Neats foot oil will soften. Cleaning will cut pads if too bad to use. But if any problems, better to replace. IMHO [emoji16]

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I have good success on saxophone pads with Dr's Pad Cleaner. Dr. Omar Henderson has a phd in chemistry and is also an accomplished clarinetist. I have found that all of the products he offers on his website work exactly as described. My technique is to liberally apply the solution to the surface of the pad using a Q-Tip and let it sit for a few minutes. Then I gently rub the surface with the Q-tip followed by a "rinse" with another Q-tip soaked in distilled water. The pad is then blotted dry using a square cut from a paper towel. Some inorganic "crud" that gets on pad surfaces has to be removed with naptha (lighter fluid), but the Pad Cleaner works for everything else. I do not subscribe to putting oily products of any type on saxophone pads. Cleaning the leather and restoring it as close as possible to its original condition and cleaning and polishing the toneholes works for me.

 

Use very very little nfo

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Lemon oil that neatsfoot stuff is too thick and sticky Emilio Lyons showed me this years ago! It will penetrate and is very very light!

 

Hydrogen peroxide is cheap, useful for other household purposes, and pretty effective on normal levels of pad scum. It doesn't have any direct "reconditioning" function, however.

 

Thanks. people! I knew I could get some info from SOTW. I'm trying the lighter fluid and then lemon oil. I will report back with results. (working on my old Bundy One which I had delacquered-water/glass bead).

 

+ 1 for lighter fluid (naptha). That's all I ever use.

I definitely wouldn't use household hydrogen peroxide (which is mainly water) or anything else that is water based.

In my experience, oils can work short term, but end up collecting dust and lint and thus tend to exacerbate the problem in the long term.

 

Lighter fluid. That's all I ever use.

Same here: squeeze a few drops of lighter fluid on a soft cloth strip, open a key that is closed at rest, such as G#, insert the cloth between the pad and the key hole, let the key close, rub the strip back and forth a few times. Make sure you rub along the key arm, not across, to minimize key displacement over time.

 

Naptha works well. I'm looking for a "reviver": something that will soften the old pads so I can re-seat them.

 

You may be able to 'revive' the leather portion of the pad, but... good luck with the wool felt under it. Once it's 'dried out' and compressed, those old ring dents from the tone holes will still be there. Old felt generally does not fluff back up.
Pads are not sweaters that you can hand wash/dry flat and have everything be good as new. 😉

 

There is something else that I think needs to be considered. Modern pads have a "waterproofing" of some type that older pads did not. An easy way to tell is to put a drop of water on the pad. If it produces a darker "wet spot" it is untreated leather. If the water "beads" it means the pad has been treated. The question I have about applying a product such as lemon oil is will it permeate through the waterproofing and get to the raw leather to soften it, or will it just stay on the surface as an oily film? I plan to get some lemon oil and perform this test myself. The photo below shows a new pad and one that has been cleaned using naptha. Notice how the cleaned pad on the right still retains its waterproofing.

 

If the pads are hard, shrunk in the cup at all, or the leather is damaged, then its probably time to replace them. To just clean build up from the surface, I would use water to start and then Naphtha. If it needs more, then it is time to replace them. Yo may get them working for awhile with some kind of oil or rejuvenating substance, but is likely to be more of a band-aid than proper repair. The leather is only the surface of the pad structure. Kind of like putting a new coat of paint on rotting wood, or rusted metal, its still messed up underneath.

 

Isopropyl alcohol is what I use for cleaning pads, if the pad breaks down whilst being wiped it needed to be changed IMO, if the pad is multi coloured shades of brown, then I recommend changing it anyway as its likely to have no waterproofing applied and the leather is now spit ingested and will be prone to hard spots in the leather.

Steve

 

IPA will damage some pad finishes. literally dissolve them, ask me how I know. Lighter fluid=naphtha Good stuff, but water first is a good idea as it will break down some substances that naphtha won't. Think about how that nasty **** was deposited, makes sense that water will break it down. Then follow with naphtha if sticky.

 

I have tried to clean the remaining shellac that has oozed out from the sides of a Music Medic Tan pad using alcohol and while it dissolves the shellac it also acts as a solvent removing the pad's coloring dye. For this reason I use it only when I have to and on small areas. Naptha does not have that effect.

 

Shellite

 

Shellite, lighter fluid, camp stove fuel, naphtha (and many other names)... all variations on a theme.
This stuff is great for dissolving off oily or greasy deposits, and it is highly unlikely to compromise any waterproof coating on the pad or make it sticky.
But typically deposits on pads are dried crud and mineral deposits from saliva. These do not dissolve in naphtha.

An alcohol or simply water with a bit of detergent may do better for crud. Detergent may compromise a pad's waterproofness.
Alcohol may make certain coatings (more) sticky.

Mineral deposits would need acid (eg vinegar or citric acid) or abrasion to remove them, and the result would likely be a leak from a tiny dent in the pad that the deposit used to occupy.

Blue/green deposits of verdigris or similar tend to be waxy. I have found that alcohol tends to work better than naphtha.

My citrus oil container has really sticky deposits where the stuff has "dried" around the neck. As with all vegetable oils, it eventually polymerises to a sticky consistency like half-set varnish, and nothing seems to dissolve it. Hence I would never use a vegetable oil on a pad, no matter how pretty it made the pad look initially.

I found Dr.'s Pad Cleaner unacceptably smelly.

I have expert advice that Neatsfoot Oil initially softens oil, but set the leather up to become increasingly brittle.

Somebody here once suggested using 1200 grit sand paper, drawn across the pad, as being a suitable abrasive to remove a lot of the foreign material.
I was initially horrified, but have since accepted it as not such a bad idea, to remove much of the visible deposits. It is just a little more abrasive than the oft-touted USA bank note. (In New Zealand the bank notes are plastic). Use the sand paper to clean up the edge of the tone hole as well.