Take your drum and beat it... uh, clean it.

January 26, 2013 11:54 AM

I am encountering unexpected difficulties cleaning a kit of PDP drums. I've owned several sets of drums from different manufacturers over the years, but this one is hands-down the biggest pain in the tail to clean.

I recently came into possession of a barely used set of Z5 series PDP drums (Looks like this.) It's a student set. I'm hardly a student -- I've been playing since 1966 -- but this would make a decent practice kit and enable me to leave my beloved Premiers in their cases. I've begun taking the PDP kit apart in order to clean it. The problem is, the kit's nice metallic red finish attracts dust like a sumbitch. I've never had drums with a metallic finish before, and was unaware of this problem. (My Ludwig chrome-shell snare doesn't attract dust like this.) If I wipe the drums with a cloth, it only serves to smear the dust around. A chamois doesn't work. I can get the finish clean by using damp rags, but I'd rather not do this. Can I use Windex or furniture polish something instead of water? Or is there some sort of spray I can use that will repel dust?

posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit to media & arts (3 answers total)

Microfiber cloths -- the ones with loops like terry cloth -- actually do pick up the dust instead of moving it around. Also, swiffer dusters are quite good, and you don't have to use the handle, which makes it easier to get into corners.
posted by wryly at 1:56 PM on January 26

Have you tried ever so slightly, only just damp rags? I'm thinking the stubbornness of the dust might be down to static electricity created by the friction between the lacquer on the kit and your cleaning cloth, and making the cloth just barely damp should be enough to dissipate that.

A just-used bath towel should be about damp enough. Anything that's been properly wet and then squeezed or wrung dry would be way, way too damp and would probably leave streaks.
posted by flabdablet at 1:58 AM on January 27

wryly, I'll give Swiffer a try. And flabdablet, yeah -- I tried using a damp paper towel, and that's what worked... a damp regular towel might be better.

Both good suggestions, folks.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 4:49 AM on January 27