5 Essential Violin Care Tips: Your Guide To Violin Storage, Humidity & Weather

Violin Care 1: when not in use, your instrument must be stored.

Protect your instrument by storing it in its case. Your instrument will thank you later. A high-quality instrument case will help a lot to avoid scratches and protect it from dust, it is an essential tailor-made cushion for your instrument.

The violin market has plenty of cases and bags for you to choose from. These high-quality carriers protect your violin and its accessories during transit. You can find some cases that have compartments or pockets, making it easier to store your items.

Stable humidity and temperature are significant for violin storage.

The humidity and temperature levels affect your instrument and can cause damage without proper care. It is, therefore, important that you remain aware of the relative humidity level in places where your instrument is most often kept.

If left in a moist environment, the body and hair of a violin will swell, causing it’s top and bottom plates to collide, resulting in the collapse of its soundpost. And it’s not just your violin. The bow’s handcrafted clippings are affected by weather changes as well. They can stretch in the summer and shrink in the winter.

For good violin care the ideal humidity levels range between 50-60%, this ensures the atmosphere is neither too wet nor too dry.

As humidity levels change throughout the year with the seasons, it is important to understand the impact this could be having on your instrument:

• Changes to the instrument’s dimensions
• Seams may open and cracks will start appearing
• The lesser quality of sound
• Dry weather can cause buzzing

It’s crucial to monitor the humidity of your instrument’s carrying case, just as you watch the humidity levels in the room in which the instrument is kept. If it’s too dry, you can slightly moisten the fabric of the case. If it’s too humid, dry the case with a hairdryer or expose it to the sun. Make sure that you remove your bow and instrument from the case before moistening or drying it.

The Violin Care to never forget

This is the moment you grab your notebook and take note because these are the violin care tips you must never forget:

After every practice, clean your violin with a dry flannel. This prevents the rosin from bonding with the varnish and sweeps sweat that can sometimes be released while playing.

However, if you’re in the team that still got rosin stuck to it, and it feels like it will never come off, try using some pure turpentine to clean it up—it should be enough to bring your instrument back to its former glory.

To keep the bridge in optimum condition, it is important to keep it at a 90-degree angle. This ensures it has the sufficient resistance required to support the string pressure.

You must also clean the strings! To remove extraneous moisture, wipe them with a dry cloth until they heat up. Over time, the strings oxidize with perspiration penetrating deep inside.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a bowing virtuoso or a reluctant strummer—strings need to be changed regularly. But remember, the more you play, the more often they should be changed. The Strings Magazine has an article showing step by step how can you choose your new strings.

Keep your bow in shape: always loosen the bow when it’s not being played. Loosening the hairs of the bow every time you play prevents it from losing its camber or warping.