Cymbal cleaning, polishing and protecting ideas...

[kiteboarder]

I've got an interesting topic here. I'm sure all of us at some point have become frustrated that each of our bronze $400 cymbals lose that original shine, become dirty and marred. I personally have become used to the peculiar dark sound of a slightly dirty, played-in cymbal. But having shiny clean cymbals is always nice too!.

So, a few years back I began polishing my cymbals with a power polisher. Using Blue Magic or some other crap like that. This provided results fast, but also erased the logos off the cymbal. Quite honestly, I could care less about the logo. But anyway, the stains from stuff like sweat drops and sorts will never come off as they are not simply dirt, but actual oxidation. One things I was doing to protect newer cymbals and ones I had just polished was to spray them every once in a while with WD40. New cymbals come with a special coating to protect the finish. I have no idea what that stuff is. (If any of you guys know, let me know). Anyway, the WD40 proved to work quite well as it wicks away oxidizing moisture and actually protects from dirt and dust. But obviously, having a sheen of oil on your cymbals poses a few more problems.

So, what's your take on the subject? What do you do to clean, polish and protect your cymbals? -D

[kiteboarder]

Ok, so this weekend I used Groove Juice for the first time ever... and here's my experience...

I've been playing drums for about 12 years and I've had everything from really old vintage cymbals to brand new ones. Some of which have turned old and dirty.

Anyway, I decided to clean a 20" A Zildjian Medium Ride, a K Custom 17" Dark China, a 8" K Splash and a Sabian AA 17" Rock Crash. Of all these, the Sabian is the only one with a brilliant finish (Kind of like a Zildjian A or Z Custom. It was the one I was worried about the most, so I left it for last.

I started with the the K Splash. It's a cymbal I bought new a few years back. It as fairly dirty, and dark. Still in great shape with no corrosion at all. Anyway, I followed the instructions on the bottle and didn't leave the solution on the cymbal for more than a minute. I wiped the excess Groove Juice off the logos too. Well, I must say it worked really well. It's not completely clean, maybe 80% clean, but I didn't want to do it again. So I'm buffing out the rest with nev'r dull and then a bit of car wax to protect it.

I then did the A Zildjian Ride. I bought this one off eBay last year. It was the dirtiest one of them all. It has a few corrosion stains from sweat, but it's in overall great condition. Well, the results on that one was more dramatic. It very close to new condition. Most of the corrosion stains are still there, but for the most part, the cymbal looks awesome. I must say, I've tried all kinds of polishing methods and even after hours of polishing, I could never get a dirty cymbal to look like this. I got more of less the same result out of the K Custom China.

Finally, confidently enough, I went for the Sabian AA Crash. I know these cymbals have a coating, but I was sure mine had worn off already anyway. I figured, the brilliance comes from the polished bronze. So... It's still bronze... So... It' should be fine. I must say! Wow! The results were better than expected. I usually avoid buying polished cymbals because of all the annoying fingerprints. But hey, the groove juice made mine look new again. I'm actually considering the Zildjian A Custom setup now!

In conclusion, I wouldn't use this too often though. It's still and acid and therefore abrasive. I'm sure that in moderation, it will provide great results. What I'll do, is try and keep them clean with Windex, and Nev'r Dull. So I'll probably only use it when deep cleaning is necessary. Like I said earlier, I was never able to get cymbals this clean before. I wish I had Groove Juice years ago to use on some cymbals that I remember never being able to get clean. It does remove a bit of the corrosion too as the acid dissolves it away.

About the logos: I sprayed the entire cymbals and wiped off the excess off the logos with a really wet cloth. The stuff affected the logos. It made them a bit lighter; faded them a bit. I can see Groove Juice taking out the logos after a few uses. But here's my take on it... The only other method I've ever found works is elbow grease and lots of polishing. Well, polishing removes the logos! Quicker than Groove Juice! I've also found that polishing around the logos makes the cymbal look worse because you end up with a really clean cymbal with an ugly oval dirty sport around the logo. I'd rather remove the logo than have this crap dirty spot there! That's what I liked about Groove Juice. It cleaned the entire cymbal and even though it faded the logos a bit, they are still there and there is no ugly dark spot around it!

[thetrooper37]

My cymbals, when clean sound too bright and..clangy? to me, so I just don't bother

[magno]

A friend of mine used to be a roadie for some big crappy bands in the early 90's.
First they would tell the drummer what a pain it was and how long it took to polish the cymbals. Next they would soak them in CLR and give them back to the drummer complaining how much work they had to do.
To be honest I don't think he does this to his own cymbals, and I haven't tried it either.
The coked out drummers were always happy.

[kiteboarder]

Originally Posted by magno

A friend of mine used to be a roadie for some big crappy bands in the early 90's.
First they would tell the drummer what a pain it was and how long it took to polish the cymbals. Next they would soak them in CLR and give them back to the drummer complaining how much work they had to do.
To be honest I don't think he does this to his own cymbals, and I haven't tried it either.
The coked out drummers were always happy.

Yeah, I'm sure CLR will clean them out. But it's too corrosive and will certainly break down the cymbal over time. I wouldn't use it on my cymbals if they paid me.

[lolzgreg]

I use Barkeeper's Friend thats been made into a thick, fine paste and clean my cymbals. I have practically all Sabian HHX cymbals and wouldn't want to destroy them. **** water and Barkeeper's keeps 'em beautiful.

-Greg

[ferguson66]

I really just keep them dusted, I don't clean them at all with anything other than a rag with some Simple Green sprayed on it. Although it is kinda cool to have the stage lights reflect bright colors off of your cymbals, when it comes down to it, I just care about how they sound.

[kiteboarder]

This thread has gone in a good direction. It's great. This was something I wish I had 12 years ago when I first started playing. Everything had to be learned with either magazines or trial and error. It seems that there are all kinds of different methods that work well for cymbal cleaning. The Bar Keeper's Friend was a very interesting one. I'm going to try it on Sabian AA Crash that I'm planning on selling soon. It's pretty clean, but it has a few fingerprints.

In a similar post on a different forum other people mentioned they use: 1. Windex with no ammonia. 2. Nev'r Dull Metal Polish 3. Sabian Cymbal Polish

[lolzgreg]

Originally Posted by kiteboarder

The Bar Keeper's Friend was a very interesting one. I'm going to try it on Sabian AA Crash that I'm planning on selling soon. It's pretty clean, but it has a few fingerprints.

In a similar post on a different forum other people mentioned they use: 1. Windex with no ammonia. 2. Nev'r Dull Metal Polish 3. Sabian Cymbal Polish

MAKE SURE You make sure there are no rough crystals of Barkeeper's Friend whatsover when you are polishing your cymbal (especially if its brilliant). IT WILL SCRATCH. I learned from experience. I've tried EVERYTHING. Windex is okay, not wonderful. Nevr dull works great on stubborn spots but will also leave a little spot wherever you polish. The Sabian stuff sucks. Barkeeper's made into a mushy, non-rough paste and w4R/\/\ water. Wash it thoroughly, dry with a towel. You'll get gorgeous cymbals.

[kiteboarder]

Originally Posted by lolgreg

MAKE SURE You make sure there are no rough crystals of Barkeeper's Friend whatsover when you are polishing your cymbal (especially if its brilliant). IT WILL SCRATCH. I learned from experience. I've tried EVERYTHING. Windex is okay, not wonderful. Nevr dull works great on stubborn spots but will also leave a little spot wherever you polish. The Sabian stuff sucks. Barkeeper's made into a mushy, non-rough paste and w4R/\/\ water. Wash it thoroughly, dry with a towel. You'll get gorgeous cymbals.

Go it! Mushy, non-rough paste. Quick question... How's does the Bar Keeper's Friend fare on the logos? I saw the Groove Juice fades the logos a bit and I would expect them to fade away almost completely if you use Groove Juice more than 3-5 times during the life of the cymbal. Obviously, polishing with Nev'r Dull or any other "elbow grease" induced polisher pretty much removes the logos altogether.