Hey everyone! I recently got a brand new slide from Edwards and when I first got it the slide action was a little funky but I switched from yamasnot to trombontine and it seemed to fix it. Fast forward 3 weeks later and I feel that my slide action has somehow gotten worse? It feels like there’s dents in 5th position when I know there isn’t any and it overall just feels not as smooth. I’ve cleaned it out with cheese cloth and a rod followed by a snake with dawn soap and it still isn’t much better. Is there anything else I should do to maintain my slide? Is there a better cloth to use than cheesecloth to clean the slide? How often should I be cleaning it since I’m using trombontine and what’s the best way to apply trombontine.

This is probably just not a lubrication / maintenance issue.

Your slide could be subtly warped / misaligned.

Return to Edwards / bring to an expert slide tech?

IMHO, the flexible snake won't do much with the outer slide tubes, only the crook.

Sounds like you have done everything right as far as maintenance, now it's time to see a slide tech, and/or Edwards to figure out what's affecting your slide.

I prefer Trombotine to anything for my slide, and my customers too.

I have found that the most common issue is not using enough cream!! I use a half-inch blob on each stocking and work them individually to coat the entire interior of the outer tubes. Then douse with a generous squirt of water.

Assemble and work the slide and then wipe the inner tubes, and then apply another generous squirt of water.

This is my routine and has served me well for years!

Every few cleanings (similar process to yours), I also wipe the inners with isopropyl alcohol - I use CVS lens wipes. They are packaged individually so easy to keep a couple in the case, are lint free, and seem to do a good job getting any residue off the slide. I use Rapid Comfort on my Edwards slides.