Caring For Your Saxophone

Buying an instrument for the first time can bring both excitement and nerves—owning your first instrument is a big responsibility! Any experienced teacher will be able to guide you in looking after your saxophone but if you'd like somewhere to start, here are a few key considerations:

• Swab out your saxophone body and neck with a saxophone swab. Different sizes of swab exist for different instruments, and some brands have a separate neck and mouthpiece swab. Make sure you swab from the bell to the top at least twice, taking about 8 seconds each time. Ensure your swab is not bunched up, otherwise it could become stuck in the saxophone. 

• Your mouthpiece will eventually build up gunk and a white, crusty calcium deposit. To clean your mouthpiece, remove the mouthpiece patch, and wash with cold water and gentle hand soap. Vinegar on a q-tip will dissolve any stubborn calcium build-up. When your mouthpiece has completely dried, apply a new mouthpiece patch.

• Apply cork grease to the tenon corks when it begins to feel dry to protect the cork from moisture and help with assembly. Do not apply cork grease to the neck tenon.

• Polish the saxophone body and keys with a microfibre polishing cloth after every use to help prevent tarnish. Do not use a polishing agent.

• Do not leave your saxophone anywhere hot (eg. In the car, in direct sun, near a heater)—there are special glues holding parts together that will melt and require an expensive trip to the technician!

• For pads that become sticky because of water build-up, use an absorbent paper like cigarette paper or a microfibre pad dryer. Wedge the paper between the sticky key and tone hole and gently press down on the key for a few seconds. Repeat if required.