Product Review - Champion Valve Oil and Cleaner

When I arrived to a recent Grimethorpe Colliery Band rehearsal, the conductor had a box on his stand which was a delivery he wasn't expecting. Upon opening the package, it turned out to be a gift to the band from a company called Champion, who make oils, lubricants and cleaning products for brass instruments. I took a selection of the products and decided to write a little review. This blog post contains some affiliate links.

I hadn't seen this brand before and a few members of the band who were also curious (or just in need of some valve oil) took some of it to try as well. It was a very welcomed and kind gift and I hope this blog post can go some way in thanking Champion for their generosity.

As you can see in the picture above, I took a valve oil which is labelled as being for all brass instruments, a light fully synthetic oil which is for smaller brass instruments and a cleaner which I presumed is sort of like 'Brasso'

I often use thin or light oil for my valves but I have never seen a valve oil before that is designed for smaller brass instruments. The majority of children I teach, play cornets or trumpets and most of those are in whole class settings so I was certain that this oil would get a good testing on many of those instruments.

I cannot write this post without including a warning. It always shocks me how sever the warnings are on valve oil labels, especially when some children might use the products. I never give any children any valve oil and only suggest to use water if they need to lubricate their valves or slides.

These valve oils suggest to contact a POISON CENTER if swallowed, I have never seen it written like that before! Plus the cleaning product states it is flammable and harmful to aquatic life. In addition to being fatal if swallowed and causing allergic reactions.

Obviously, just be careful, especially if using oil on a child's instrument as I have. I teach in some primary schools where a whole class is learning a brass instrument. There are always issues with sticky valves and I have been trying out the Champion oils. I always make sure I wipe off any leaks or excess so that a child shouldn't get any oil on their hands or clothes.

Both the thin and normal oils seem to work great. I've even used a bit of the oil on sticky trombone slides but Champion do also produce grease for slides. Use this link to see the product in the picture below.

All of the Champion products are made in the UK. I think this is great for musicians in the UK, as with everything, buying products made in your home country is surely just good for the economy.

The products are actually manufactured and distributed by a huge UK based company that has a long history. Barnes & Mullins cover a wide range of musical products and Champion is just one of a long list of famous brands they sell, such as Peavy.

Champion also sell a lot of other brass and wind products. Including mouthpieces, mutes and cases. The cases look really nice, check some out here.

So, the valve oil works great but what about the cleaner?

Initially I thought that the bottle was very small but the product does go a very long way. It doesn't require ages of polishing either as it is very watery and spreads over a large area. With a small amount of polishing there was a noticeable sheen. It worked great on areas which were dirty, like harder to reach inner tubes and around the valve block. After using it, my euphonium did feel cleaner and there was no lasting smell or tarnishing.

I would recommend these products as it seems they have been well designed, made in the UK and seem to be sold at a reasonable price. If you are looking for a new valve oil or would like to experiment then giving these a go might be good. I find that some valve oils work better than others and clearly must be made using different ingredients or methods, so it can be time well spent trying different ones.

This blog might also be worth a read, where I share ways to help stop sticky valves without even using any valve oil! Read it here!

To view a range of Champion products on Amazon, just follow this link!

Thanks for reading! ❤

Mark Glover

3/10/25