The Complete Handbook of Clarinet Swabs

Chapter 1: Understanding Clarinet Swabs

A clarinet swab is a moisture-removal tool, and that is the whole job. You pull it through the instrument after you play to soak up the condensation that accumulates on the inside of the bore. It seems trivial until you understand the cost of leaving that water where it is.

Every note you play sends warm, moist air from your lungs into a tube that is at or below room temperature. The moisture condenses on the cooler inner walls of the clarinet, just as it does on the outside of a glass of iced tea on a warm day. On a hard rubber (plastic) clarinet, this condensation pools and sits. On a wooden clarinet, the bore literally absorbs it. The wood swells unevenly, the bore can go out of round, and the tenon joints can become tight or even crack. The internal bore surface also gets rough, which discolors the tone and hurts the response. And the water does not stay in the bore. It migrates down through the tone holes and across the pad faces. Leather pads absorb this water. The leather softens, the felt underneath holds it like a sponge, and the pad begins to swell and distort. The result is a key that sticks, a pad that leaks, and a note that does not speak. Sometimes the water runs down the bore and collects in the bottom joint, then drips out the bell onto your shoes or the floor. On a Bb