etc. It has one treated cloth about 20" X 20" and one to gently buff final touch. It works great and my horn plays and looks beautiful. It's a Yamaha 875-s Custom and the plating is really done well (as expected). Best of luck to you. J.D.

SaxColuss
User ID: 0860834 Jan 30th 8:06 AM
Thanx a lot, y'all.....!!!N by the way Tom, u r darn right bout' the bleedin' part! Aaargh! Peace!

SaxColuss User ID: 0860834	Jan 27th 12:04 PM Yo! Jez curious to noe, wat do u guys use to bring back the old shine on the old,very soiled selmer sax? m planning to take out all the parts out n clean/ polish it.... "silvo" to polish,anyone? or just soap and warm water? Ur information is greatly appreciated!! Peace y'all!! Keep on Saxin'......(",)
King Bee User ID: 9753653	Jan 27th 2:50 PM If you're going to take the horn apart, then cleaning the silver will be much easier. A sax has a lot of crooked nannies (nooks and crannies). I'd try a product called "Tarn X" that removes silver oxide (or chemically reduces it). It's a free-flowing liquid and very easy to use. There are also a number of pastes that use the same chemical. Finally, there are jeweler's polishing gloves you can buy, but I've never tried them. I have used Tarn X and it works quickly and well. Don't let it get on the pads tho!
amasax User ID: 9600383	Jan 27th 8:30 PM SaxC, you the guy who bought that nasty looking BA alto on ebay a few days ago? Looked like it'd been under water for a few decades, but also looked like it'd clean up really nice.
Larry G User ID: 2073324	Jan 28th 1:42 AM Well Tarn X is said to be a very baaad cleaner for silver by my girl the antique store owner.She say's it makes it clean but very dull .Harsh cleanser and looks flat after. Says that she can spot silverware that has been Tarn X'ed and won't buy it for resale. Try it on your Winston maybe ??
Tom User ID: 9997253	Jan 28th 6:24 AM I polished a silver Conn C-Sax once that was literally black with tarnish. I used Hagerty's silver polish for most of the tarnish and when the body was pretty clean, I used strips of treated cloth to pull around the posts, tone holes, nooks and crannies. It looked virtually like new when I was done but took me probably 8 hours total working a little bit at a time at night. Oh...and the springs will poke you until you bleed no matter how hard you try to avoid them !!!
silveralto875 User ID: 1564944	Jan 28th 10:28 PM I have a silver alto & touch up maybe once every 6 months with a Flitz silver polishing cloth from my local music store. It's used for flutes, silver plating, etc. It has one treated cloth about 20" X 20" and one to gently buff final touch. It works great and my horn plays and looks beautiful. It's a Yamaha 875-s Custom and the plating is really done well (as expected). Best of luck to you. J.D.
SaxColuss User ID: 0860834	Jan 30th 8:06 AM Thanx a lot, y'all.....!!!N by the way Tom, u r darn right bout' the bleedin' part! Aaargh! Peace!