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I was having a lot of problems between my bow & strings this last week - to the point I was ready to put new strings on, or send my bow (1 year old) off to be re-haired!!!
SILENCE - THE BOW HAIR WOULD NOT GRAB THE STRINGS!
I didn't think I'd been using an abundance of rosin (Holstein Premium)! I DON'T rosin my bow every day, don't have rosin flying off my bow - no residue on my violin top plate, but I could see some white on my strings, which I wipe down with a cotton dishtowel when I stop playing.
BUT I MUST BE USING TOO MUCH ROSIN! 😳
Frustrated tonight, I just wiped my strings with alcohol, then took a plain, dry, paper towel & wiped my bow hair down... PLAYS FINE NOW! 🙄 I did NOT apply more rosin, but I CAN see white residue back on my strings again, so some of the hair is still loaded with rosin!
This is crazy to me!
I'm not a big fan of using alcohol on strings, just because of the potential to remove any coatings or damage the synthetic core - but this is ridiculous 🤬 I was ready to toss these strings! ...just getting into 6 months - I want them to last a little longer.
Sorry, I should've recorded it - if it happens again I will.
😒 ...messed with my head!
HAS ANYONE HAD THIS HAPPEN?
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When I was still learning the ropes I had some problems with over-rosining.
I have known it cause too little friction when it gets hardened onto the strings - my theory is you get a layer of solid rosin between the bow hair and the string which makes the bow glide over rather than catching.
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I'm mystified by both these posts. The only time I have ever experienced silence was from a new, unrosined bow.
Andrew
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Gordon Shumway said
I'm mystified by both these posts. The only time I have ever experienced silence was from a new, unrosined bow.
I didn't get silence, just a weak sound.
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I've also had the same issue with excess rosin before. It's not silence, I just feel like I have to work extra hard to make it not sound weak and scratchy.
I've never used alcohol to clean my strings, though. I've just scrubbed the strings a little harder with a clean, dry cloth, and also removed some rosin from my bow, and it solves the problem.
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I use alcohol, in the form of eau de cologne, to clean my strings, perhaps monthly, perhaps more often, as does my teacher. It's less aggressive than some methods. Swings and roundabouts. There's a string manufacturer that has published "science" on why you shouldn't use alcohol, but I deny the value of some of their "science". And the problems they claim to identify are arguably a drop in the ocean. In fact, they don't even identify problems, just observable effects, which they assume to be problematic. I'm not aware of the company's having done any science on the effects of scraping with a credit card. What are you doing about the interstices between your string windings? What's worse, a microgram of rosin between your string filaments or a hundredth of a gram of rosin between your windings? Ultimately we are amateurs. If we were amateur runners, we wouldn't be wise to seek improvement from eating eggs from the same chickens as Usain Bolt. But some are that obsessive.
Andrew
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My 1st thought was sounded like an 'un-rosined' bow.
It was quite a problem this last week, (before I used the alcohol) I had to press really hard to get the strings moving - started intermittent grabbing, then it was like the strings got 'warmed up' & I could play, but not as easy as I should. Was kinda surprised because the Holstein Premium is fairly sticky rosin - which I thought I needed for my lower strings.
I'm sure it's possible that even though I briskly wiped the strings down everyday, some residue was still left - jeez, at this point it almost seems like I was polishing them, instead of cleaning the strings!
I think I better find what I did with my Satory rosin.
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ELCBK said
...I had to press really hard to get the strings moving...
This is one of the problems of subjectivity forums have, though.
Casting no aspersions on you (I watch too few contributor videos), I've seen videos in which the violinist is clearly using absolutely zero pressure, and one person's "really hard" is another person's normal.
Andrew
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Very interesting thread, I find temperature has a direct effect on how much rosin and how often and also which type, I have hidersine and jade, I use jade most of the time but when I experience the exact things mentioned in the post I use hidersine, which immediately solves the problem.
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stringy said
...I find temperature has a direct effect on how much rosin and how often and also which type, I have hidersine and jade, I use jade most of the time but when I experience the exact things mentioned in the post I use hidersine, which immediately solves the problem.
Hidersine make dark and light, but the dark is possibly more common. I assume that's the one you mean, and you use it when it's cold?
Andrew
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It's the dark one, and yes it is better at cooler temps, I don't clean my bow when changing from one to the other by the way, I was told it doesn't make any difference.
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@Jim Dunleavy , @AndrewH , @stringy -
Thank you for all your help!
I'm pretty relieved, don't feel I have to rush my bow off for a re-hair or change my strings at this time - re-evaluating rosins is the lesser of 3 evils (for me).
🤔... my bow hair must be loaded with more rosin than I realized - come to think of it, I never just rosin my bow and play. I always loosen the hair, tap the stick & strum the top of my thumbnail across the stick-side of the hair to distribute the rosin before tightening to play.
Think I'll just take a moment to re-distribute the rosin - without adding any for a few days. Still, can't help but think if my strings start to require more frequent cleaning with alcohol, that's just not normal & this current set is going to have to go.
PRACTICING IS SO MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE!
...at least for the moment.
- Emily
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You can clean bow hair with a dry clean toothbrush that is new, you run it through like a comb.
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@stringy -
I remember you mentioning the toothbrush a while back (elsewhere) - I took a closer look at my bow hair & what I was doing with it at that time, but didn't think I needed the toothbrush.
That said, are you using it dry to remove rosin, or more to align the hairs?
I don't have a whole lot of hair on my Arcus bow (had to cut some off that were just ridiculously loose when I 1st bought it) - easy to see if what's left is straight. (lol)
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Remove rosin, I just loosen the hair so it's not fully tight, and running it down separating it just like combing hair, not that I can remember what that's like 
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She removes the hair and uses a bit of alcohol as well, but you don't need to, gives you the idea of how it's done though.
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It all sounds a bit drastic. To clean my bow hair I have it tight and wipe it on some microfibre cloth a few times. You can always go back to playing the violin and then re-wiping the bow until happy. If you've deliberately or accidentally got a lot of rosin on the back of the hair, I'd tighten your bow and carefully rub the hair with a dry microfibre cloth on your finger or however you can best apply it, but the back shouldn't require a whole lot of cleaning.
My teacher only used to wash the bow hair carefully in soap and warm water I think when she was a student and the bow needed rehairing and she couldn't afford it.
Andrew
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ELCBK said
Frustrated tonight, I just wiped my strings with alcohol, then took a plain, dry, paper towel & wiped my bow hair down... PLAYS FINE NOW! 🙄 I did NOT apply more rosin, but I CAN see white residue back on my strings again, so some of the hair is still loaded with rosin!
This is crazy to me!
What I did (in the OP) made such a HUGE difference - so much easier to play smoothly & gain speed, I just don't see the need to 'clean' my bow. It really has made practicing enjoyable again! 
What's 'crazy' - I can't tell, just by looking at the hair, that there's an abundance of rosin on my bow! This might be important - especially for beginners.
You can see (my photo) white where just I touched the top of my thumbnail to the hair today - this is even after I practiced the last 2 days (I don't play lightly). The hairs don't look thicken with caked on rosin - they are dull white, but still have a little luster. STILL SOUNDS GREAT!
I always loosen the hair, tap the stick & strum the top of my thumbnail across the stick-side of the hair to distribute the rosin before tightening to play.
Think I'll just take a moment to re-distribute the rosin - without adding any for a few days.
PRACTICING IS SO MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE!
I did find my Andrea Solo rosin to try (I see they changed the name to 'Cecilia' after I bought mine), but I'm just going to continue using up what remains of the Holstein Premium (just the rosin currently loaded on my bow), first.
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Here's how I routinely clean the shaft of my bow. It can't fail to clean the rear side of the hair. That's my thumb under the cloth, btw. (spot the eau de cologne, lol!)
Andrew
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sometimes with the bow hair tight like it would be played ill flick it with a fingernail close to the frog. sometimes doing that a couple of times losens rosin. just do it away from violin or face. if theres alot on the hair it will become a bit dusty.
besides the alcohol part ill do this. havent felt like its been bad enough to use the alcohol.. maybe i should but i havent.
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