The old method of chemically cleaning musical instruments usually referred to as acid cleaning, required the use of very strong acids or long soaking times to clean out the calcium deposits and organic matter that accumulated inside of all instruments from use. Until recently this was the best method to clean musical instruments, but it did not clean the interior entirely. A dirty instrument negatively affects the response as well as slide and valve action.   An ultrasonic system uses sound waves instead of harsh chemicals to clean your instrument thoroughly.  In the ultrasonic cleaner's tank is a series of transducers mounted in the bottom of the tank that introduces the sound waves into the cleaning liquid. These soundwaves produce thousands of alternating high and low pressure waves per second. As these pass through the waterbased cleaning solution, millions of microscopic bubbles form which produce a scrubbing action proven to be a more effective degreaser than mechanical or chemical means combined. Cleaning instruments with ultrasonics has the distinct advantage of penetrating deep into the complex geometry of musical instruments and removing tightly bonded contaminants such as calcium buildup from a variety of surfaces even in the smallest spaces of a musical instrument. It will also clean areas unreachable by brush or mechanical means. Such is why it has been the cleaning process of choice for expensive jewelry and industry. Until recently this technology was too expensive for musical instrument cleaning as it was either only available to the jewelry industry where the tanks were too small or very, very large industrial applications that were way too expensive or powerful for musical instruments. In 1999 Desert Winds found a company that had recently started building ultrasonic cleaners in the size and power range that worked with musical instruments. While not inexpensive, we found the benefits to not only the environment but also the contribution to a healthier workplace and the amazingly thorough job it did far out weighed the expense.

Note: Included with an ultrasonic cleaning, all corks, felts and springs will be replaced. Silver plated, Satin Silver, and Brushed Gold instruments with be cleaned and polished with a special foam cleaner and tarnish preventative. Raw brass instruments will be cleaned and brightened with polish and tarnish inhibitor. On trumpets first and third slides will be aligned. All rotor instruments will include Neoprene rotor bumpers  for quiet rotor action. Valves will be aligned using Fiber optic inspection. Trombone slide alignment includes an ultrasonic cleaning prior to any dent or alignment work