The horn that I recently bought..I suspect it's from a home where someone smokes. The case and the horn reek to the point where it makes me nauseous. Are there any tips to de-smellifying a horn? I know chemical cleaning doesn't do much for it and I don't currently have a case to put a case deodorizer into it.

To get the smell out of the horn give it a bath in warm tepid water (NOT HOT). Before you do this get a cleaning kit which will include a snake made for the horn. You will also need rotary valve oil and slide grease. Also before you do this take a picture of where the slides are, if any look exactly the same tie a string on them so you will know which slides go back to where. I use a Dawn detergent, if you are in the UK I think you might want to use Fairy detergent. Place a towel in the bath tub. place your horn on the towel, fill the tub enough to submerge the horn. soak a little and run your snake through the horn parts. After the cleaning rinse the horn and then dry it as best you can. Oil the valves, wipe down and grease your slides. play the horn a little bit get all the water out.

This will get rid of some of the smell. Do this once a week for a month. Aja and others make scented valve oil (in orange, lemon, cinnamon, etc). I don't use these scents but you could.

To get rid of the smell in the case: Get soem green apples. Cut them up. Place them in the case on something so you don't have them actually touching the case. Don't let the case close all the way, place something between the lid to keep it from closing all the way so you have some air flow. Change the apples slices out every other day. If this doesn't work after awhile take the case to an upholster and see if they can change out the padding and lining.

Two ideas for the case:

(1) Leave it open in the sunshine for as long as you can, day after day until the odor is gone.

(2) Activated charcoal is a potent odor absorber. If you can get hold of some in your area, put some in the case close it for several days. Then then vacuum out. Repeat as needed.

(3) There are dry powdered carpet cleaners that are touted to be good at removing odors. One popular brand is called Capture. You brush it into the lining, let it sit for 15 or 20 minutes, then vacuum it out.

Good luck. I hope you like the horn, in spite of the smell.

Valerie Wells
http://bebabe.wordpress.com/
http://www.beforhorn.blogspot.com/

Haha, no odor could deter me from my horn. Thank you all for the helpful replies. 8D

I was in the department store looking at fabric care and clothing storage stuff the other day and saw the perfect product for deoderizing a horn case. It's a little bag of activated charcoal for putting into closets to adsorb ordors. I'm sure it would work just great for a smelly horn case. I've used activated charcoal filters in my home for eliminating odors. It works great.

Valerie Wells
http://bebabe.wordpress.com/
http://www.beforhorn.blogspot.com/

I have a similar problem, but not from someone smoking. My French horn that I own and my school owned mellophone get "stinky" at times. Not a smokey smell...but musty maybe? I recently had my horn cleaned and the problem is so much better. But my school horn is oderous. It might just be because so many people have played it? Or its age and its just starting to wear down? Or even the use during the summer marching band program? If you have any advice or easy tips, its greatly appreciated

I've been surprized at how metals can retain odors. A few years ago, I kept smelling garlic when I played my horn. I'd brush my teeth again & again and snaked out the lead pipe and cleaned the mouthpiece several times, but the smell persisted for weeks before finally going away. I finally figured our where the smell originally came from. I had stored the mouthpiece in an empty small plastic jar that garlic powder came in. Of course, I no longer store mouthpieces in garlic powder bottles!

I leave my two main horns in the open air on stands in my practice room and leave the cases empty in a closet. That's probably not an option for students who carry them back & forth to school in cases. With nice warm weather, however, I'm sure the cases could be periodically freshened by being left outside open in the sunshine for a few hours.

Valerie Wells
http://bebabe.wordpress.com/
http://www.beforhorn.blogspot.com/