Cleaning, conditioning snare heads

[redhairedpiper]

I "caught" one of our young sides using spray furniture polish to shine up his Tendura Head for a parade. First instinct was to shoot him, but thought I'd better check into this first. What does one use to "spiff" up a drum head?

[rpeitzsch]

Furniture polish? Yikes! Ok, Ok, I have to admit I've never really thought about cleaning my drum head. I keep a towel in the back of my car to wipe dust, dirt, water, etc. off the drum before I put it back in to the case. The few times I've had to really go at some dirt, I've just used a damp rag and then dried immediately. But, that's usually been the shell (ours are the Premier 700s with the lacquered finish). I guess my heads have never gotten dirty enough that I thought it was a problem. :D

Cheers!
Rob

[Andrew Adams]

Not sure if I will get shot for this one or not. Though in defence, I have never done this to my pipe band drum head.

While playing with the Dartmouth College Marching Band, we used a black sharpie to write on the head of the drum. (Usually just the name of the person using it that year) I used "Soft Scrub with Bleach" to clean it off. Came off no problem. Just a thought.

Andrew

[Kate Boyd]

My corps uses that lemony smelling oily stuff to clean our drums before competitions-- I think it's furniture polish-- and I've gotten it on my drum head millions of times before, and had no subsequent problems. I don't really see what it would do, seeing as it's oil based, and probably wouldn't seep through the head (it does have that snazzy protective plastic covering it :wink: )

It might leave a little oily film on the top, and if that's a big problem, just get some isopropyl alcohol to wipe it right off. It really doesn't seem like a big deal to me...

kate

[redhairedpiper]

I'd like to think not, but wanted to be sure. Don't remember Hugh Cameron sending me a bottle of furniture polish with the last new drum I bought!!

[rpeitzsch]

Just to be safe, and this is where I take off my drummer's hat and put on my scientist's lab coat, check the ingredients to make sure that there aren't any organic solvents. Granted I've not checked our can at home, but I would think that some brands just might contain some to help lift off the old polish. It's well known that organic solvents can hurt (melt) plastic and other materials; how much and how quickly depends on the type of solvent, its concentration, and how long it is in contact with the plastic.

As I mentioned before, I prefer preventative maintenance or a damp rag combined with some elbow grease.

Cheers!
Rob

[Drew McPheeters]

For the heads, I use goof-off to get rid of logos, dark smudges, etc. Make sure you use it sparingly. I follow up with 409, or something similar.

I use windex, etc on plastic shells.

I use the organic citric solution i.e. "orange smelling stuff" to take off gooey messes like soda pop, beer, etc.