The Repair Shop at Music & Arts guarantees the highest quality service for musical instrument repairs, and sanitation. Our musical instrument repair technicians are seasoned professionals who have apprenticed with master instrument makers and trained at the best technical colleges, and because we are the best, we find a social responsibility to educate musicians on the specific terminology regarding instrument cleaning or sanitization.
It is important to understand there are often 3 different terms some shops may use when advertising instrument cleaning.
Sanitization:
- Cleaning or Sanitization, is the removal of visible soil (e.g., organic and inorganic material) from objects and surfaces and normally is accomplished manually or mechanically using water with detergents or enzymatic products.
- Thorough cleaning is essential before high-level disinfection and sterilization because inorganic and organic materials that remain on the surfaces of instruments interfere with the effectiveness of these processes. Decontamination removes pathogenic microorganisms from objects so they are safe to handle, use, or discard.
Is this good for your instrument? Yes, this is the least invasive in both chemical usage and manual labor.
Disinfection:
- Disinfection describes a process that eliminates many or all pathogenic microorganisms, except bacterial spores, on inanimate objects.
- In health-care settings, objects usually are disinfected by liquid chemicals or wet pasteurization. Each of the various factors that affect the efficacy of disinfection can nullify or limit the efficacy of the process.
Is this good for your instrument: Yes, however the finish on wood instruments are delicate and can be damaged with some chemicals.
Sterilization:
- Sterilization describes a process that destroys or eliminates all forms of microbial life and is carried out in health-care facilities by physical or chemical methods.
- Steam under pressure, dry heat, EtO gas, hydrogen peroxide gas plasma, and liquid chemicals are the principal sterilizing agents used in health-care facilities.
- When chemicals are used to destroy all forms of microbiologic life, they can be called chemical sterilants. These same germicides used for shorter exposure periods also can be part of the disinfection process (i.e., high-level disinfection).
Is this good for your instrument? Not necessarily. Heat, gas, chemicals and other extreme methods could damage the materials and permanently damage the instrument.
Sanitization Process at The Repair Shop at Music & Arts:
At our repair shop, we take explicit care to make sure that your instrument receives the specific treatment it needs to preserve its materials and keep it in top playing, sanitized condition.
Products Used:
- Detergent
- Isopropanol
- All-purpose Cleaner
- Ultrasonic Solution 132B (diluted phosphoric acid)
- Disinfectant Germicide
- Denatured Alcohol
- Commercial Grade Degreaser
- Commercial Grade Cream Polish
- Commercial Grade Wax Remover
Woodwinds: Flutes, Clarinets, Saxophones, Oboes, Bass Clarinets, Piccolos, Bassoons
- Plastic mouthpieces
- Head joints
- Bodies and Keys
- Inner bore
Brass Instruments: Trumpets, Trombones
- Mouthpieces
- Bodies, Slides, Pistons, Valves
String Instruments: Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, Guitar
- Finished surfaces: Scroll and body
- Chin rests, pegs, and tail pieces
- Neck and fingerboard
- Strings
All Instrument Cases
- Interior
- Exterior
Extreme situations
- Instruments that have mold, stubborn odors, or other extreme sanitary threats are fully disassembled and cleaned in our Ultrasonic cleaners, then sanitized using disinfectant.
MORE ABOUT THE REPAIR SHOP
At the Repair Shop at Music & Arts, our qualified repair technicians can fix, clean and sanitize almost any musical instrument. We are also an authorized service center for many of the most popular orchestra and band instruments.
With over 40 instrument repair centers nationwide servicing 200+ retail stores, there’s a Music & Arts near you that’s ready to help get your instrument back in perfect shape. Contact us today.
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