How to Clean your Shofar ?

Submitted by Shahar Geva on Tue, 02/02/2016 - 11:42

Right, so you Bought a Shofar. Now what?
You take it out of the box it arrived in and there’s a faint smell of chemicals on it, not something that seems great to put to your lips. And after a few tries over a couple days, you notice it’s starting to smell a bit odd.
Panic! After all, you spent money on this shofar thinking it was good to use!
No worries though, we’ve come to explain how to keep your Shofar fresh and useable.

How do you clean a Shofar?
It is after all a bone. It can have smells that come from having been alive once, as well as those that come from the neigh undetectable amount of spit that could have stayed in it from blowing it. Here are some tips on how to clean your shofar.
1. The chemical smell you notice when it is brand new is a spray that is put on it right before sending to keep it safe from travel moisture. The smell can be reduced with cleaning and a bit of spray deodorant.
2. An alcohol spray or cloth is best to clean the mouthpiece after use to kill any bacteria and disinfect.
3. For a general cleaning of the shofar you can use water and soap with a gentle, soft cloth, and make sure it is 100% dry before putting it away.
4. Vinegar (synthetic) can be toweled on to all surfaces of the shofar and left to dry, and then soaked in warm water and soap for 20 minutes and dried thoroughly before putting away. This is a special major clean for a shofar with more than a little odor.
5. A sprinkle of baking soda on a dry shofar helps keep odors at bay.
6. If you have an unpolished Shofar, you may want to oil it lightly with essential oils once in a while inside and out to prevent cracking. Allow it to dry completely after this, before putting it away.
7. Polished Shofars can withstand a bit more chemical cleaning (for example warm water and oxi-clean) which can be shaken about inside the shofar with the ends plugged closed, but in general it is not recommended to use hard chemicals to clean your Shofar unless absolutely necessary.
8. There are special Shofar Odor Neutralizer sprays you can buy and use for odors that linger after a wash.

Note: Store your Shofar away from direct sunlight and moisture for maximum longevity. Also, Shofar bags are great for transporting them, not so much for storing them.

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