Cymbal maintenance

[ryan2112]

Hey. My sabian B8 crashes and hats, my sabian xs20 ride, and my sabian aax china are all getting pretty marked up. I bought a bottle of groove juice recently, and followed the directions of spraying, and allowing the cleaner to do all the work. This didn't help at all, so I tried rubbing. Still it did nothing. I'm just wondering what do you guys do to clean your cymbals, and what are your suggestions? Any stories of cymbal polishing gone wrong?

[crispycritters]

I have worn through the laquer on the odd cymbal by cleaning with brasso but this hasn't caused any damage to the cymbal. I tried ketchup once but I must have left some ketchup residue on the cymbal as there were streaky, blotchy looking patches on the cymbal within a couple of days after cleaning and it seemed to attract dirt and stick marks and seemed to become grimy much faster than the cymbals I cleaned with brasso - I had the same problem when I tried lemon juice - the blotchy effect appeared within a few days.

I don't clean my cymbals very often, when I do I wipe brilliant cymbals with a gas soaked rag to get rid of greasy marks, normally this is good enough and only takes a few minutes to clean all of them, if they are still dull I will use brasso - but I use this sparingly and still have half a can after a year of use. For regular finish lacquered cymbals I give the a quick wipe with a gas soaked rag to move greasy finger marks and then clean with a strong dish washing soap solution using a soft bristled brush and rinse well afterwards with fresh water, this seems to work well for me - but make sure they are absolutely dry or they will develop green spots in places.

If you use gas remember - it will remove logos really quickly - be careful if you wish to keep logos, make a point of taping over them.

I don't think you will damage your cymbals by cleaning them unless you use something really abrasive.

[funkyruss]

i used to clean my cymbals....i dont anymore...just dont care....whats the point? to get em all shiny? for how long? thats why i stopped

[imperialstar15]

I don't do any polishing, I do a light clean with soap and water just to rid the cymbals of some finger prints, dust, and dirt, they seem to stay pretty clean. Not shining, but clean.

[EyePea]

^ What ImperialStar15 said.

I used some Cymbal Swipes in the past but they were brutal on the cymbals finishes. So much so that I had to apply a thin layer of wax on 2 old cymbals I had.
I've learned not to apply harsh chemicals or abrasives to cymbals, only warm, soapy water will be used on my cymbals.
Each to their own however. Some love super shiny and that is totally cool too. It's how you like your cymbals that really matters.

[hippychip]

I just dust mine with a swiffer and call it a day---once you start using chemicals on them they will tarnish faster, and you have to clean them more often

[pcs90]

I've never cleaned any of mine. Over time the sound gets darker, at least on the shiny ones, and I prefer that.

[SunDog]

Brilliant finish cymbals will end up with finger marks that cannot be rubbed away. There is a professional polishing kit with pads and attachments for a cordless drill that will return brilliant finishb cymbals to factory shine. The downside is they remove the logos as well. Traditional cymbals are easier to return to factory finish as fingerprints do not become permanent on them. Generally I clean them three or four times a year using just lemons cut in half and then rinse with cool water.

[late8]

I use *NevrDull:



Good for the following:

• Copper
• Pewter
• Silver
• Chromium
• Nickel
• Gold
• Brass
• Zinc
• Aluminum

*It will remove logos

[hippychip]

I use *NevrDull:



Good for the following:

• Copper
• Pewter
• Silver
• Chromium
• Nickel
• Gold
• Brass
• Zinc
• Aluminum

*It will remove logos

My dad always had a can in the garage---I used it to polish my bike, and then my Keystone Classics (yeah, I'm old)---I had forgotten about it until now---gotta get me a can!

[MatrixClaw]

I use a spray cleaner that is for guitars to get off the top gunk, then I coat it in carnauba wax and buff it out. Doesn't get rid of everything, but makes them super shiny and the coat of wax makes cleaning them the next time much easier - you just take a rag and wipe it off. Won't affect the ink, either.

[carbohydrate kid]

in the past ive used never dull and some elbow grease. i spoke with a cymbalsmith who says to use tire polish occasionally and to just keep them clean.