Posted by Bill Mays (216.152.15.138) on July 21, 2000 at 18:48:56:
In Reply to: How do you sterilize a chromatic harp? posted by Jim Lukens on June 28, 2000 at 17:17:22:
: I've been having a hankering to try a chromatic harp, but don't want to spend the money when I might end up liking my diatonics better.
: Then I saw people selling some chromatics on ebay for very good prices. Some been used, some not.
: How do you sterilize a harp that someone else has played?
There are commercial antiseptic sprays out there and some people advocate dipping the entire harp into a container of antiseptic. I always thought that was a little extreme. My druggist told me that Dr. Tichner's antiseptic was about as good as you need. It is an alcohol based germ killer and shouldn't harm a harp , especially when it is only on the harp a short time. They cut this 10 to 1 as a mouth wash but I use it straight out of the bottle as a sterilizer of the harp. Get one of the small ( about 5 inch) plastic spray bottles that sprays when you press down on the top of the plunger on the cap. They are available in the drug department of walmart. I just hold the harp where I can spray into the mouthpiece directly and at all angles and give it a good drenching. Then I hold several folded paper towels in one hand and slap the harp onto it like you do when you are playing to expel excess moisture and then set it on the towels with the mouthpiece down and let it drain. I might do this two or three times in the span of a day or two and if a germ lives through that, it can have me. Hope this helps. Bill Mays