How to Destroy Your Flute: Common Flute Care Mistakes
We all love our flutes and want to take care of them the best way possible! But sometimes we try a little too hard, and in our attempts to maintain them, we actually help destroy our flutes in the process!
There are many ways to help bring about the demise of our instruments, but here are the 10 most common culprits.
1. Oiling the flute yourself.
Unless you know what you are doing, you should never oil your flute yourself! Yes, the rods on the flute do need oil, but unless you know how to take your flute apart, clean off the old oil, apply new oil on the rods, and reassemble the flute, then you should not oil it at all. If you oil the flute with it still assembled, that oil will get everywhere and ruin your pads, as well as not be very effective anyway.
The only exception when oiling yourself is ok is if you have a wooden headjoint or instrument. But even then you still need to be very careful to avoid getting any oil on the pads if your wood flute has keys. And you should also consult your flute maker for the proper oil to use and methods of application for your instrument.
2. Greasing the tenons.
Do you know how sometimes the joints of the flute are a little resistant to connecting and they don’t just slide together like they should? Well one common “solution” is to put grease, or sometimes oil or even pencil lead, on the tenons (where the headjoint connects to the body or the body connects to the footjoint). Not a good idea! While this application might help ONE time, what ends up happening is that this lubricant will add extra dirt and gunk which will clog things up even further, and the connection will just worsen at a faster rate, especially as you continuously apply more. That is the reason the joints of your flute aren’t sliding together easily to begin with, they are dirty! So the best thing to do is simply to keep the tenons clean.
Get an untreated polishing cloth and clean the outside of the tenon a few times until the flute slides together easily. If the situation is particularly bad, you can also clean just a little bit inside the flute where they connect using the cloth. If that still doesn’t help, it is possible that the metal might be bent slightly and you need a repair tech to straighten it out for you.
Please note that some piccolos and wooden flutes will actually have a cork on the tenon. In that case, it is actually ok to put a little grease on the cork, but never on metal instruments!
3. Using silver polish.
In the list of things to not put on your flute, add silver polish. If polish gets in the wrong places, especially in the keywork, it can gum things up or damage the pads. Also, polish actually removes metal, so if you polish in the wrong spots, in particular the headjoint embouchure hole and around any engravings, you could be damaging the flute and removing the etchings. It is SO tempting to have your flute stay really shiny, but if you have a silver flute, just know that it will tarnish. It’s normal! But the good news is that tarnish does not affect the sound or the playability of the instrument, it is just an aesthetic thing. So unless you know how and are willing to disassemble your flute, leave the silver polishing to your repair technician.
For some reason, many flute cleaning kits come with a treated polishing cloth, meaning it has silver polish on it already. Don’t use it. The best thing for you to do is to just get an untreated polishing cloth, and clean the outside of your flute with that instead. No, it won’t remove the tarnish, but it will keep the fingerprints and dirt off.
4. Washing your flute.
Believe it or not, water is also something you shouldn’t put on your flute. While not quite as dangerous as polish, oil, and grease, if it gets in the wrong places, like on your cork, felt, or pads or inside the tubing for the rods (it is really dangerous if it gets in here as it can make your rods rust), you can damage your instrument. If you have a really pesky piece of dirt on your flute that just won’t come off with a dry cloth, then you can use a drop (and just a DROP) of water or rubbing alcohol on there to help get it off, as long as it is on a nice open part of the flute away from the mechanism. Again, unless you know how to safely disassemble everything, washing your flute should be left to your technician.
DO NOT PUT YOUR FLUTE IN THE DISHWASHER!!! That is the fastest way to destroy your flute due to not just all of the water but the heat as well.
5. Not cleaning your embouchure and open holes.
Ok, so this one won’t destroy your flute, it will just degrade the sound. Dirt can get into the embouchure hole of your headjoint. Just think that anything in your breath is going right into it. So every once in a while, you should get a dry Q-tip and clean it out. If it is particularly bad, you can also use a drop of water or rubbing alcohol. You would be AMAZED at how much better your sound is afterwards if your embouchure hole hasn’t been cleaned in a long time! Also, if you have an open hole flute, any dirt from your fingers will be getting into the holes. So you should do the same thing here, just be especially careful that you don’t go too far down and bump the pads. And these are also good reasons why it is best to brush your teeth and wash your hands before you play your flute.
6. Cleaning between and under the keys.
Does the dirt under the rods and between the keys ever annoy you? You might be very tempted to clean there, but don’t do it! Even if you use an untreated cloth, it is still dangerous. First of all the cloth could just get caught on some of the mechanism like the springs. But more importantly, you could rip your pads! There is a layer of skin on the outside of most pads that is very delicate, and although hard to see, it is there. If it rips, your pad will no longer be able to seal and air will escape when you play which will either hurt your sound or make it very hard or impossible to play any notes needing that key. If you are cleaning between and especially underneath your keys, chances are that your cloth will rub against the pads, and you will need to replace them.
7. Using the same cloth to clean the inside and outside of your flute.
For some reason, many flute cleaning kits come with just one cloth, but you have to have at least two, one for the inside and one for the outside! First of all, the outside of your flute is not going to be all that clean if you wipe it down with the same spitty cloth with which you just cleaned the inside. But also, each cloth needs to be made of a different material. Ideally, the inside cleaning cloth should be made out of cotton. A simple cotton handkerchief works well, just cut it in half if it is too big. Or you can get ones in pretty colors or patterns. Silk is fine too although it gets a little soggier a bit faster than cotton, and microfiber can be ok too as long as it is not fuzzy and not so thick that the cloth will not fit inside the flute without jamming it in there. For the outside, use a microfiber cloth (again not a fuzzy one) that is untreated with polish. There are also patterned cloths for the outsides as well.
Remember to clean your flute after every time you use it, at least the inside every time and the outside frequently, and wash your cleaning cloths every once in a while.
8. Not covering your cleaning rod.
When you clean the inside of your flute, make sure that your cleaning cloth covers the stick as much as possible, especially the top of it. Try threading the cloth so that a little bit sticks out one end and a lot out the other, then drape the long part of the cloth one time over the stick so it is not too thick to fit inside the flute. The more the cloth covers the stick, the more moisture you are going to get out. The very top of the headjoint especially will never get clean if the top of the stick is not covered, plus you will be banging the flute with your rod. That is why it is best to have a wooden rod, which is sturdy, unlike plastic, but will not scratch the inside of your flute, unlike metal.
9. Misusing or using the wrong kind of pad paper.
Sometimes the keys on the flute will start to get a little sticky or make clacking sounds. This is due to moisture or dirt on the pads. Get a piece of pad paper and put it under the key, press and release the key a few times, then take the paper out. Repeat as necessary until the dirt is gone. However, it is VERY IMPORTANT that you do not pull the paper out while the key is still closed. Remember how there is that delicate skin on the outside of the pad? It will rip if the key is not released before taking the paper out.
Also, make sure that your pad paper is just plain paper, not the powdered kind. Some flutists and technicians out there might disagree with this, but most people find that the powder will end up making the pad dirty or, if the pad is a little moist from spit or humidity, it will turn the powder into paste. And never use anything other than pad paper! In a pinch, you can use copy paper without any ink, but be very gentle as it is more abrasive than pad paper. Do NOT use a dollar bill as money can be very dirty, plus the ink itself can get on the pad. One old school option before pad paper was a thing was to use cigarette paper (DON’T SMOKE!!), and if you really want to go that route, just make sure that you get the kind without gum on it.
10. Not getting a COA regularly.
A COA stands for a clean, oil, and adjustment. This is where your flute will get a yearly checkup by a flute repair technician. Remember, just like you wouldn’t go years without changing the oil in your car or getting a tune up, then neither should you go that long for your flute. It undergoes a lot of wear and tear and needs some love every once in a while. If you want more information on COAs as well as overhauls, please see the blog, “Best Ways to Clean and Care for Your Flute.”
Bonus 11. Not knowing how your flute works.
There is quite a fear among flute players regarding working on your own instrument. Which obviously is a healthy fear if you don’t know what you are doing, as you can make your instrument worse instead of better, even with the best of intentions, as we have discussed. But the good news is, some (although not all of course) of the most common issues on the flute can be easily fixed. If you want to learn about some simple repairs you can do yourself, please see the blog “Emergency Flute Fixes You Can Easily Do Yourself.”
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
These are 10 very common problems with flute care, but there is a lot more to consider. If you need more information on best practices to keep your flute well maintained, or if you desire to get accessories or a new flute, then check out our free digital course, “Finding Your First or Forever Flute (and How to Make It Last)!” And when you enroll in the course, you will get access to a community hosted on this website where you can talk to other flutists and ask all your flute questions. We would love to hear from you!
