Please educate me about dirty bow hair. I've heard that the hair gets glazed and there are methods for cleaning it. Sometimes I get wolf tones while playing. My two year old Coda Diamond bow gets used about eight hours per week. (My strings are cleaned after each use and I've explored this topic on past discussions.) Thank you for your suggestions.
You can try washing the hair with mild soap and water, and combing the hair with a fine-tooth comb. Then let it dry, rosin it up, and there you go. This can help, but sooner or later you'll need to have the bow re-haired.
I've done the hair-cleaning routine--it's a hassle and a time sink. Results are okay, but not as good as rehairing. So I have my bows rehaired about every 6 to 8 months (I play an average of 20 hours a week).
Denatured alcohol does the best job of rinsing the rosin out of the hair, but you have to be really careful not to get it on the stick.
would you be willing to describe how you go about this cleaning, especially the being careful about keeping the denatured alcohol off the stick? do you dis-assemble in any way, tip the bow, or what?
Like everyone else, I would recommend a re-hair. But if you want to try cleaning it to get another month or two out of it, alcohol is the traditional thing to use, but recently I have started using flux remover, which you get in an aerosol from electronic component suppliers like RS in the UK or Tandy in the US. Most solder flux is just rosin, and this stuff removes it beautifully - I've started using it to clean sticks and frogs when I do re-hairs (but you do have to be careful not to leave it on the stick too long, or it will soften the polish).
Whether you use alcohol or flux remover, the technique is the same. Dampen a bit of paper towel or rag with your chosen solvent, then leave it a couple of minutes for the solvent to disperse into the towel/rag, leaving it just damp and not sopping, then rub up and down the hair, You can roll the hairs between your fingers as you go so that the sides get cleaned too, not just the faces of the ribon. Keep going, turning to clean areas of your cloth, until no more dirt comes off.
I would avoid using water or any water based solution, because when you wet horsehair it will relax to its original length, so you may find that individual hairs land up different lengths and the bow goes bushy, in which case the hair has to be flamed to shrink it and even out the tension, which is a fairly skilled job.
Yep, I've done what skreech describes, usually unscrewing the hair from the frog end and being careful to avoid tangles. I lay the stick on a towel on a table with the hair hanging off and give it a good rub down with the alcohol-dampened rag. Let it air dry, then reassemble the frog onto the stick. Tighten the hair and gently run a fine-tooth comb the length of the hair to remove any remaining rosin.
And as Greg says, then go get it rehaired.
Bow hair is not intended to last forever. If you play a lot, you should budget to rehair every year at the very least. I figure on rehairing about every 500-600 hours of playing. But I want to sound my best when I play out. If you can live with thin tone and poor traction, you can go longer between rehairs.
I remember Eilish O'Connor ( Opps! Name dropping )
*Girl Playing at link at the bottom -
Anyway she said -
'' Jaysus Jimmy - (What she called me then -lol.)
Look at dat dirt from yer hand's on yer bow ''
I then explained how to fix/wash it - But it was all a waste of time for in those day I never kept a bow more than a couple of month's anyway - LOL.
jim,,,
Dirty Bow Hair (Glazing)
Dirty Bow Hair (Glazing)
Please educate me about dirty bow hair. I've heard that the hair gets glazed and there are methods for cleaning it. Sometimes I get wolf tones while playing. My two year old Coda Diamond bow gets used about eight hours per week. (My strings are cleaned after each use and I've explored this topic on past discussions.) Thank you for your suggestions.
# Posted on January 3rd 2011 by Leendah
Re: Dirty Bow Hair (Glazing)
You can try washing the hair with mild soap and water, and combing the hair with a fine-tooth comb. Then let it dry, rosin it up, and there you go. This can help, but sooner or later you'll need to have the bow re-haired.
# Posted on January 3rd 2011 by Marklar
Re: Dirty Bow Hair (Glazing)
I've done the hair-cleaning routine--it's a hassle and a time sink. Results are okay, but not as good as rehairing. So I have my bows rehaired about every 6 to 8 months (I play an average of 20 hours a week).
Denatured alcohol does the best job of rinsing the rosin out of the hair, but you have to be really careful not to get it on the stick.
# Posted on January 3rd 2011 by Will Harmon
Re: Dirty Bow Hair (Glazing)
will,
would you be willing to describe how you go about this cleaning, especially the being careful about keeping the denatured alcohol off the stick? do you dis-assemble in any way, tip the bow, or what?
# Posted on January 3rd 2011 by full measure
Re: Dirty Bow Hair (Glazing)
I agree with Will; it's much easier with much better results if you get the bow rehaired.
But if you really want to wash the hair, here's what we do at school:
1) fill a basin or pan with warm water and a bit of dishwashing liquid
2) unscrew the bolt at the end of the bow and take it off
3) the frog will drop; don't twist the hair. Dip the hair in the water; back and forth; run a brush or comb through it.
4) put everything back together, then call a luthier to get it rehaired
# Posted on January 3rd 2011 by Greg the Piano Tuner
Re: Dirty Bow Hair (Glazing)
Like everyone else, I would recommend a re-hair. But if you want to try cleaning it to get another month or two out of it, alcohol is the traditional thing to use, but recently I have started using flux remover, which you get in an aerosol from electronic component suppliers like RS in the UK or Tandy in the US. Most solder flux is just rosin, and this stuff removes it beautifully - I've started using it to clean sticks and frogs when I do re-hairs (but you do have to be careful not to leave it on the stick too long, or it will soften the polish).
Whether you use alcohol or flux remover, the technique is the same. Dampen a bit of paper towel or rag with your chosen solvent, then leave it a couple of minutes for the solvent to disperse into the towel/rag, leaving it just damp and not sopping, then rub up and down the hair, You can roll the hairs between your fingers as you go so that the sides get cleaned too, not just the faces of the ribon. Keep going, turning to clean areas of your cloth, until no more dirt comes off.
I would avoid using water or any water based solution, because when you wet horsehair it will relax to its original length, so you may find that individual hairs land up different lengths and the bow goes bushy, in which case the hair has to be flamed to shrink it and even out the tension, which is a fairly skilled job.
# Posted on January 3rd 2011 by skreech
Re: Dirty Bow Hair (Glazing)
Yep, I've done what skreech describes, usually unscrewing the hair from the frog end and being careful to avoid tangles. I lay the stick on a towel on a table with the hair hanging off and give it a good rub down with the alcohol-dampened rag. Let it air dry, then reassemble the frog onto the stick. Tighten the hair and gently run a fine-tooth comb the length of the hair to remove any remaining rosin.
And as Greg says, then go get it rehaired.
Bow hair is not intended to last forever. If you play a lot, you should budget to rehair every year at the very least. I figure on rehairing about every 500-600 hours of playing. But I want to sound my best when I play out. If you can live with thin tone and poor traction, you can go longer between rehairs.
# Posted on January 3rd 2011 by Will Harmon
Re: Dirty Bow Hair (Glazing)
I remember Eilish O'Connor ( Opps! Name dropping )
*Girl Playing at link at the bottom -
Anyway she said -
'' Jaysus Jimmy - (What she called me then -lol.)
Look at dat dirt from yer hand's on yer bow ''
I then explained how to fix/wash it - But it was all a waste of time for in those day I never kept a bow more than a couple of month's anyway - LOL.
jim,,,
Eilish O'Connor - Great fiddle player !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD1eqDIQvz8
# Posted on January 3rd 2011 by FIDDLE4
Re: Dirty Bow Hair (Glazing)
Meant --
She,,, then explained how to fix/wash it ...
Sorry - jim,,,
# Posted on January 3rd 2011 by FIDDLE4
Dirty Bow Hair (Glazing)... ooh er Matron!
I can not improve on sur-real thread titles than this one.
Dirty bow hair...er!/ wotteffah
(Glazing)...??!!
Fab! You can't invent it...hoo-ray!!!
...and, ha! ha! ha! darlin' Winston said, "At Harrow they tortoise not to p*ss on our hands..."
Soon I will reveal a newly acquired secret weapon that may prove bigger in the session wrecking business than even the baritone ukukukulelele...
Wig glue and trousers to you all...
Stay tuned, folks!!!!
# Posted on January 4th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Dirty Bow Hair (Glazing)
Its a archetier not a lutier who fixes and makes bows.
# Posted on January 5th 2011 by iwerzon