Sanitizing/Cleaning, heads - what is best for cleaning

[clownmanus2000]

I am routinely allowing people to play my instruments, i am concerned that i may be using inapropirate chemicals to sanitize my drums and heads.
Is there a safe way to acomplish this?
What about conditioning the natural skins? Are leather cleaning "saddle soap-like" cleansers "ever" used?
clownmanus2000

[clownmanus2000]

this post is getting alot of hits.
no responces. i am sure anything that sanatizes also drys the heads out. the post where i mentioned Lanolin, had a good reply , "coconut oil".
still? what about germs. germs are not ficticious alien creatures ? or ?

[rahalak]

Who are you letting play your drums that make you so concerned about germs?

I don't mean to sound flip, but I would say simply: wash your hands and don't worry about sanitizing your drum heads.

Seriously, almost all the micro-organisms we are likely to be infected with are either in the air, in our food, or on our hands. Keeping your hands clean is one of the best things you can do to cut down on infections.

I'm afraid our society's concern for sanitizing our surroundings only means we are killing off weaker strains of bacteria, thereby allowing hardier strains to flourish. Nothing to do with drumming, but something to think about.
Chris

[clownmanus2000]

Chris,
i let anyone play my drums that wants to usually i dont publicly display or play them with the intent on refusing someone who wants to share in the experience of pounding out some rythems,
I can assure you i have ingested highly exotic strains of germs , im not entirely concerned about myself. I am just following in the mode i use when sharing wind instruments,
P.s. have you been around hippies at all dude.
haha
clowmanus2000

[rahalak]

Oh, sharing wind instruments! Now I wouldn't recommend doing that with anybody - hippie or otherwise. Yuk!

(I was a bit of a hippie myself - first generation. Not this new strain, I mean breed, of pippies [hippie puppies]
chris

[Ivan]

You guys are cracking me up... When I saw the last two posts about hippies - I was almost on the floor laughing...

I am not sure how many sets of congas you have - if you have more than one set - I would recommend having a set that only you and very few others can play... The other ones - treat'em as beaters and let anyone play them...

I don't like other people playing my drums, except for those individuals that are good friends, etc... I know where these people have been... with the exception of JC... :p Just kidding JC!!!

Seriously, if you really, really feel the need to clean the skins of your drums - I would say to take some rubbing alcohol and dab some on a clean towel and rub the playing surface down. Don't drench the towel - just enought to wipe down the heads...

But if you want my personal opinion... Be picky about who you let play your drums... Afterall, they're your babies! :;):

Ache!