Didgeridoo Guides
How to Replace a Didgeridoo Beeswax Mouthpiece, Step by Step
Many didgeridoos have a ring of beeswax around the mouthpiece. The wax is soft, slightly sticky and shaped by hand, which makes it easy to adjust but also means it wears, collects dust and eventually needs replacing. In this video Sanshi, a teacher with Didgeridoo Dojo, shows the whole job from start to finish using a stick of beeswax, a jar of warm water and a piece of cardboard.
What the beeswax mouthpiece is for
The opening of a termite-hollowed didgeridoo is not always a comfortable size for the player’s lips. As Sanshi explains, if the hollow is too big to seal with your mouth, wax is used to narrow it. The wax also gives the lips a smooth, even surface to rest against. No glue is involved: beeswax is sticky enough to hold itself to the timber once it is pressed into place.
What you need
- A stick of beeswax
- A jar of warm water, made by mixing roughly half boiling water with half cold water
- A piece of cardboard to roll the wax on
The water mix matters. Straight boiling water will melt the wax away, so Sanshi tempers it with cold water until it is a little hotter than a bath. The video notes suggest leaving the wax in the water for two to three minutes.
The process, step by step
- Soften the wax. Leave it in the warm water until it bends without snapping. The colour changes slightly as it warms. If a piece breaks, it can simply be pressed back together.
- Roll it out. Roll the wax on cardboard rather than a table, since the wax can mark furniture. Aim for a pencil shape with rounded ends. The video notes put the thickness at around 5 mm for an average sized didgeridoo, thicker for a larger opening.
- Press it onto the rim. Lay the wax around the mouthpiece and pinch it on, with the index finger on top and the thumb pushing from inside the opening. Pushing from the inside closes any gap between wax and timber, which would otherwise leak air.
- Work around the circle. Once you have gone around, you can turn the instrument and swap fingers, thumb outside and index finger inside. Pull off any excess where the ends meet and smooth the join.
- Set the size and shape. Sanshi aims for a mouthpiece of about 30 mm across and personally likes 32 mm, though some players prefer smaller. The inner edge should stay relatively sharp and the face flat. If the wax bulges into the opening, the lips touch it while playing and the sound stops.
- Test and adjust. Play a few notes. While the wax is still soft you can enlarge the opening by pressing gently outwards.
Troubleshooting
Wax that gets too soft is hard to control, so let it cool for a moment and mould it again. In colder places the opposite happens and the wax stiffens; take it off, put it back in warm water and start again. If you spot a gap, add a small extra piece and keep pinching the join from both sides until it disappears.
How often should the wax be replaced?
There is no fixed schedule. It depends on how much the instrument is played and how it is stored. Dust can be picked off with a fingernail or wiped with an alcohol swab, which keeps the wax usable for longer. Sanshi’s rule is simple: when the wax looks too dirty to put your lips on, it is time for new wax. That might be a couple of months or half a year. A didgeridoo kept in a bag or cover stays cleaner than one displayed on a stand or wall, and wax that has been dropped in dirt or beach sand rarely comes clean.
Sanshi teaches beginners and experienced players through Didgeridoo Dojo, where this kind of instrument care sits alongside the playing lessons.
