W. G. Walter, D. Chaffey
Mar 1, 1959
Citations
2
Influential Citations
6
Citations
Journal
Applied microbiology
Abstract
The common drinking cup and hand towel are uncommon sights today in most public places in this country. Multiple usage of these items decreased as the potential health hazards of such objects were better understood. In the past, improperly cleaned eating utensils have been shown to harbor pathogenic organisms (Cumming et al., 1920; Saelhof and Heinekamp, 1920; and Lyons, 1936), but satisfactory procedures have been developed for cleaning and sanitizing such utensils for either institutional or domestic use (Mallmann et al., 1947; Flett and Guiteras, 1952; and Walter, 1955). Few individuals would consider storing used silverware until the next meal without cleaning, but this is a common practice among musicians using mouthpieces of wind instruments. In some schools several people play the same musical instrument and use the same mouthpiece. In other cases there have been reports of such accumulations in the shank of the mouthpiece that tones have been impaired and blowing has been difficult. Because of these conditions, several band directors requested information and suggestions regarding proper methods for cleaning and sanitizing mouthpieces. In preliminary investigations, Ogg and Walter (1951) noted that musical instrument mouthpieces sometimes harbor thousands of microorganisms. They also found that the number of organisms could be reduced materially by hand brushing the mouthpieces in a commercial detergent and subsequently rinsing them in al sanitizer solution. The present report concerns further studies regarding the number of microorganisms found in different types of mouthpieces, and a practical method for a group of musicians to clean and sanitize their wind instrument mouthpieces quickly by brushing them in a single solution.