Unless you have a specific reason to be phobic about a mouthpiece being infected with any particular germs or spores (in other words a mouthpiece is not a surgical instrument, these are guidelines for surgical instruments! You place it into your mouth where there is an enormous amount of germs of all kinds which will compete and win with any other germ weakened by any disinfectant or cleaner) there is absolutely no need to use bleach (which I did use for a quick rinse of a mouthpiece if I had nothing else at all and , beside the taste, there was no particular adverse effect that I remember but one HR composition is not the other one ). Alcohol is very good disinfectant but so is removing any offending deposit by use of vinegar and mechanical action (brush and soap). So unless you found this object soaked in a cesspit for several years, I wouldn't bother!

Again , I have used it to clean a Hr mouthpiece (and used it often for mouldy reeds) and observed no particular adverse reaction, but, again one hard rubber is not the other!

 

You place it into your mouth where there is an enormous amount of germs of all kinds ... there is absolutely no need to use bleach. ... I wouldn't bother!

Thank you for your response and for addressing your own experience with bleach. The only time I would use any sanitizer is when buying or selling a used mouthpiece. As I mentioned in the original post, I am aware that many people feel no need to use a sanitizer or prefer to use alcohol. However, I'm most interested in specific experiences with bleach rather than recommendations of alternatives.

 

yes, but using surgical instruments guidelines is a gigantic overkill

 

The only reason I referenced that source was to highlight bleach's superiority to alcohol as a sanitizer. My suggestion for sanitizing mouthpieces (see original post) was to soak for 15 minutes in a solution of 90% water and 10% household bleach. This is not a "surgical instrument guideline." It's simply a precautionary measure I would prefer to take before playing someone else's mouthpiece. I would like to know if anyone has observed damage to hard rubber from such a treatment.

 

I did and it didn't. I understand that some folks have high standards and psychological reasons about being very stringent about sanitation but, if I may bring this up to you, ask yourself, if you were in a bar and at a certain point, after have becoming familiar with a boy or a girl (whatever takes your fancy) this will ask you to kiss her or him, would you ask this person to disinfect his her mouth beforehand?

 

I generally use Luke warm water with some antibacterial soap. And sometimes I'll run a clorax wipe sheet through the mouthpiece as well. Or maybe a quick spray with Lysol.

I'd never dunk my pieces in bleach......that is way over kill

 

Or again, using the "if you were in a bar" analogy, would you demand that your drink glass be sterilized with bleach before drinking from it? Most bar glasses take a common bath with several other bar glasses at a time, in warm soapy water, unless the bar/restaurant has a dishwasher, which will usually subject them to highter temperatures. Either method satisfies most city/county/state health departments in the U.S., AFAIK.

 

I'm not sure what germs are of concern, but reputable health websites would seem to show that most viruses and bacteria can't survive on a hard surface for more than a few hours, or at most a couple days. So probably they would die just during the postal journey, and a wash with soap and water after receipt would do it.

 

So probably they would die just during the postal journey, and a wash with soap and water after receipt would do it.

This would be true of a relatively clean mouthpiece, but I wonder about the ones with a think layer of stinky gunk inside them, I would want to give that something more thorough than warm soapy water.

I agree with you bar analogy milandro, I most likely wouldn't ask a girl I'd met at a bar to disinfect, however if I'd got one from ebay I might think differently.

 

Bleach is probably safe for the mouthpiece. Alcohol and acetone both dissolve rubber, but I don't think bleach does. Might want to swab the inside of the bore with some and see how it pans out first. If it doesn't take any black off you should be ok.

 

It will very likely hasten the greenifying of HR, I tested it with a similar dilution the OP suggests and it certainly makes a formerly black mouthpiece a very fetching shade of dark olive green. Whether this actually damages the mouthpiece or whether it can be returned to black I don't know.

 

It won't hurt your mouthpiece, but might turn it green.

 

I am sure I tried rinsing with diluted bleach a Selmer (and possibly also a Vandoren) without any discolouration but it was rinsed after brushing it with toothbrush and a mild detergent and didn't soak long in a concentrated bleach bath

 

tempted to try this on my Rousseau JDX5 that is a dull olive green to get it back to black. If it works would a light coat of mineral oil work in order to restore luster? I've read Olive oil works, but I'd be concerned that would go rancid. Here are 2 pics of it, which was rarely used but it looks like it's been through the war.

After a scrub with a toothbrush with 9 to 1 water to bleach solution, followed by a 7 minute soak. Then dried thoroughly with microfiber cloth and then lightly applied olive oil and then buffed to a shine:

 

tempted to try this on my Rousseau JDX5 that is a dull olive green to get it back to black. If it works would a light coat of mineral oil work in order to restore luster? I've read Olive oil works, but I'd be concerned that would go rancid.

If there's green "oxidation" on the facing, and if the bleach removes the green part, that would leave a damaged facing.

 

Updated post #22 with a pic after cleaned and soaked in bleach solution and then olive oil applied. Not bad but it may just be temporary. Time will tell.

 

I've used bleach before, as it is a good cheap disinfectant. No problem on the metal mouthpieces, but it did discolor the hard rubber mouthpieces. I understand some will do so with age, but seemed to accelerate the process. I only use soap and water and brush now.

 

Bleach is bad for hard rubber. Im not saying you cant clean with it but under no circumstances should you soak it for a long time. Bleach will pit the mouthpiece all over. So, if you want your facing mouthpiece to breathe soak it.

As for olive oil, it does not turn rancid on a mouthpiece. Just wipe it down after application.

 

... under no circumstances should you soak [a mouthpiece in bleach] for a long time.

Would you expect a 15 minute soak in a solution of 10% household bleach (e.g. Clorox® regular bleach) and 90% water to cause damage?

 

Chlorine is generally corrosive for rubber depending on the contact period and strength of the solution over time, but then HR mouthpieces aren't necessarily rubber. It may adversely affect some pieces and not touch others. This is even true of plastics -- some will be damaged, others not.

I suspect, that a very diluted solution of bleach won't have any significant immediate effect unless it's pretty consistently applied over a long period of time. Over time, it may degrade the piece.

There's some risk here if you're planning to use it regularly -- particularly if it's someone else's piece you're using it on.

 

I agree with Maddenma, if you feel you must use it do so sparingly.

 

BTW, 15 minutes seems like a really long time for a bleach bath to me. I spoke with a Dr. friend of mine. She suggested that a wipe down would probably be enough. She also thought that a bit of rubbing alcohol might have the same effect and is likely a bit less toxic to the next individual to breath air through it than bleach. Alcohol is pretty good at evaporating into nothing. Bleach tends to hang around awhile in trace amounts, even after a rinse.

As funny as this is going to sound, she did suggest that a prophylactic (cover) of some kind would provide the best protection over a disinfectant.

I'll let you think about how to do that one for awhile.....

 

Using bleach to turn green back to black has worked for me, but only for some mouthpieces. I have no idea why, and why not.

 

Hard Rubber works in mysterious ways.........

 

I left my test mouthpiece in a stronger solution overnight, it has now more or less taken out all the green and looks a uniform black, ie no "bikini lines" at all where the ligature was.

However I get the feeling it has gone slightly matter, which I could of course be polished, however this implies something other than purely colourisation has gone on, which wouldn't matter on the outside, but may have a (very minimal effect) on the acoustics due to any change of dimension or surface on the inside. But I really doubt any change could be significant.


Also when I took it out of the bleach, the liquid on the surface had a sort of thicker slimy/sticky feel - different to the water and bleach if I just put a piece in there for a second or two which just feels "wet". This implies there may be some slight chemical reaction that went on.

It now smells of swimming pool rather than stinky old hard rubber.

 

However I get the feeling it has gone slightly matter, which I could of course be polished, however this implies something other than purely colourisation has gone on, which wouldn't matter on the outside, but may have a (very minimal effect) on the acoustics due to any change of dimension or surface on the inside. But I really doubt any change could be significant.

Also when I took it out of the bleach, the liquid on the surface had a sort of thicker slimy/sticky feel - different to the water and bleach if I just put a piece in there for a second or two which just feels "wet". This implies there may be some slight chemical reaction that went on.

This all really sounds like there is a chemical reaction between the bleach and the rubber. If it's enough to cause dullness in the finish, it's enough to ruin a facing curve. Just swabbing the piece with a weak solution probably would be OK, but I wouldn't do it anyway. Small changes to a facing curve can sometimes make the difference between a killer piece and a doorstop.

 

It is the friction more than what you use that kills germs. That is why you see surgeons scrub before they work.

 

Hi,
I no longer get whether this thread is about health risks, or trying to do something cosmetic to a discolored mouthpiece. Maddemna's doctor friend thought a wipe-down would take care of the former, which accords with everything I've read on the subject (I work for a health organization, though I'm not a doctor). The cosmetic thing is another matter entirely, isn't it?
I would hate to see people damage expensive mouthpieces to kill germs that aren't there. The long lasting ones are things like anthrax, which I don't know how would get on a mouthpiece. The usual culprits you would fear from a mouthpiece (e.g. Herpes) don't survive very long, from what I've read. But again I'm not an expert.

 

Hi, I no longer get whether this thread is about health risks, or trying to do something cosmetic to a discolored mouthpiece.

I intended this thread to be exclusively about cosmetics, hot health risks. My original question was whether a 15 minute soak in a solution of 10% bleach and 90% water could damage a hard rubber mouthpiece cosmetically. This question can be answered without any reference health-related issues whatsoever.