The "best" slide oil/cream

[ParkerBasstrombone]

what's the "best" slide oil or cream, I just want to hear everyone's opinion.

-Parker

[BGuttman]

You'll probably see a lot of love for the Yamaha Slide "Oil". Works great with tight tolerance slides. Not as good with older slides.

Others will show preference for Trombotine. It seems to work best on older and "looser" slides.

I use a generic version of Pond's Cold Cream (seems to be a good copy of the old stuff). I picked up an 8 ounce jar of it 15 years ago and it's still working.

[LetItSlide]

The Yamaha stuff is great. Nowadays I mix a little into the water in my spray bottle, instead of applying it directly to the slide and spraying on water afterwards.

[Burgerbob]

yamasnot. Next question

[BrassSection]

yamasnot. Next question

Ditto. Note: Took about 3 weeks of use before I got the best results. That’s about an hour of playing a week.

[toxdoc42]

the Yamaha used to come in a bottle with an applicator on the end, it was amazing, now they no longer sell it that way. Luckily I did not through it away, and I now refill it from the bottle sold. I dislike the petroleum based products, I am a clinical toxicologist and don't like the idea of anyone using that product. I just bought another brand to try.

[Posaunus]

the Yamaha used to come in a bottle with an applicator on the end, it was amazing, now they no longer sell it that way. Luckily I did not through it away, and I now refill it from the bottle sold. I dislike the petroleum based products, I am a clinical toxicologist and don't like the idea of anyone using that product. I just bought another brand to try.

I'm confused.

• You apparently liked the Yamaha slide lube bottle-tip foam applicator, and miss it so much that you refill your old applicator-tipped bottle with new Yamaha slide lube.

• But you dislike the product because it may be toxic?

Am I misinterpreting your post?

I learned the hard way that the old Yamaha foam applicators will eventually break down, depositing small foam particles between the inner and outer slides, "gumming up the works" to the severe detriment of good slide action. Took a few thorough slide cleaning sessions to resolve. I choose to avoid the foam tip.

I much prefer the new Yamaha nipple-tip bottle, which allows me to dispense only a small amount of lubricant (a few drops on the stocking and a few drops on the proximal end of the slide, worked in by simply rotating and translating each slide for a few seconds to distribute; then I'm ready to go; no water spray required). Works equally well with Slide-O-Mix Rapid Comfort.

[sirisobhakya]

the Yamaha used to come in a bottle with an applicator on the end, it was amazing, now they no longer sell it that way. Luckily I did not through it away, and I now refill it from the bottle sold. I dislike the petroleum based products, I am a clinical toxicologist and don't like the idea of anyone using that product. I just bought another brand to try.

I'm confused.

• You apparently liked the Yamaha slide lube bottle-tip foam applicator, and miss it so much that you refill your old applicator-tipped bottle with new Yamaha slide lube.

• But you dislike the product because it may be toxic?

Am I misinterpreting your post?

I learned the hard way that the old Yamaha foam applicators will eventually break down, depositing small foam particles between the inner and outer slides, "gumming up the works" to the severe detriment of good slide action. Took a few thorough slide cleaning sessions to resolve. I choose to avoid the foam tip.

I much prefer the new Yamaha nipple-tip bottle, which allows me to dispense only a small amount of lubricant (a few drops on the stocking and a few drops on the proximal end of the slide, worked in by simply rotating and translating each slide for a few seconds to distribute; then I'm ready to go; no water spray required). Works equally well with Slide-O-Mix Rapid Comfort.

As far as I know the Yamaha is silicon-based, not petroleum.

I think…

[BGuttman]

The only petroleum based lubes I've seen are the various slide oils (Holton "Electric", most valve oils, and the generic oil often supplied with new student horns). Most creams are variants of the cold cream formula dating back to 1849 and are mixes of different surfactants and waxes. Slide-O-Mix and Reka are silicone based. Yamaha and UltraPure are somewhat different but not petroleum based.

There was somebody here who used lamp oil, but I found that not to work very well.

[LetItSlide]

Somewhere I read that the Yamaha stuff is "silicone and soap."

Petroleum-based anything seems to really slow down a trombone handslide.

[muschem]

Somewhere I read that the Yamaha stuff is "silicone and soap.

Basically, yes. Here’s the MSDS from Yamaha:
https://usa.yamaha.com/files/YAC1021P_T ... dbb8eb.pdf

Composition includes:
Silicone oil
Ethylene glycol
Fatty acid salts
Surfactants
Anti-corrosive Agent
Water

Surfactants are typically some form of detergent/soap.

[toxdoc42]

I'm confused.

• You apparently liked the Yamaha slide lube bottle-tip foam applicator, and miss it so much that you refill your old applicator-tipped bottle with new Yamaha slide lube.

• But you dislike the product because it may be toxic?

Am I misinterpreting your post?

I learned the hard way that the old Yamaha foam applicators will eventually break down, depositing small foam particles between the inner and outer slides, "gumming up the works" to the severe detriment of good slide action. Took a few thorough slide cleaning sessions to resolve. I choose to avoid the foam tip.

I much prefer the new Yamaha nipple-tip bottle, which allows me to dispense only a small amount of lubricant (a few drops on the stocking and a few drops on the proximal end of the slide, worked in by simply rotating and translating each slide for a few seconds to distribute; then I'm ready to go; no water spray required). Works equally well with Slide-O-Mix Rapid Comfort.

As far as I know the Yamaha is silicon-based, not petroleum.

I think…

Sorry if i confused you, i prefer the Yamaha silicone lubricant to the petroleum based one. I didn't like the smell of the petroleum based one. It was the latter that i am also worried about toxicity with prolonged exposure.

[Matt K]

Fixed your formatting (you had mixed up the quotes).

[Kbiggs]

Trombotine, Yamasnot, UltraPure (original and Alessi formula). They all work well for me. I prefer the UltraPure Alessi. It’s thick enough for my older Bach slides, and I rarely need to use water on them. Trombotine is great for lubrication and cleaning: little dab on the end of the cloth wound ‘round a cleaning rod works well.

[sambone]

I like Slide O Mix, just a couple drops from each bottle and then like two sprays from a spray bottle. I have to reapply about every other session but those bottles still last me about half of a year.

[Paultromboneplayer]

This thread answered a question I was going to post. Seems like the Yamaha is still a popular choice.

[Toto]

I used Slide O Mix 30 years ago as the one and only. But it has a problem during summer time with hot temperature when 1 of the 2 lubricants evaporates.
Since last 10-15 years, I came back to the small piece of cream (Conn or Tromboline) and 1 component lubricant Reka or SlideOMix (black, 1-component). Then on daily base only clear water.

Question: does anybody know about the 2 types of Conn cream: standard seems to be white, but together with my Conn 88H, I also got a cream, which is more yellow coloured.

[UrbanaDave]

Somewhere I read that the Yamaha stuff is "silicone and soap.

Basically, yes. Here’s the MSDS from Yamaha:
https://usa.yamaha.com/files/YAC1021P_T ... dbb8eb.pdf

Composition includes:
Silicone oil
Ethylene glycol
Fatty acid salts
Surfactants
Anti-corrosive Agent
Water

Surfactants are typically some form of detergent/soap.

Very interesting. Anybody got such information for Slide O Mix and the other similar products?

[muschem]

Basically, yes. Here’s the MSDS from Yamaha:
https://usa.yamaha.com/files/YAC1021P_T ... dbb8eb.pdf

Composition includes:
Silicone oil
Ethylene glycol
Fatty acid salts
Surfactants
Anti-corrosive Agent
Water

Surfactants are typically some form of detergent/soap.

Very interesting. Anybody got such information for Slide O Mix and the other similar products?

Ran across this one for the classic set:

Slide-O-Mix_SLIDE-10ml_SDB_EN.pdf

[UrbanaDave]

Basically, yes. Here’s the MSDS from Yamaha:
https://usa.yamaha.com/files/YAC1021P_T ... dbb8eb.pdf

Composition includes:
Silicone oil
Ethylene glycol
Fatty acid salts
Surfactants
Anti-corrosive Agent
Water

Surfactants are typically some form of detergent/soap.

Very interesting. Anybody got such information for Slide O Mix and the other similar products?

Does the presence of Ethylene glycol concern anyone?

[BGuttman]

Does the presence of Ethylene glycol concern anyone?

Only if you are going to eat it. Not much of an inhalation hazard.

[UrbanaDave]

Does the presence of Ethylene glycol concern anyone?

Only if you are going to eat it. Not much of an inhalation hazard.

I guess it’s the “not much” part I wonder about for the youngsters in particular

[Posaunus]

Does the presence of Ethylene glycol concern anyone?

Only if you are going to eat it. Not much of an inhalation hazard.

I guess it’s the “not much” part I wonder about for the youngsters in particular

One's exposure to ethylene glycol (a minor component) from use of a slide lubricant surely presents a negligible risk.
You'd have to ingest (drink!) a lot of lubricant to do any harm, no matter what your age.
It's not like chugging antifreeze.

[UrbanaDave]

Does the presence of Ethylene glycol concern anyone?

I guess it’s the “not much” part I wonder about for the youngsters in particular

One's exposure to ethylene glycol (a minor component) from use of a slide lubricant surely presents a negligible risk.
You'd have to ingest (drink!) a lot of lubricant to do any harm, no matter what your age.
It's not like chugging antifreeze.

Thanks! I guess I was thinking more about use over time. A young trombonist may now use a product containing ethylene glycol over many years. Those of us who started on Ponds cold creme and other evolutions didn’t spend years of potentially inhaling the stuff. Just curious. I suppose time will tell. Hopefully it’s totally safe.