Hi All,
I’ve read through a lot of info about flute care on this board and I have a question. I just recently got my first wooden flute (african blackwood) and I’m wondering about oiling it. I’ve seen threads stating linseed, almond and bore oil are good. What about plain old olive oil (or even extra-virgin)? Thoughts?
typically all food-grade (meaning you can eat it) oils will go rancid in time. That’s a problem, mostly for the gunk they create. While olive oil is a good oil, it’s actually a food favorite among cats and dogs…who invariably will chow down (chomp down?) on your beloved flute left around. Bad scene.
Everyone has their favorites in oil. Mine is pharmaceutical grade almond oil. Costs a bit but it’s great stuff.
Second choice: heavy mineral oil.
hope this helps
dm
I wouldn’t use anything other than food-grade oils on wind instruments, myself. Olive oil’s fine. I’ve been using it for about three years now straight out of the bottle and haven’t had any problem with rancidity. The only issue is that it doesn’t seem to absorb into the wood as readily as raw linseed or almond oil, which means I need to oil a little more frequently.
I use Glenn Schultz’s recipe of 1 part almond oil and a few (like 3-5) parts extra light olive oil. I mix up a few ounces at a time, put a capsule of vitamin E in it, and, if I remember, keep it in the fridge between oilings.
I like the smell of linseed oil in paints, but can’t stand it emanating from a flute. I mean, why have a flute from boxwood, which smells like butter, or rosewood, which smells like roses (albeit not for long) if you’re just gonna make it smell like oil paint.
I think a few people have mentioned climate when talking about this topic… so it depends on what kind of weather you get on the dark side of the moon 
I use olive oil, but I’m in Ottawa so it doesn’t have much of a risk of going bad.
Here in the NJ, raw Almond oil is fine. I have been using the same jar for over a year on various wooden instruments. It has not gone rancid.
Hi folks,
Since this topic has re-emerged, I thought I would add my own question.
I’ve just bought a 375 ml/12.7 fl. oz. bottle of food-grade almond oil (“expeller pressed”, “refined”, “for high heat”, “packed with inert gas to preserve freshness”, “suitable for cooking, baking, salad dressings, and wooden flutes”).
I also bought a 25 ml bottle of liquid vitamin E. My question is, how much to add to the almond oil, given that it is not in convenient capsule form? The bottle says that each ml contains 340 I.U. of vitamin E, for what it’s worth.
Can anyone compare with a vitamin E capsule to give me an idea of how much to add?
With thanks,
Pete
Typical vitamin E capsules are 400 IU, so sounds like a ml or two would be about right.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen this particular question addressed: You say to refrigerate almond oil if it doesn’t have vitamin E. Well, if you have refrigerated oil, do you need to let it warm up to room temperature before applying it to your wooden flute? I’ve always thought it wouldn’t be great to put very cold oil on a flute.
I just get almond oil with vitamin E so I don’t have to worry about this, but is it an issue?–the temperature of the oil out of the refrigerator?
Do you REALLY want me to answer this question? 
I think you know the answer…
Loren
You could always use boxwood oil or rosewood oil…personaly I like hazelnut…
Found on net…
Boxwood Buxux semper: (Caution! Poisonous!) Boxwood taken in small doses was used to treat malaria. Boxwood oil was used for toothaches, and Boxwood oil for diarrhea.
see also
Let the battle of the rhetorical questions begin!
Nah, I was just really bummed when I got a cocobolo flute that the maker told me had the strongest rose smell of any flute he’d made. But he gave it a good bath in linseed oil before he sent it. By the time the linseed smell had faded, so had the rose scent.
I prefer to use a mixture of one part Snipe oil to two parts Jackalope oil.
A wee bit expensive, but what the hey.
Loren
Personally, I don’t like jackalope oil. Makes the notes too bouncy. Dragon oil is nice but it tends to combust unless you either put a piece of gold in the bottle or have a virgin carry it around all the time.
Yeah, and those virgins don’t seem to last very long…
Loren
So, can anyone offer some information on the refrigerated oil question I posted above? Does it need to be brought up to room temperature before applying to a wooden flute?
Thanks, Jeanie
Whoops, sorry about that.
I quit refridgerating my almond oil some time ago, because I did have concerns about putting cold oil onto a flute.
That said, I have no particular evidence that the practice is harmful.
Loren
I always warm my oil to room temp after taking it out of the fridge, just because it is less viscous, and thus spreads better. I am not worried about the temp difference between a tiny mass of oil and a large mass of flute.
Hugh
Thanks much, Loren and Hugh. I was just curious about what others thought about cold oil.
Jeanie
Ditto. I usually take it out a couple of hours before oiling. Half the time I forget to put it back in the fridge, too, so I’m probably not the best source of information. 