Like all other musical instruments, the trumpet is a carefully designed piece of precision equipment. The internal bores are measured to within .001 of an inch (approx .025 mm), and the valves need to run smoothly while being completely airtight.  Slides need to move freely and smoothly to adjust tuning and enable access for cleaning.

When you blow into a trumpet, you introduce several elements into the instrument:

Breath

Your breath condenses on the inner walls and provides a perfect breading ground for bacteria and fungal spores.

Mouth debris

Some players brush their teeth before playing.  This is a good habit, though not always possible.  Food particles will inevitably find their way into a trumpet, and the decomposing mass, mixed with bacteria, will produce a concoction that can not only cause illness when inhaled, but can interfere with the performance of the instrument.

Chemicals

All players have different body chemistries, and their salivas have varying effects on the inner bores of the trumpet.  In the worst cases, the chemical structure of the metal is compromised, and red spots appear on the outside of the tubes.  The inner surfaces become rough, making the instrument inefficient and structurally weak.  This “red rot” can happen to nearly any trumpet, irrespective of price.

Minerals or salts can build up.  These not only change the internal bore, but can jam slides and valves, as well as create a haven for bacteria and fungus.

Most trumpet players play daily, and should carry out a remedial cleaning process each week.  Deposits start in the mouthpiece, leadpipe, and main tuning slide, so regular cleaning of these sections will delay the need to clean the rest of the instrument.

Eventually, deposits will reach the valves, and these will become visible in the 3rd valve ports.  At this point, full cleaning is necessary.

You should remove all valves and slides, and clean their bores with detergent.  Trumpets are quite robust, so you can use neat detergent if necessary.  However, you must rinse all components thoroughly with clean warm water before reassembly.

Make sure that both inner and outer slides are dry, then liberally apply appropriate grease.  Wipe off any excess.  Grease not only makes the slides run smoothly, but it also stops the ingress of moisture and deposits that can cause the slides to seize.

In some cases, there will be deposits that cannot be removed with detergents and brushes. These are usually salt based and require specialist chemicals to remove.

All these cleaning procedures can be carried out using simple equipment, so why would you need a flushmute?

Will Spencer originally designed the Flushmute to enable players to carry out a home chem-clean, circulating a special enzyme-based solution through the instrument.  During its design, he observed that the Flushmute could also simplify the more regular cleaning procedures.  Visit it the Cleaning Techniques page to learn more.