Chiff and Fipple Forums

So I need some almond oil for my ABW flute. Amazon, for example, has a ton of different kinds. Anyone have a solid recommendation? Thanks.

I get mine at the local heath food store.

Best wishes.

Steve

Look for 'sweet' almond oil. It appears to be on Amazon. I get mine at a local pharmacy. Chet

I've had great success with almond oil over the years.

The one I use is "Now Solutions". It is labeled as sweet almond oil, 100% pure, moisturizing oil. I might add it is a great moisturizer for the hands, which is an issue living the the high desert.

Wipe on, wipe off...

I just bought "Sweet Almond Oil" on ebay, a bottle that would probably oil every wooden whistle in the county for the next ten years

It's a great skin softener though.

I have some eyedrop bottles that I fill with oil, and I got a few more on ebay (they're dirt cheap) to use for anti-condensing solution.

Thanks all! Sounds like I should apply almond oil to flute and skin

Now that you have your almond oil, you may want to consider stabilizing it with vitamin e oil. Almond oil tends to go rancid, and vitamin e oil will slow that down. Vitamin e oil can come from a supplement capsule, or whatever source you can find.
This has been a much discussed topic on this forum over the years. The shelf life of almond oil is 1 year.
Use the Search for 'almond oil', then in the 'Search these results' type 'vitamin.'

I've gone thru plenty of almond oil, but usually had to throw most of it away.
(Since these instruments are near your nose, it's not difficult to smell it.)

About 8 years ago I changed to Jojoba oil (which is a liquified wax) for my flutes, wooden whistles, and fretboards.
It doesn't go rancid and wood likes it. The shelf life of Jojoba oil is 5 years.

You can find it at Trader Joes in a 4oz bottle for about $8, or Amazon, or most drug or health food stores.

You can also get almond oil with vitamin E already added, which are typically the types of oil intended for skin care. These are definitely better than the type intended for cooking.

For what it's worth, bore oil (such as Doctor's Bore or Yamaha's) doesn't get rancid, is affordable and is designed for woodwind instruments. I don't know how it works as a skin softener though

I get it from a pharmacy, add the contents of a vitamin E capsule and store it in the ‘fridge. Never had it go rancid in the bottle. I don’t like the slightly cloying smell if I get it on the silver fittings though.

gwuilleann wrote:For what it's worth, bore oil (such as Doctor's Bore or Yamaha's) doesn't get rancid, is affordable and is designed for woodwind instruments. I don't know how it works as a skin softener though

I use Doctor's Bore Oil and have for years. I use it on a boxwood and on a blackwood flute. It is formulated for blackwood and my 1940's Selmer clarinet loves it as well!