Cleaning Drum Cymbals

Make you cymbals scream once again like they were new with the power of lemons! No, I'm not Billy Mays and are in no way related to him

Step 1 Get materials

To clean my cymbals I used: *Lemons (Each cymbal uses about half a lemon each, just cut 'em in half, easier to hold too)
*Vinegar
*Bucket of hot water
*Pot scrubber
*Dry towel

Comments

[greezus]

 i cleaned my cymbals once with one of those cymbal cleaners- they all went to crap within a year. 

the cymbals i have now have NEVER been cleaned and i've had them since 2002. 

i say no clean...

[brucegunn]

Most acidic things will clean cymbals. Tabasco sauce will do the same thing. I do have a similar concern for using a pot scrubber on your cymbals like another person wrote. You should never use anything more abrasive than a soft cloth to avoid cymbal scratches. If you feel you need to "scrub" an area, scrub in the same direction as the grooves on the cymbal. i personally use a product called Barkeepers Friend. Just wet the cymbal, sprinkle some of the powder on, lightly spread it around with a soft damp cloth, let it sit for a minute or two and rinse. Works like a charm.

[abwdrummer13]

look ... its a lot easier to just spend like 6 dollars on a cymbal cleaner from a music store and they will look brand new

[mkupps]

You DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT want to clean cymbals, ever.

[Habacuc]

Oh Dear, if you have very goods cymbals, DO NOT CLEAN THEM UP :) The dust accumulate on it will attenuate the bads harmonics you don't want to hear. An advice from my drum teacher.

[Mailbox_Arson]

Wouldn't the pot scrubber scrape the hell out of the cymbal? In your final picture i can see the circular scrubs in the cymbal. Though this may be cleaning them, it is also marking them up. Good Job otherwise, i like the caption on the lemon in the first frame.

[nldrummerman]

nicce

[binux14]

Please read this article about cleaning cymbals:

http://www.quazen.com/Arts/Music/How-to-Clean-Your-Cymbals.32922

[Coffee bean]

great job

[drummer ian]

wooo paiste 302's, rockkkk on

[Shark500]

OXYCLEAN! j/k good instructable. i use coke and tin foil to clean chrome

[Mitten]

Lemon and Salt works wonders. Salt is the abrasive.