Question: Cleaning bow hair

[PJ]

My daughter managed to get vinaigrette on the hair of her fiddle bow and it has lost its friction. Any suggestions for removing oily substances from a bow? Am I better off having the bow rehaired or buying a new bow?

[Tim2723]

Ouch!

I'd try cleaning it first, since you really don't have much to loose. You can always cut the hair off and go again. A mild dish detergent or shampoo with lots of rinsing should work. Be carefull to dry the moving parts so they don't rust.

I'm assuming of course that we're not talking about a $1000 stick, right? You can always get it re-haired, but if it's a $25 student bow you might save money by chucking it. The shop near me charges about $50 for a re-hair, but ask around.

Does your daughter's teacher have any advice?

P.S. You'll want to clean the oil off the strings too. If they are oily, you'll just repeat the problem.

[PJ]

It's a rented 1/8 sized violin and bow, insured for $300 and probably worth less. I could buy a new bow for about $30 but this would probably send the wrong message to my daughter. I want her to help me clean it

I'll give the shampoo a try - it's hair after all. Thanks for the advice, particularly about the strings as I hadn't thought about them.

[Tim2723]

Yeah, I understand and think that's a good point.

BWT, If she tried to overcome the salad dressing by adding more rosin, the rosin cake is probably contaminated too. Same problem as oily strings. Oil gets everywhere. You can try cleaning that up by sanding the surface, but rosin is only a couple of bucks and probably not worth the effort for the lesson.

The bow's probably not real hair. Most student bows are synthetic. But the shampoo should still work fine, if it works at all.

[PJ]

BWT, If she tried to overcome the salad dressing by adding more rosin, the rosin cake is probably contaminated too.

She didn't, but I did!!

[Tim2723]

Well, I guess everone learned something.

Assuming the hair might be synthetic, do not resort to anything clever like nail polish remover. That might well disolve the synthetic fibres.

[PJ]

I just spoke to my daughter and told her about the shampoo idea. She asked if we should use conditioner too.

[Tim2723]

But seriously, don't. Conditioners are basically oils.

But I did have another idea: You might try rubbing alcohol. It won't harm hair or synthetic and it doesn't have all the perfumes and additives of shampoo. And it shouldn't rust the moving bits either. But I wouldn't turn it into a major project. After all, the worst thing that can happen is you're out thirty clams for a bow. It is a good opportunity for lessons in responsibility though. Good on you for that part.

[MTGuru]

I'll give the shampoo a try - it's hair after all.

Aaaiiiieeee! Many consumer shampoos are loaded with silicone to make your hair look slick and shiny. Not exactly what you want for a fiddle bow. And the stuff never comes off.

Detergent and alcohol are probably the way to go. Alcohol is normally used to remove rosin build-up.

[PJ]

What about plain old soap - I've got a bar of Irish Spring somewhere.

Seriously, for detergent are we talking laundry detergent or washing-up liquid?

[fearfaoin]

Google for "cleaning violing bow" (without the quotes).
You'll get tons of hits. Here's the first, which involves
a toothbrush and alcohol. Probably the safest to try
first, then if that doesn't help move up to cleansers.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2063174_clean-violin-bow.html

[MTGuru]

I've got a bar of Irish Spring somewhere.

Ah, manly ... yes! But she likes it, too!

Irish Spring contains glycerin, hydrogenated tallow and coconut oil, so probably not good.

Dishwashing detergent is surfactant (lauryl sulfate) and alcohol, so probably better.

[Rob Sharer]

Not to piddle on the campfire, but....

One of my young students pulled off this same feat last year. I gallantly volunteered to try to rectify the situation, figuring that since I'm a luthier type and all, I should be able to clean some crummy bow hair, right? Alas, no. I went at that shaggin' bow with every solvent in my arsenal, and it was never enough to get all of the olive oil out of the hair. That's the trick; you need to get every last bit out, and I'm not sure it can be done. I got it to where it looked dry, white, and healthy, but no amount of rosin and foul language could produce enough friction to play a fiddle with it - I even tried bass rosin, the kind that pours if you leave it over on the side in the monsoon season. Back it went for a hair job.

Good luck,

Rob

[Tim2723]

My greatest fear in this thread was that someone would come along who'd actually done this, since I was only making educated guesses. Oil is a tenacious creature. Once it's on something it doesn't want to leave, and it wants to get on everything else.

Having slept on it, I have the distinct feeling that a new bow is in someone's future (and new strings and rosin too). I would, however, go ahead with the cleaning exercise if only for its educational value. My first lesson in this area involved a large pane of plate glass that cost way more than $30!

[Rob Sharer]

I think the problem is the structure of hair itself; it's essentially like a sponge, so it holds the oil internally, eternally weeping it out even when you've cleaned the surface thoroughly. I failed to mention that I started with dishwashing liquid, moving on to alcohol, naphtha, toluene, etc. No joy.

Rob