One reason why you should take care when cleaning a cromatic is that the better ones have wind savers. If yours has them don't just dunk it into water and expect it to play soon after because the wind savers will stick. If it has them you will need to warm the cromatic before you play so that the effect of moisture from your mouth on the wind savers is delayed. Some people keep them warm by putting them in very personnel places but a shirt with a pocket on the front under a jumper is really all you need. Cromatics can be a very expressive music maker and give a crisp sound but there's lots of info on the net about how to achieve that.