As for the soap, Lemon Joy and Palmolive liquid dish soap work well. DO NOT use toothpaste, abrasive soaps, Brasso, Tarnex, chemicals or any soaps that make the water turn milky. Do not use soaps that leave behind an odor, or claim to contain a skin softening lotion. Cleaners such as Fantastic, Pinesol, and Mr. Clean are powerful cleaners, but they have solvents that might soften and blush some lacquer finishes. Some are also alkaline enough to increase any red rot already forming on the instrument.
Procedure Begin by removing all of the slides.
Use soft paper toweling to remove all traces of tuning slide grease from the slides and the instrument. A little grease goes a long way in slowing down your valves, and this step will keep grease from transferring to the valves and casing during cleaning. Silicone based slide grease is uniquely tough to remove. If you have a silicone based slide grease on your slides, remove it with a paper towel saturated in mineral spirits. Place the slides somewhere safe for until the soapy water is ready.