Any trumpet players on here?
my daughter has a trumpet exam tomorrow and has only just remembered to tell me that the trumpet needs oil. As the school doesn't supply the instruments, they don't keep supplies of oil, either.

The nearest stockist is a good hour away and closes at 5, so no chance of getting there! The only alternatives I can come up with are (a) WD40 or (b) cooking oil. I have a feeling that neither of these would do the trumpet much good. Can anyone suggest anything (helpful)?

*crosses fingers*

If all else fails, she'll just have to be nice to the only other person sitting the exam tomorrow in the hope of scrounging some. These girls have been at daggers drawn since primary one, so I don't fancy her chances, there.
(TheWeeWitch hasn't been here much recently .., Mon 24 Nov 2008, 16:29, 10 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

Are the valves
actually sticking at the moment?

If they aren't she may be best off leaving it until you can get some of yer actual valve oil.

I wouldn't recommend the cooking oil, but I don't think WD40 would damage the trumpet, but it would smell bloody awful and probably wouldn't be very nice to play.
(Bazongaloid, Mon 24 Nov 2008, 16:39, Reply)

trumpet oil
my brother played the cornet when he was a kid. My mum refused to pay for the £2.00 (a lot of money years ago) for the 10 ml bottle. She used face cream on the cornet with no ill effects. (The most basic netto-own type available, no smells, no nothing basic face cream).

She said at the time her father use to use this same cream on his cor-anglais because during the war you couldnt get the proper oil.

If this does not work, blame my mum not me- she could have been lying to me all these years.
(smells-like-victory-v's, Mon 24 Nov 2008, 16:47, Reply)

I
played trumpet many moons ago

WD40 is the best alternative for stuck valves i found
(Lord Chode, Mon 24 Nov 2008, 16:50, Reply)

do you not have any oil in the house?
I wouldn't use WD-40 as its mainly white spirit and only about 15% oil and can leave a sticky residue.

Cooking oil may coagulate because it is organic.

If its purely for lubrication and the trumpet actually needs it then I would try and find some synthetic oil, try your garage/shed/basement I always find mystery bottle of oil I never purchased thats sitting there.

If all else fails an oil based face/hand cream is still better than cooking oil.
( Peej, Mon 24 Nov 2008, 16:51, Reply)

Thanks all
she might just have to be nice to her nemesis! We don't have a car so no other kinds of oil lying around, and the WD40 does whiff a bit.

The valves aren't that bad in my opinion, but she's having a 'teenager' moment over this. It's all my fault of course, for being off school myself the day they taught mind reading. Otherwise I'd have known she needed oil ....
(TheWeeWitch hasn't been here much recently .., Mon 24 Nov 2008, 17:03, Reply)

oh sorry!
Sorry weewitch, I got that wrong.

I just phoned me mum to check and she said "Her father use to rub face cream into his instrument."

Which is not the same thing is it?
(smells-like-victory-v's, Mon 24 Nov 2008, 17:10, Reply)

A fairly decent short-term alternative
is vaseline, or cork grease if you can find any...my brother is a horn player/saxophonist, and happily uses valve oil on his cork, and vice versa.
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Mon 24 Nov 2008, 17:34, Reply)

vaseline innit
mrs spimf insists on a quick smear before I give her rotary valves the full benefit of my embouchure

parp!
( spimf ™ is whoever you want him to be, Mon 24 Nov 2008, 17:36, Reply)

I almost mentioned Vaseline
in the original post, but decided not to.

"Oiling the instrument" was always going to be an innuendo-fest!
(TheWeeWitch hasn't been here much recently .., Mon 24 Nov 2008, 17:58, Reply)

Bit late now..
but I used ponds cold cream on the slide of my trombone.

You could also have tried baby oil

*edit cos I can't type
(CheatingRabbit, Tue 25 Nov 2008, 12:26, Reply)