Food For Thought "egt your own mic"

[rjwalker]

I doubt if any church mics get this sort of treatment, but....

CMN Player - Get Your Own Mic | Audio-Technica - YouTube

[bpalermini]

Ours usually go the other way and have a red, lipstick color after a weekend but point taken.

[liko81]

Yeah, you generally don't want to know where the average house mic has been.

As far as church mics, if you're concerned, you can usually have the stage hands give the grill a wipedown with a Clorox or Lysol wipe. I doubt anyone's putting the mics in their armpits or digging them into the ground, but they will be breathing and spitting on them even if they're not "lips to the grill" singers. Another idea is windscreens/pop filters; you can either use the studio-style flat screens or the foam grill covers, either way you're protecting the grill from getting gunked up, the screens can be washed and air-dried with some regularity, and if you bring your own to cover any strange mic you happen to have to use, you have a layer of protection between yourself and anyone else that mic's been with.

[Tim Padrick]

A friend got a numb tongue and lips from a Lysol-cleansed mic. Use Benzalkonium Chloride wipes, or MicroFoam.

[liko81]

Originally Posted by Tim Padrick

A friend got a numb tongue and lips from a Lysol-cleansed mic. Use Benzalkonium Chloride wipes, or MicroFoam.

Most Lysol formulations, both spray and wipes, use n-alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride compounds (aka benzalkomium chloride). Most Clorox wipes use similar. These are quaternary ammonium compounds (quat sanitizers) and they are safe for use around food. Most reactions are allergic, and are generally mild irritation. Just don't drink the stuff straight from the bottle and you should be fine.

What you want to avoid is sodium hypochlorite (bleach). Bleach can cause nerve damage including numbness, which can be permanent depending on dosage. Bleach is also approved for use in food-handling areas, but when using bleach you have to thoroughly rinse the cleansed object, or else the hypochlorite salt will remain on the object waiting to be re-dissolved in whatever water next contacts it. Some Lysol and Clorox sprays have bleach, but AFAICT none of the wipes do.

Another class of disinfectants that could have caused your friend's issues are phenols. Phenols are everywhere in organic chemistry, including common neurotransmitters, and many such compounds are effective antimicrobial agents because they disrupt cellular chemistry. Xylenol compounds are common in commercial-grade disinfectants, and have been inhaled recreationally for (desireable?) short-term neurological effects. I can't find any Lysol product that uses it though.

If you really want to be safe, chlorhexidine is the stuff. It's a medical bactericide disinfectant that is found everywhere from surgical scrubs to wound-cleansing products to mouthwash and contact lens solution, so it's powerful, effective on both skin and hard surfaces, and it's non-toxic. The main chlorhexidine salts are gluconate, acetate and diacetate; gluconate is the most common. The stuff is available in wipes, or you can simply wet a cloth with the liquid stuff and wipe the grills down. The main problem is that the normal method of application is to soak the surface with it, so the best results will happen if you can remove the grill and clean it separately from the rest of the mic to avoid getting the diaphragm capsule too wet.

[bpalermini]

Originally Posted by liko81

If you really want to be safe, chlorhexidine is the stuff. It's a medical bactericide disinfectant that is found everywhere from surgical scrubs to wound-cleansing products to mouthwash and contact lens solution, so it's powerful, effective on both skin and hard surfaces, and it's non-toxic. The main chlorhexidine salts are gluconate, acetate and diacetate; gluconate is the most common. The stuff is available in wipes, or you can simply wet a cloth with the liquid stuff and wipe the grills down. The main problem is that the normal method of application is to soak the surface with it, so the best results will happen if you can remove the grill and clean it separately from the rest of the mic to avoid getting the diaphragm capsule too wet.

Great information. Thanks for the post. Do you have a recommendation for an actual product to use to clean microphones. I'd prefer a disposable wipe but the ones I found via Google and Amazon all seem to be for pets.

[liko81]

Originally Posted by bpalermini

Great information. Thanks for the post. Do you have a recommendation for an actual product to use to clean microphones. I'd prefer a disposable wipe but the ones I found via Google and Amazon all seem to be for pets.

I've always just used hard surface wipes that don't contain bleach; the kitchen-grade brands like Lysol and Clorox. Lysol Disinfecting Wipes are specifically listed in their MSDS as being "not orally toxic"; good enough for me. First aid for ingestion is simply to rinse out the mouth, and if symptoms do occur, consult a physician. They do contain ethanol (the liquid in the container's about 30-proof) which can cause temporary localized numbness if the mic grill isn't allowed to dry completely before you use it.

There is a company in the UK that markets chlorhexidine hard surface wipes for $15 (9GBP) per 100; I don't know if it would be worth the international shipping. You can also buy gallon jugs of chlorhexidine for about the same price, dilute it as per the instructions, then simply wet a clean cloth with it and wipe the grills down after service each week.

As for stuff specifically made for mic cleaning, I see two products: Mic Check and Microphome. Both are disinfecting, deodorizing products, one's a disposable wipe while the other is a foam you rub into the grill. I can't find MSDS sheets for them online; if the formulation's a trade secret I can understand why, but you'll need an MSDS on file for any chemicals you use. It also means I can't tell you what the hazards of each of these might be, so you'll have to take them at their word that the products are "safe".