Damo's cymbal cleaning guide

[Damo]

Ive written up my method for cleaning cymbals, which Ive had one or two reequests for - So here it is.

Enjoy.

http://www.drum.com.au/lessons/cym.pdf

Please feel free to ask any questions on here or email me at info@damienpetrilli.com for more information.

Cheers!

[Inkstar]

Killer. Thanks man. :)

[Panopticon]

sweet guide...i might actually try this on some of my brilliant cymbals.

[crazyguy832]

Definetely the best guide to cymbal cleaning I've seen so far.

Definetely reminds me that I should at least get some soap on my cymbals every once in a while. Still don't like any of the sprays, even diluted as they would be, but this is definetely better than how most people clean their cymbals.

(and I kinda like the sound of aged cymbals... B8's in particular age so well it's not even funny o_O)

[Drum Phil]

Im giving mine a once over with soap now :) As i dont actually have any sprays.

Working alright so far.

[Damo]

The soap is great for removing dust and oils, which means the spray will have greater effect when its applied.

[ThatOneDrummer]

that was really great!
but no matter how much evidence there may be to the contrary, im still terrified of putting water on my cymbals...

[Damo]

^ Theres really no need to be, provided you dry them adequately.

[Drum Phil]

Well like i said in your other thread Damo, the soap brought out the shine in them. Theres still finger prints but they dont bother me much.

[Damo]

^ Good stuff Phil.

Youll find that the next step with cymbal cleaner will probably help you with the fingerprints.

[Drum Phil]

Lemon juice does the trick too ;)

I just turned your guide into a household product cymbal cleaning guide.

Im not bothered about the fingerprints because my cymbals dont leave the house, except for rehearsal rooms.

[\m/-CHeV-\m/]

Lemon juice does the trick too ;)

I just turned your guide into a household product cymbal cleaning guide.

Im not bothered about the fingerprints because my cymbals dont leave the house, except for rehearsal rooms.

sorry for bumping this thread, i needed the guide, but read this last post and thought i NEEDED to say it, since noone else did.. lemon juice is an ACID. although it isn't very concentrated, it still is. this will get you cymbals to corrode as quick as a blink! DON'T OVERUSE :)

[Damo]

Cymbal cleaner is acidic also - Thats how it works

[Carn]

Good stuff. I rarely (almost never) clean my cymbals, if I do its just warm water with mild soap.

[GooseFilms.net]

i remember the first time i cleaned my cymbals, I had ZBTs and i used groove juice. i accidentally didnt dry the cymbal completely, and made the stupid mistake of leaving the used cleaning rag ontop of the cymbal. so the rag got covered in groove juice and ate through the lacquer coating of the cymbal. sucked, but at least it was a ZBT.

[Aaron]

Would it work on one that's almost lost its brilliance, like, really dodgy ones?

[Damo]

Yes, but I think you'll need to be realistic with your expectations, though.

[bobby__johnny]

Damo, i ask this knowing you had a similar (if not the same) cymbal. My 18" Carmine Appice Sig China, being made of an alloy other than Bronze, would your detergent method still be safe for the alloy?

[Damo]

Yep. Shouldnt be a problem at all.

The big fear most people have with water is that it discolours copper. However, this would not happen straight away anyway, and so provided you dont leave the cymbal wet for days, you should in fact be at a lesser risk with your Appice alloy than that with copper.

[DxRocker]

ok, so I have a question...

I noticed on my bell the other day that there are some green marks appearing on there... Maybe some kind of fungus. I don't think it's "inside" the cymbal, just on the surface.

I expect to be able to clean it off quite easily though.

But the question I have is: what caused it to collect - what I can only describe as - a fungus? (hoping that to be the correct english term that is...)

[ace76543]

i'm no expert so don't listen to me but i think that's oxidation. you gotta use something abrasive and clear off a bit of the lathe or whatever is on the top idk i forgot

also

Damo, i ask this knowing you had a similar (if not the same) cymbal. My 18" Carmine Appice Sig China, being made of an alloy other than Bronze, would your detergent method still be safe for the alloy?

same cymbal imaginary rep

[bobby__johnny]

its actually sitting in my cymbal bag, and has been for a long time :p

i just wanna shine it up a bit, because....damn

i'll take before and after pics when i do it

[Damo]

The green stuff is probably the copper in the cymbal reacting with moisture in the atmosphere.

Do you have your drums ion a humid environment, like a basement?

[Happy_Squirrel]

The green stuff is probably the copper in the cymbal reacting with moisture in the atmosphere.

Do you have your drums ion a humid environment, like a basement?

Correct. The green stuff is the result of oxidation. This happens to copper & copper alloys when exposed to air and moisture. In fact, this is why the Statue of Liberty is green.

[Damo]

^ Correct.

After cleaning cymbals, polishing with a layer of car wax (not car POLISH) will help to keep moisture from reacting with the surface of the cymbal and forming the green patina.

[Plan B.]

thanks for this damo, i just read it cuz i'm cleaning up all of my cymbals before selling them, it proved to be a great help, they look pretty much brand new


:cool:

[Damo]

Did you find your logos were reasonably well maintained, even though you gave them a deep clean?

Thats been the best thing about the method that I noticed - Using the cleaner while the cymbal is wet tends to look after the logos better.

...Or quite possibly, cleaning a dry cymbal could mix the cleaner with dirt and grit which acts as an abrasive.

[Plan B.]

i used both methods, i started off using the wet cymbal after the dishwasher soap, and it gave it a very good general clean. but then i found that to really get most of the finger oil/stick marks off of the cymbal i had to go for a completely dry clean after that using just the sabian cymbal cleaner and letting it sit for a bit after gently working it in.

this was only because the cymbals i was cleaning were VERY dirty brilliant finish cymbals that are like 2 years old and have never been cleaned.

for a regular cleaner you could probalby skip the bare cymbal cleaner and just do the water/cleaner every 3 or 6 months if you're really anal about them.

The Logo's i found ever with the pure cymbal cleaner were not noticably touched AT ALL. i was worried about them but i just used a little bit less pressure when scrubbing them with the cloth and that seemed to keep them perfectly intact. obviously getting outta hand with the cymbal acid on the logo's will remove them but i've found with a the silghtest bit of care anyone can avoid removing them.

Side note i used the Sabian cymbal cleaner on 4 brialliant finish cymbals, both my sabian and zildjian cymbals. so that cleaner will work on any cymbal, however i did not try it on any traditional finish cymbals, so i can't comment on that, but it does wonders on the brilliants.

[Damo]

It will work on the Regular finish cymbals as well.