Removing rosin from a bow

[Taylor Livingston]

I live in New Orleans, and it is July. It is therefore rather hot and extremely humid, so I figured hard rosin would be the choice for me. I was wrong. It is way too hard. Trying to apply it to my bow was like trying to apply a rock to my bow.

You guys are going to laugh at me here, but I decided to soften the rosin over the stove. It worked, but as I applied it, it cooled down very quickly. The end result is that the hair has heavy splotches of rosin in some places and none in others.

How would you guys recommend removing the rosin so I can put some regular soft rosin on evenly?

[JayR]

Well, it gives you cancer, but I've used Xylene (solvent aisle at the hardware store) to clean gooped up rosin off my hair. You can also use denatured alcohol but you don't want to get that on the stick. As far as I know, Xylene is safe on varnish, I've cleaned my whole bass and stick with it before and had no problems.

Also, a great thing I discovered lately is using a toothbrush to break up clumpy rosin on the hair. It's been a bajillion degrees here in LA and I've had problems with my rosin melting all to hell on a hot day, even just in the short span of time my gear spends in my car on the way to a gig. Using a toothbrush on my bow hair before putting on new rosin has done a lot to help.

[David Potts]

Might this work?

Put your bow with slacked off hairs (not quite floppy) in the refrigerator to really harden up the rosin then rub/roll the hairs together firmly but gently to break/powder/shatter the rosin off them while still cold.

I haven't tried this yet. In theory the rosin should become very brittle and powder easily!

Regards

DP

[EJ_Dad]

At the recomendation of a former teacher, I use a pet flee/tick comb on the slackened (sp) hair after every practice session. She recomended a metal one, I could only find a plastic one. It seems to keep the rosin build up down.

[butch1950]

+1 for the comb. Im a N.O.L.A. student and it works for me.

[Chasarms]

Originally Posted by butch1950

+1 for the comb. Im a N.O.L.A. student and it works for me.

A mustache comb works very well also. Actually, most any comb works well, but a mustache comb is small enough to keep in the bow case.

But, I think a toothbrush is ideal. I would not use any kind of solvent on the bow hair.

[Dan Conwell]

I had been a bit generous with the Pops and had clumps on my bow hair. Assuming that the hair was wasted anyhow, I took a copper scrub to it, and not only did it clear off the rosin nicely, but the hair seems to be fine.

[Dbass926]

Make sure your metal comb doesn't have burrs on the tines - check out this website for good handmade combs for bow hair cleaning. You could use the larger-spaced side for rosiny hair and the smaller side for less rosined hair.

http://www.cachebeauty.com/swedish_crown.htm

[Silversorcerer]

I used the refrigerator trick to get some sun melted rosin out of my bow case pocket. It worked pretty well, but that might damage the hair when you try to rub it off. I'd recommend vigorous arco rehearsal for several hours a day. That will work if nothing else does.

Denatured alcohol that is pure (also sold as lacquer thinner) can burn your skin and remove your bow's finish, but it will completely remove the rosin and will not harm the hair. Bow hair combs are available from Lynn Hannings. The ones she supplies have round wire teeth that are great for getting kinks out of bow hair.

[MDEbass]

I get an unused and soft toothbrush to remove my Pops rosin when it gets too sticky. Loosen the hair a little and run it down the hair. Works for me.