[fred12]

For some itme I've been using Haggerty's silver polish, as do many folks on SOTW, judging from the posts I've seen. When I saw the new Consumer Reports had rated Wrights much better I was curious so I tried some. Wow! What a difference!

The Wright's I used comes in a white plastic bottle, says "Wright's silver polish, Anti Tarnish". Oh, it also says "Fresh new Fragrance" but my playing still stinks. But now at least people can say "he can't play but look at that shiny horn!" Kidding aside, the Wright's polish is really a geat improvement and doesn't seem to contain any abrasive material.

 

[AhCheung]

Following a suggestion of Enviroguy in another thread about waxing saxes I've been using car wax with good results to clean my silver plate bari cause I wanted something non abrasive like 3M tarnishield (almost $20 a bottle!). Given the surface of a bari I am glad I found a cheaper alternative.
I found that 2001 Turtle wax (green bottle) gets rid of these greyish hues and restores the shine without apparent abrasion.... and it doesn't smell!

BTW I am using it also to polish my delacquered horn with equal success.

 

[jbtsax]

Fred. Thanks for the tip. I tried the Wrights silver polish on an old Conn C-Melody I am restoring and it worked great. I am wondering if anyone has any shortcuts to cleaning and polishing these old satin silver saxes, or is it just one of those jobs that takes time and "elbow grease"?

 

[JerryJamz2]

John,

Using silver "polishes" using hands and polishing cloths on "satin" silver, only tends to polish the peaks/tops of the crevaces, and usually also clogs the pores/valley's. Polishes work fine on polished silver finishes/areas.

Besides the standard brands mentioned by others, we have also used Wenol, Flitz, and Semi-chrome on polished silver finishes for years. Polished keys are done with green rouge on a wheel.

On satin finishes we have had great success making a "slurry" of 20 Mule-team borax and Empire Silver Cleaner (Ferree's pink stuff that smells like rotten eggs.) We imerse the body parts in hot water while scrubbing the body with our slurry mix by applying and scrubbing with a small platers brush. It removes that dingy/grey look very well. Comet cleanser/Ajax can be substituted also. Try to avoid heavy scrubbing on/near polished decorative monograms/emblems,etc..

As we have the luxury of a large ultrasonic cleaner, our final cleaning/rinse is done for about 30 seconds. It cleans everything out of everywhere. (It doesn't remove tarnish though, hence the other methods above.)

Keep in mind that any polishing compounds left in the satin silver grain will turn everything and anything black almost on contact. Players with white shirts and sweaty hands will attest to that. I would suggest a final rinse/clean using mineral spirits or some type of degreaser to remove the residual polish film. ALWAYS immerse affected parts in a warm soapy solution to neutralize any acidic chemicals and rinse throughly.

I think you'll like it, and find it much easier. Saves you from acute "Tenor-elbow" also.

 

[jbtsax]

Thanks Jerry for the great information. This is another case of "ready, fire, aim". I should have posted the question BEFORE I did all that work. Well the next one I do, I'll try your suggestions. Our larger store in Salt Lake has an ultrasonic, but we just don't have the room for one in our smaller facility. It sounds like it would be worth the 45 minute drive to use their machine on these kinds of overhauls. Thanks again for sharing your experience and techniques.

John

 

[JerryJamz2]

No prob. Why not toss it up on the Delphi repair forum and see what other techs suggest? Just a thought.