cleaning flutes

[Tash]

should probably go find a flute forum for this but oh well. is there a special way you clean flutes? i was at uni cleaning the handbells the other day (we got bonus performance marks for doing it!) and am now in some bizarre lets make all instruments as shiny and clean as possible, starting with my flute!!

[pianistimo]

i think there's a special stick in the flute case that you put a piece of cleaning cloth onto the end.  stick it through a couple of times.  not sure about the outside.  mine wasn't pure silver or anything.

[Bob]

Clean the inside with the clean rod after you play.  You can wipe the keys down too since the oils in your hand can react with the metal.  The rest is left up to the professionals.  Don't use any kind of polish.  It will get into the pads and be expensive to repair. 

[elspeth]

It depends a bit on what kind of flute you have. You need a muslin or thin cotton cloth for the inside regardless, then you need a soft lint free cloth for the outside, or a silver cloth if you have a silver plated flute.

Clean the inside first, you should have a stick with a hole in one end. You thread a corner of the muslin though the hole and pull it through each joint at least twice. You want to get all the moisture out or it will corrode metal, split wood and make the pads sticky and unresponsive.

To clean the outside, just polish it with a soft cloth, making very sure you get all the fingermarks off. The acid from your skin will play havoc with the finish if you leave it to corrode.

You can get fluffy sticks like bottle brushes to leave in your flute while it's in its case to soak up remaining moisture. Personally I don't like them as the moisture will do just as much harm soaked into the brush as it will in the atmosphere.

Never, ever put your flute away without cleaning it!

[Tash]

can i use some kind of disinfectant inside it? cos i'm just imagining all the bacteria building up inside it, god wind instruments are disgusting!!

[elspeth]

I was always taught never to use any chemicals on for any reason my flute... I suppose you could as long as it was a mild one and you only used it occasionally, but you would have to be very careful with it. Again, the problem being moisture levels ruining the pads. They are waterproof to a degree but that doesn't mean you can soak them in disinfectant.

If you're playing, and therefore cleaning, your flute daily, I would say don't, you will only pick enough bugs up to give you problems if you have a spectacularly weak immune system. There are thousands of woodwind players who've never had any problems - me included - and there are some things you just have to turn a blind eye to. Think yourself lucky you don't play a reeded instrument, if you have hangups about germs and cleaning they're the worst - bits of bamboo cane you suck for an hour or so every day!

On the other hand, do wash and/or replace the muslin you use to clean the inside regularly, they can get quite nasty!

If you will insist on the disifectant... all I would say is only do the headjoint, use the mildest disinfectant you can find, rinse and dry it properly afterwards and leave it out to air for a while. I still wouldn't advise it though.

Hope that helps!

[Tash]

ok i might avoid that then, it's not my flute so i don't want to destroy the poor thing! haha get to play the clarinet next year reeds agh

[letters]

you can also clean under the pads with cigarette papers, they absorb the moisture meaning you won't have to have them replaced as often. just clean up each section with a thin hankercheif after you play, and lightly rub the outside with a silver cloth which brings it up nice and shiney!!

[krenske]

fortunately, these are all things I have plenty of.

we are talking about champagne flutes arent we??? what's a "headjoint"?
only bad champagne has a head.

[Bob]

The top part of the flute with the tone hole is the head joint.    Head -- body -- foot.   Those are the three parts of the flute.

You could also wipe off the inner part of the joint.  If it's a new flute, the metal with wear a little and leave a dark metal dust in there.

[Tash]

can i stick it in hot water? my friend does that with her trumpet...

[elspeth]

I assume your flute's metal... if it's wooden the answer is definitely no! Even if it's metal I wouldn't recommend immersing it... the reason is, at the top of the headjoint there's a cavity about an inch or so long that you adjust the length of with the screw top of the joint. You don't want water getting in there because it may damage the fit and the screw mechanism.

The reason that's bad is that the length of that little cavity is one of the things that determines the accurate tuning of your flute. It's adjustable so you can, if you know what you're doing, adjust it to suit your style of playing to keep you better in tune. If you do something to it that either alters the length, the adjustability or the fit of the partition, you may end up with tuning problems.

Be very careful about the temperature of the water, too. By definition, raising the temperature of an object makes it change dimensions, and that's not a good thing where any musical instrument is concerned... same reason as your piano will go out of tune more if you keep it by a window, the changes in temperature aren't good for it.

Also, if the flute is plated, rather than made of a solid metal, the plating will be very very thin - about the thickness of a sheet or two of tissue paper - and too much water and too much variance of temperature may eventually make it split and peel. Which is only cosmetic, but once the finish has developed weaknesses they'll get worse as acid from your skin gets into them. Getting a flute replated can often cost as much as just buying a new one.

[Bob]

can i stick it in hot water? my friend does that with her trumpet...

No!  You will have to get all new pads.  Woodwinds get baths.  Brass can.

And for brass, it's lukewarm water at the hottest.  Hot water can melt a lacquor finish.