My son is the double bass player, but at 11, he's not ready to do major servicing, so I get the job. Over the months, I've been watching for what cleans off the rosin on strings and bows. Denatured alcohol is OK, but remembering what my friends had told me about cleaning pine sap off of my hands after working in the yard, and knowing that rosin is mostly just tree sap, I have demonstrated that peanut butter does a very nice job of cleaning rosin off of strings.

[Remember your chemistry folks: like dissolves like. PB is a good base (not bass) to go with the strong basic (as opposed to acidic) quality of sap.]

Advantages: Excellent removal rate and will not/cannot hurt the varnish (which dissolves easily with the alcohol)

Disadvantages: the smell (mainly a problem if you have a dog) if you leave any on the strings, and the need to clean off the residual peanut butter (which can done with soap and water, again not hurting the varnish). Also, I would not try this on the bow, but I'm willing to let someone else try. I would be concerned about the peanut oil affecting the hair. It should wash off, though, with S&W leaving nice clean hair.

I didn't see anything on the forum about this, so I thought I'd check in and see if anyone else had tried it.

[BTW, PB absolutely does remove pine sap from anything you get it on. No kidding. Try it.]

errr... Not sure what the need is for this. A cloth applied after playing removes rosin just fine, and rubbing alcohol or a piece of scotchbrite takes care of gunked up strings. Peanut oil left on the strings will certainly ruin your bow hair, and same goes if you intentionally put it on the hair... The only cure for old, worn out and dirty bow hair is just to get new hair... Am I missing something here? :confused:

The most common tool I've seen recommended for extreme buildup of rosin on strings is a plastic Brillo pad.

Homer Mensch always used Xylene which is pretty strong stuff.

Some people use hand lotion to remove sap as well. I believe it's the lanolin from hand lotion that helps gets stuff moving. Dunno if it has something oil that might affect the strings in some way.

Peanut butter is one of the only things that'll clean off bumper stickers from car paint!

Peanut butter is one of the only things that'll clean off bumper stickers from car paint!

Now that is a good tip!! :p

Homer Mensch always used Xylene which is pretty strong stuff.

If you use xylene or xylol- Please, Please- use a respirator!

That stuff will FRY your brain- and not in a good way!;)

BG

If you use xylene or xylol- Please, Please- use a respirator!

That stuff will FRY your brain- and not in a good way!;)

BG

yeah! thanks for adding that, I forgot! also wear gloves.

The old chemistry saw has to do with polarity (polar versus
non-polar, such as oil versus water) and not much to do
with acid or base. Peanut butter has peanut oil. Rosin is
a sap product, where they drive off the lighter terpines and
are left with the resinous portion.

There are some other solvents that take off bumper sticker
goo, specifically a product sold as Goof-Off, which has xylene,
which is a non-polar solvent. It is also flammable, and is
closely related to benzene, which is a known bady. Acetone
is also listed in the resin acid page below, but ssing strong solvents will also take off varnish ASAP and is pretty
hazardous to your health too.

Has anyone every tried a shampoo on hair?
That is about as agressive as I would be willing to go on a
fine bow whos finnish I was not already redoing.

http://www.valspar.com/val/resident/goof-off.jsp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylene
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin_acid

wait wait wait, crunchy or smooth :D

Peanut butter is one of the only things that'll clean off bumper stickers from car paint!

Barry Goldwater proved peanut butter can be used instead of shaving cream as well.

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/barrygoldw163613.html

The old chemistry saw has to do with polarity (polar versus
non-polar, such as oil versus water) and not much to do
with acid or base. Peanut butter has peanut oil. Rosin is
a sap product, where they drive off the lighter terpines and
are left with the resinous portion.
Ah, it's nice to see people on here who know their chemistry :)

There are some other solvents that take off bumper sticker
goo, specifically a product sold as Goof-Off, which has xylene,
which is a non-polar solvent. It is also flammable, and is
closely related to benzene, which is a known bady. Acetone
is also listed in the resin acid page below, but ssing strong solvents will also take off varnish ASAP and is pretty
hazardous to your health too.
Yes, these solvents can be hazardous if you don't respect them and work in appropriate ventilation, etc. I guess I don't really worry since I'm used to working with them for work and thus know what not to do.

These solvents most definitely will dissolve varnish, so if cleaning strings on the bass it's important that they do not drip on the bass.

Water and rubbing alchohol are not idea solvents for rosin
due to the polarity thing, but hot water does a decent job,
and is quite safe. I have also used rubbing alchohol on a
piece of cotton with some sucess. Again not idea, but risk
is pretty low if you wring it out first.

The harsh solvent approaches may be more effective, and
with a crudey old fiberglass bow are probably expedient,
but they are not going anywhere near my good bows, and
I think it would have been irresponsible to leave the thread
on a note that encourages experimentation with hazardous
materials.

That said, it is (reported to be) a free country.

Peanut butter?! it's for sandwiches, you plonker! There's something wrong with you mate...

Peanut butter?! it's for sandwiches, you plonker! There's something wrong with you mate...

I have no idea what the hell a Plonker is.......but, i'm sure it's something very clever...:spit:

wait wait wait, crunchy or smooth :D

Dad:"Crunchy or smooth?"
Kid:"CRUNCHY!!"
Dad:"Ok."

. . . a few minutes pass

Kid:"Daddy, where's my peanut butter sandwich?"
Dad:"I didn't make you a sandwich, I was asking what you wanting to clean your bass with."

Personally, I'd clean with the crunchy kind.
:D

[QUOTE=Paul Warburton;3727288]I have no idea what the hell a Plonker is...

Sorry, I wasn't sure whether Americans would know what it meant. It's a nicer way of saying "idiot". ;)

[QUOTE=Paul Warburton;3727288]I have no idea what the hell a Plonker is...

Sorry, I wasn't sure whether Americans would know what it meant. It's a nicer way of saying "idiot". ;)

I live in the U.K. and have a very large shovel you can borrow, in case you need to dig the hole any deeper!

Please read the above few posts to witness how nasty people can get over a simple, fun thread such as peanutbutter as a solvent.
What would you guys do with a serious subject like the DB or music?:crying:

It goes to show how communicating through writing is different than face-to-face. TBDB is no more immune from that than any other web board.

Face-to-face you might be able to use "plonker" and get the smile you want with no trouble (or perhaps a lot of trouble, it depends on your skill in using it) but in written communication the simple plain truth is that it's risky.

Written something down? I guarantee that someone will find a way to interpret it that you never intended.

Please read the above few posts to witness how nasty people can get over a simple, fun thread such as peanutbutter as a solvent.
What would you guys do with a serious subject like the DB or music?:crying:

I hope you realise I was being sarcastic.

Many MANY apologies to anyone who was insulted by my use of the word "plonker". I was merely expressing my feelings towards the use of peanut butter in cleaning the bass, which I think is absurd. I was by no means being nasty, but many apologies once again. Many thanks for the offer of a shovel.

It goes to show how communicating through writing is different than face-to-face. TBDB is no more immune from that than any other web board.

Face-to-face you might be able to use "plonker" and get the smile you want with no trouble (or perhaps a lot of trouble, it depends on your skill in using it) but in written communication the simple plain truth is that it's risky.

Written something down? I guarantee that someone will find a way to interpret it that you never intended.

Roach, I wasn't shooting at you...sorry if you thought I was.
In fact, I owe you all an apology. As Damon can attest, we here at TBDB are a bit battle weary due to recent events.....

Daxun Zhang told me that he uses a mixture of Garlic Salt and Tequila to get the rosin off of his strings. Although, he is mainly a solo player. For pops, you might need something stronger.
I find with pops it's just better to leave the rosin on the string, leaving you with a stronger, more crass sound that can only be replicated with ludicrously high action.

Obviously there's a lot about the bass Daxun Zhang knows that I'll never get a glimmer of, but at this point I'd like to know why anyone would want to put substances like garlic salt, tequila, or peanut butter for that matter on their bow hair or on their bass strings. Why any of these residue-leaving substances when a good strong solvent like naptha or something gets the job done with total reliability, and which evaporates quickly leaving no yucky residues of any kind. Is it some kind of hangup about "chemicals" and solvents? One way is fast and effective, the other way is sticky, dubious and unlikely. Why??? Why??? There's powerful psychology at work, I tell ya...

I once shmeared peanut butter on my bow instead of Pop's by accident. Other than the smell, I couldn't tell the difference.

I once shmeared peanut butter on my bow instead of Pop's by accident. Other than the smell, I couldn't tell the difference.

:D

Hope you all know that most peanut butter has had the peanut oil removed and replaced with hydrogenated stuff like palm oil and the like. Smuckers makes a natural peanut butter with only peanuts and salt that has to be mixed. The natural oil would probably work nicely on the varnish. I mean tooth paste can be used to buff out smudges, but why not stick with the professional tried and true products?
Steven

Many MANY apologies to anyone who was insulted by my use of the word "plonker". I was merely expressing my feelings towards the use of peanut butter in cleaning the bass, which I think is absurd. I was by no means being nasty, but many apologies once again. Many thanks for the offer of a shovel.

Over in TBBG, you could've even used "wanker" and gotten away with it.

Fantastic:hyper: :hyper:

Got rid of loadsa grime just put some onto a cloth and rubbed the strings and fret board..............sorted. Mind you they were dirty, even dirtier than a yanks missus!!

I was just told today by our local luthier that the hair on my son's bow had too much rosin on it and that it was possibly affecting the sound and possibly even contributing to a wolf tone on the A string.

He showed me how to dismantle the bow and suggested we simply wash the bow hair with plain warm water and mild soap, use an old toothbrush to gently scrub - just as we would wash our own hair. Let it air dry thoroughly. He felt cleaning the rosin residue off the hair would help the sound and since it's just horse hair (right?) it can withstand soap and water.

We've been using Pops which is pretty gooey so I'm open to suggestions to other rosins that will help the bow really stick to the string, but lot leave too much of a sticky residue on the bow hair. I guess something more powdery than gooey?

Thanks and good luck shampooing your bows!:)

We've been using Pops which is pretty gooey so I'm open to suggestions to other rosins that will help the bow really stick to the string, but lot leave too much of a sticky residue on the bow hair. I guess something more powdery than gooey?

It's probably that your son is simply using too much rosin. He doesn't need to add any unless he needs to add some. In other words, he should try playing a bit before adding any. Also, other factors besides the rosin itself affect whether to add rosin; I need a fraction of the rosin playing on Spirocores that I do on Helicores.

These threads about rosin removal have me worried that for many years I have been doing something very wrong. I used Pops, Carlsson, Hidersine, now Oak, and I just can't seem to ever get any rosin globs on the bass. How is that this happens? What am I doing wrong??? :hmm: I get some powder on the strings but honest to god -that is all. I guess if I get too much on the bow I can just practice untill most of it comes off on the strings.

The chemistry tips in this thread make me glad that the folks giving them out play the bass. Drink the tequila, eat the PB&J, stay away from solvents ending in -ene (unless you can draw the molecule) and use a rag to wipe the dust off your strings. Oh, and when the plonkers post, it might be best to just watch. Somewhere, I fear, some poor kid is trying to explain why there's Peanut Butter all over his strings. Seriously now, what would you rather have on your bass, globs of Poptz, or globs of Peter Pan? Yuck!!!

It's probably that your son is simply using too much rosin. He doesn't need to add any unless he needs to add some. In other words, he should try playing a bit before adding any. Also, other factors besides the rosin itself affect whether to add rosin; I need a fraction of the rosin playing on Spirocores that I do on Helicores.

He's using Helicore hybrids right now - but that's a good point, try before adding more rosin.

In general though, should bow hair be "cleaned" periodically - in whatever manner?

In general though, should bow hair be "cleaned" periodically - in whatever manner?
Under normal circumstances, no. Also, tell him to keep his fingers off the hair, and to loosen the hair and wipe off the stick with a cloth after he's done practicing or performing.

The best way to keep the hair clean is not to get it dirty. This is pretty easy if you only pick the bow up by the stick and only put it down into a case or a quiver. There's just no reason to touch the hair;- ever. It's sort of like fingerprints on a computer monitor. It's not like touching the monitor makes the ideas any clearer. Also it is a good idea not to bow the strings up where you pluck them and you should not pluck them in the area where you use the bow. Any kind of oil on the strings or bow hair, finger oil included, will cause the hair to just slide over the strings. While washing the hair with water and mild soap probably will not hurt it (in practice, bow hair is wetted when it is installed), I would consider this an extreme measure to correct a tragic accident. If you get the bow parts wet, some of them might come unglued depending on the glue. One of my less expensive bows has a water soluble finish. Normally the hair doesn't attract dirt.

If it is cold, the bow hair needs to be warmed up a little before it will scratch. Usually this can be done by just sliding it a few times over the strings. The friction will warm it up and then it will grab. Then if it still keeps sliding, put a little more rosin on the bow. I have found in just 3 years of playing that rosin travels in this direction only: from the box to the hair, from the hair to the strings, from the stings to the air as dust or, from the strings to a dry rag I use to wipe them. I haven't experienced it jumping back onto the bow from the strings. So if you have too much on the bow, just play until the excess comes off on the strings. Then wipe it away. That's far less likely to get complicated. Trying to wash the hair;- I can see a number of possible pitfalls down that road.

If the accumulation on the strings is really heavy, something like Petz rosin remover works really well. It is a mixture of organic solvents that will safely remove rosin without hurting the finish of the instrument.

These threads about rosin removal have me worried that for many years I have been doing something very wrong. I used Pops, Carlsson, Hidersine, now Oak, and I just can't seem to ever get any rosin globs on the bass. How is that this happens? What am I doing wrong??? :hmm: I get some powder on the strings but honest to god -that is all. I guess if I get too much on the bow I can just practice untill most of it comes off on the strings.

The chemistry tips in this thread make me glad that the folks giving them out play the bass. Drink the tequila, eat the PB&J, stay away from solvents ending in -ene (unless you can draw the molecule) and use a rag to wipe the dust off your strings. Oh, and when the plonkers post, it might be best to just watch. Somewhere, I fear, some poor kid is trying to explain why there's Peanut Butter all over his strings. Seriously now, what would you rather have on your bass, globs of Poptz, or globs of Peter Pan? Yuck!!!

I think this is at least the Post O' The Week, if not the month.

Perhaps the ultimate cure is to stick with pizzicato.

[Remember your chemistry folks: like dissolves like. PB is a good base (not bass) to go with the strong basic (as opposed to acidic) quality of sap.]



So if it's just an acid/base thing you may as well use a bottle of Maalox to clean your strings. You could keep a bottle in your bass bag for those gigs that cause indigestion too :rollno:




bob

Under normal circumstances, no. Also, tell him to keep his fingers off the hair, and to loosen the hair and wipe off the stick with a cloth after he's done practicing or performing.

OK - yes, his bow (and bass) are very clean and the hair is never handled, bass and bow get wiped down carefully after practice.

I just asked because our luthier mentioned dismantling the bow and giving it a shampoo. It made me wonder if this is supposed to be done periodically, but I get the idea now that this would be overkill.

What if you are planning to switch to a different brand of rosin, is it OK to just use the new one on top of the old one or should you clean the hair off first before applying a different type of rosin?

thanks!

Remember your chemistry folks: like dissolves like. PB is a good base (not bass) to go with the strong basic (as opposed to acidic) quality of sap.So if like dissolves like I can put this thread in a toilet, flush, and it will go away? Now that would be chemistry worth remembering!

So if it's just an acid/base thing you may as well use a bottle of Maalox to clean your strings. You could keep a bottle in your bass bag for those gigs that cause indigestion too :rollno: bob Acid bass;- Oh yeah, that's like Iron Butterfly In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida baby? By now that's probably ferrous or ferric oxide button fly? In-A-Bottle-Of-Vitamins? I don't know if I'm remembering or flashing back ....

Flash back to:

Real chemistry: Pine rosin or tar is mildly acidic. It is also a fat. If you add it to a base like sodium hydroxide, you will get sodium stearate;- soap. (Grandpa's pine tar type). Peanut Butter probably has no basic or acidic quality worth mentioning. If there is anything in it that dissolves rosin, that would be the oil, which would do a much better job used in it's pure form as peanut oil. But then you would need some soap to cut the oil, or you could just add a little lye to the oil and it would become soap. Peanut oil is also a fat. And it would dissolve rosin (not very well though) because it is an organic compound (non-polar). The salt and water in PB would make it a mixture of polar and nonpolar compounds because the salt will dissolve to some extent into polar ions of sodiuum and chloride.

What if you are planning to switch to a different brand of rosin, is it OK to just use the new one on top of the old oneYes, it's okay. Some people do it on purpose.

Personally, I think tuna salad works best.

What if you are planning to switch to a different brand of rosin, is it OK to just use the new one on top of the old one?

Yes, it's okay. Some people do it on purpose. And it's much easier than getting it to go on underneath ...

I used to cut Pops with Hidersine#2. It smoothed out the buzz a bit.

Personally, I think tuna salad works best.

When it comes to the sticky problem of rosin, I have found that the very best solution is Jack Daniels.

Drink enough of it and you won't give a flying **** about the rosin.

I would bet that Mayonaise would work for the same reason, cuz both it and peanut butter will get gum out of your hair of your bumper sticker off your car. but i imagine either one of them would leave your strings kind of greasy or sticky or something. I guess you could was them with water or something after wards.