Hi all-
I just wanted to say that after reading all of the polishing post and seeing the peanut butter one I was tempted to try it. Well, I just tried it and have to say that it is the best way to remove the black gunk left by Brasso.

Thanks again for your help

So Brasso, something that is supposed to clean, leaves behind black gunk???

Peanut butter also gets gum out of hair! <img src="/threads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Chong uses it all the time...

you're not supposed to use brasso for polishing cymbals, its an abrasive and make the cymbals brittle.

What would you recommend for the cymbals then? They haven't been cleaned in about 3 years, so their are a lot of fingerprints and oil and everything built up on them.
Thanks.

This whole discussion should have happened in the Cymbal Maintenance thread.

well zildjian does make a cymbal polish. there is also groove juice.

groove juice takes off the labels, but it does a good job if you don't care about that. <img src="/threads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Anything to make it shiny will work but Peanut Butter, you have got to be serious. We don't use food stuff on our equipment. Use the "RIGHT" stuff like groove juice for that.

Yes, we are serious. Don't knock it until you try it.

Do you chew gum? Do you know that when you are chewing gum you are eating rocks, specifically marble? Do you know that chewing gum was meant to be an adhesive?

The oils in peanut butter work very well in dislodging dirt and oxidation off of metals. Many items have uses above and beyond what they were originally meant for. It's also a lot cheaper than Groove Juice.

Tooth paste might work too. I personally haven't tried it, but I know people who use toothpaste to clean silver jewlery. If it does indeed work, it shouldn't be harsh enough to take off the logos.

I've heard toothpaste cleans CDs, so it's worth trying on a cymbal. I've always just cleaned my cymbals with a damp towel. Of course, my cymbals are practically tin foil, so...

Toothpaste is used to clean the scratches on a CD. It wouldn't have oils to clean the dirt off of metals.

Silver is a metal and it takes dirt off it. It doesn't hurt to try.

JDDrum - Yes, toothpaste does not have oils, but it has other chemicals that can clean metal.

Wait, wait...peanut butter?
I'm willing to try toothpaste but peanut butter?

Sure...haven't you ever heard or a cymbal and peanut butter sandwhich.

I think I would rather try the toothpaste and have a nice mint fresh smell than a hot baked peanut butter smell.

yeah, my drum captain recommended using peanut butter. she told me that even DCI corps use it. i guess it all depends on what you'd rather smell, peanut butter or nice, delicious cymbal polish

It depends on what tpye of cymbal it is...

If its a Briallant finish (really shinny) Windex works the best, just spray it on, and then use to muscle to clean it to whats grooves are left.

For Normal Finish cymbals (murky look, smooth feel most cymbals) Windex agian works really well. Also Groove Juice But you will need to spend some time on the cleaning of cymbals. Sometimes a few coats will need to be put on for the look. After you get sweat on cymbals (green look) the cymbals might be done for and you will need to take them to your local drum store to have them professionally cleaned.

most corps sposored by a cymbal complany will use thier company's polish...note EVERYTHING WILL REMOVE THE STAMP...CLEAN AROUND IT...some corps use zud houshold cleaned...do not use it it gets them clean really easily but unless you have a contract w/ a company and you get new cymbals every year i wouldnt reccomend it. I prefer zildjian cream, itzs light blue, you rub it in with your fingers until its black then let it sit for about 10 minutes and wipe off.

Cymbal polish works better than Windex, I've found, but Windex is good too....

Our line's cymbals are really gross...if you practice with them for 10 minutes your pants will be black if they touch them...we need some HEAVY DUTY cymbal cleaner or some new cymbals!

Groove juice works well but since our pit just cleaned the whole entire collection of cymbals that we had it took us a really long time. Of course ours hadn't been cleaned for about 3 years also.

Basically you get another cleaning spray just like groove juice but cheaper. Its called cymbal clean. Some small music stores might have it so check it. The bottle is bigger than the usual groove juice bottle and is around 6 to 7 dollars.


By the way I can't chew gum since well in band rehersals is not allowed or during band class, and I have a dentist who does not want me to chew gum since it loosens up your teeth. That's why I never use peanut butter to take out gum out of my hair.

I am very tired of brasso leaving black marks on my school shirts so , I will use peanut butter tonight and toothpaste tommorow , thanks guys !

ya, me to. But if peanut butter would work I'd say go for it. However after I got done I would dump some kind of colonge or good smelling oil. Hey, now that I think of it, maybe something like vegtable oil or Crisco would do the job. Also if it were me I'd put a layer of Turtle Wax on it all and buff it up, just like you would a car. But I don't play cymbals so I won't worry about it.

-Mike

Some girl on our cymbal line discovered that nail polish remover works great for cleaning the Monkey Man off of cymbals. We still hav'nt tried that peanut butter though.

try simple green like windex but way stronger. not abrasive and all that other good stuff.

I hope you were being sarcastic becuase that made no point towards what middle aged man told you. If peanut butter works, then it works. I agree that you shouldn't use brasso. It shouldn't be used on cymbals, we use a thing called blue magic. I'm not sure what exactly it is, but i hope the cym tech knows whats she's doing. I'll tell them about the peanut butter thing.

this one may sound crazy but ketchup works on cymbals.or u could use just a tomato.

Yea use tomatoes, they taste like crap, no sense wasting good ketchup.

We clean our cymbals with Liquid Metal Polish.. it comes in a blue bottle and you can buy it at Wal-Mart. I recommend that stuff, it's great.

I use cymbal polish too.

Just because ketchup works, doesn't mean a tomato is going to work. There are <s>[b]snugglebunny[/b]</s> [color:"red"]a lot</font> more ingredients in ketchup that could play a factor in cleaning than in a tomato...

Also, try and stay away from Brasso. It is very abrasive. Nail Polish remover probably isn't that good either.

...and it's probably the vinegar in the product.

<img src="/threads/images/graemlins/70402-thinking.gif" alt="" />
You are most likely correct, suh! Vinegar is commonly used for cleaning, as well as making yummy salad dressing, and killer potato salad.

I still say that toothpaste works the best.

So how do you go about using the toothpaste or peanut butter? Just spread it on and then wipe clean? <img src="/threads/images/graemlins/70391-shrug.gif" alt="" /> I have no idea since I've never cleaned my cymbals. <img src="/threads/images/graemlins/70391-shrug.gif" alt="" />

I've never actually tried peanut butter or tootpaste, but I would assume the process it pretty similar to using commercial cymbal cleaner. Here are the instructions from the back of my bottle of Zildjian Liquid Cymbal Cleaner:

Squeeze a small amount of Zildjian Liquid Cymbal Cleaner onto a soft cloth or paper towel. Use the cloth or towel to rub the cleaner onto the cymbal, along the tonal grooves. Work on no more than a quarter of the cymbal at a time. Rub until a black film is raised on the cymbal and a slight haze is evident on the cymbal. Allow cleaner to dry for about 2 minutes and gently buff with a clean, dry soft cloth until a bright shine is obtained. Avoid application of the cleaner directly to the logo areas and avoid any excess rubbing, especially on any logo areas. Buff logo only enough to remove the cleaner to preserve the logo.

Hope this helps. <img src="/threads/images/graemlins/70409-waytogo.gif" alt="" />

i know several peeps that used tabasco sauce to clean theirs and they've got a real shine but it took off the labels....

again...back to vinegar based products. no suprise here.

Now..which brand toothpaste works best? <img src="/threads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

4 out of 5 dentists say crest... hehehe