Stuff to Do:
First, unscrew the crown from your headjoint and use your cleaning rod to force the cork out. Be careful - use something hard (a carpeted floor works) to brace the cleaning rod against and use firm pressure. Jerking or sudden pressure might cause the cork to come flying out the end, or a bent headjoint - it's not a pretty sight. Then, run warm water (you may use gentle liquid soap if you like) through the headjoint. You can use the old toothbrush to scrub out any crud that's caught in the headjoint tube. Be sure to dry out the inside of the headjoint with tissues, paper towels, etc. When you're done, replace the cork (remember to use the notch on your cleaning rod to make sure it's in the right place - the notch should show up in the center of the embouchure hole when you look through) and screw the crown back on (not too tight, though - that can throw the alignment off).

As for the rest of the instrument, use the old toothbrush (be sure it's dry) to scrub off any gunk that may be hiding on the key posts or elsewhere, and re-oil your keys if needed (two drops per key - one at each post -and press the key several times to work the oil in). Don't forget to wipe off the excess with a paper towel or tissue.

Finally, you might want to polish up your flute. Do this one piece at a time, and place each piece back into the case after you're done polishing it. DO NOT USE SILVER POLISH!!! This will gum up the keys, so you'll have a really shiny instrument that doesn't work - not to mention the fact that it won't taste really good on your embouchure plate.

Clarinet Family*

* For plastic clarinets only - hopefully, you're not marching with a wooden clarinet (rain and humidity are hard enough on plastic ones)

Stuff to Do:
First, rinse out your mouthpiece with warm water (grease your cork first - the grease will repel water and keep the cork from getting wet and rotting). Then, squeeze a small amount of liquid soap or dish detergent onto your mouthpiece brush and clean thoroughly inside and out. Rinse again with warm water and dry thoroughly with a clean towel. If there's a lot of gunk on the tenon (that's where the cork is), use a paper towel (and your fingernail) or cotton swab (you can dip it in rubbing alcohol or water) to clean it off.

Now, clean the upper and lower stacks of your clarinet. The same idea about gunk (see above) applies to all your other tenons too, so clean them out (paper towel/tissue and fingernail, or use a cotton swab) if they're dirty. Then, use your small screwdriver (be careful!) to remove, clean, and replace your register key.

1. While loosening the screw, press down lightly on the fulcrum of the key (where the key and screw intersect)
2. Still pressing down on that fulcrum, pull the screw out (gentle use of pliers may be necessary here, but be sure not to pinch too hard, or you may ruin the screw).
3. Once the key comes off, you'll see the register key tone hole in its entirety. Insert your bent paper clip (or cotton swab with the cotton removed from one end) and clean out the hole (gunk can build up here and mess up your whole clarinet).
4. Put the register key back between its posts, and apply gentle pressure on the fulcrum again (line up the holes in the posts with the hole in the key for the screw to go through).
5. Slide the screw in and tighten it down. You may need to alter the amount of pressure you put on the key when replacing the screw to ensure that the screw is entering the other post properly.

Finally, the bell may acquire a bit of gunk where it attaches to the bottom stack, so clean this out with a cotton swab. Otherwise, the bell is fairly low-maintenance. However, if the silver ring at the bottom is coming loose, you'll want to have an instrument repair shop take a look at it.

Saxophone Family

Stuff to Do:
First, rinse out your mouthpiece with warm water. Then, squeeze a small amount of liquid soap or dish detergent onto your mouthpiece brush and clean thoroughly inside and out. Rinse again with warm water and dry thoroughly with a clean towel.

To clean out the neck, it's helpful to first grease up your cork (this will repel water). Turn the warm water back on, but not full blast. Lift up the octave key and place the pad of your finger over the vent hole. Then hold the end of the neck that attaches to the saxophone body under the tap and let water run through the neck and out the mouthpiece end (you may use soap and a brush here to get out other gunk). Turn the water off and blow through the non-corked end of the mouthpiece (or shake it out, etc.) to remove excess water. You may dry the neck out the rest of the way by wiping the inside with tissues, toilet paper, paper towels, etc., passing them all the way through the neck if possible.

Now, I suppose you're wondering… Why the old toothbrush? Well, gunk can build up on your key posts, and an old toothbrush is a great way to remove that gunk. So brush your key posts down, and re-oil your keys with two drops per key - one at each post (be sure to work the oil in by pressing the key several times) - and wiping off the excess with a paper towel or tissue.

If you have a saxophone cleaning kit, you'll also have a special swab for the inside of your instrument, with a weighted end, some string, and a brushy kind of thing and maybe a piece of cloth at the other end. Always pass this through the bell end of your horn with the weighted end going in first. Then, tip the instrument over, being sure the weighted end falls out the top of the saxophone body rather than ramming the cleaning end through. Pull the weighted end with firm pressure until the cleaning end comes out the top of the saxophone. (Repeat a second or third time as necessary).

Finally, use the polishing cloth (be sure you have the right kind for the kind of finish on your saxophone; most have a lacquer finish) to wipe it down and make the brass nice and shiny. Not only will it help preserve the finish or lacquer on your saxophone, but it might make you proud of your beautiful, shiny instrument (it always makes me smile!).

Your case is your instrument's second-best friend (after you, of course) - so do your instrument another favor and put it in a clean, not-stinky case when you're done cleaning it.

Cases