I have a slide rod but I'm not sure what to attach to it. I've heard you can just cut up a towel and wrap the pieces around. Is this a good idea?

Proper technique is to attach a piece of cheesecloth or muslin, about 1" wide (2-3 cm) by about 4 feet (1 meter 30 cm) long. Place the cloth through the eye of the trombone rod and tie a knot in it. Then wrap the cloth in a spiral around the rod. The cloth should be long enough that when you put the rod inside the slide tube you can still grab it. Insert the rod with a twisting motion to rub the cloth against the slide tube. Pull out with a twist as well.

If you go to the Edwards site, there is a video of Christan Griego (president of Edwards) showing just how he cleans and lubes a slide. I used to have this "stickied" on TTF, but for now that link is gone; you'll have to find it yourself.

Here's the video:<YOUTUBE id="0-5qYuIlrh0" list="PLYuvkCC36ifEsH0qBots6MbacVgVQKKhs">[media]<LINK_TEXT text="https://youtu.be/0-5qYuIlrh0?list=PLYuv ... acVgVQKKhs">https://youtu.be/0-5qYuIlrh0?list=PLYuvkCC36ifEsH0qBots6MbacVgVQKKhs</LINK_TEXT></YOUTUBE>

[quote="BGuttman"]Proper technique is to attach a piece of cheesecloth or muslin, about 1" wide (2-3 cm) by about 4 feet (1 meter 30 cm) long. Place the cloth through the eye of the trombone rod and tie a knot in it. Then wrap the cloth in a spiral around the rod. The cloth should be long enough that when you put the rod inside the slide tube you can still grab it. Insert the rod with a twisting motion to rub the cloth against the slide tube. Pull out with a twist as well.

If you go to the Edwards site, there is a video of Christan Griego (president of Edwards) showing just how he cleans and lubes a slide. I used to have this "stickied" on TTF, but for now that link is gone; you'll have to find it yourself.

Here's the video:<YOUTUBE id="0-5qYuIlrh0" list="PLYuvkCC36ifEsH0qBots6MbacVgVQKKhs">[media]<LINK_TEXT text="https://youtu.be/0-5qYuIlrh0?list=PLYuv ... acVgVQKKhs">https://youtu.be/0-5qYuIlrh0?list=PLYuvkCC36ifEsH0qBots6MbacVgVQKKhs</LINK_TEXT></YOUTUBE>[/quote]

I'd skip the knot & just pull the corner through the eye & wrap under the remainder layering until it fits fairly snuggly into the tube.

Be careful not to push into the crook! Easy to poke a dent from the inside if the end of the rod comes through the cloth.

Push on the rod & pull on the cloth, this avoids the possibility of the cloth folding over on itself & getting stuck or creating a bulge in the tubing.

Eric

"Push on the rod & pull on the cloth..."

This part is important.

Get a slide-o-mix sheath. Much easier.

[quote="FeelMyRath"]Get a slide-o-mix sheath. Much easier.[/quote]

I've got 2 of these, I've shortened them so that the surplus doesn't gather at the hand end, and wound a little gaffer tape at the far end of the rod to get a really tight fit into the slide.

It's also important not to use the rod into the m/p receiver, use a brush to avoid damage to the leadpipe.

Only the first couple inches of cloth do any work.

You can slide the rod in then spin the slide around it which makes a nice knot to push against the inside surface and then pull out.

Nearly all the work is done with one pull.

[quote="Pre59"][snip]... and wound a little gaffer tape at the far end of the rod to get a really tight fit into the slide.
[/quote]
I'm going to try doing this on my traditional cleaning rod. :good:

[quote="Pre59"]It's also important not to use the rod into the m/p receiver, use a brush to avoid damage to the leadpipe.[/quote]
yep...

--Andy in OKC