Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hi all, I am having an annoying issue with my flute which I hope that some of you can help with. Some days ago I opened the flute case and noticed like some sort of dust (white) particles around the embouchure hole, mostly on the lower side, where the skin is in contact with wood while playing. I simply swept them away and started to play. The day after I opened the flute case and again I noticed these white particles in the same place. So I examined them carefully and noticed that they were not dust particles but tiny white animals (!). I always clean the flute after playing to remove moisture in the bore, and then I put it in the case.

Yesterday I kept the flute out of the case to check if the problem was with the flute or with the case. The animals have not shown up any more on the flute, so much likely the problem is with the case, where I still found some of them (I have a Nortwhind case: I could not spot the animals inside but I could see some of them walking on the external black leather).

I searched quickly on this forum and landed on this thread: https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/viewt ... 9#p1026139, suggesting that they might be mold mites. Has anything similar every happened to you? Would you have any suggestions on what this might be and how to deal with this?

Thanks
Sergio

I wonder if putting the case in the freezer might do the trick.

That's horrifying!

I wonder if what we call in the states "denatured alcohol" might do the trick. of fuming the case in a closed container with ammonia?

Thank you for the replies so far. I managed to take a short clip of a rambling animal: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/f6MCqLFw36w

Thankfully the flute (kept outside of the case) does not show any little beast anymore. Now I wrote to the maker and to the case maker to hopefully get some advice on how to get rid of the issue without damaging the case or creating health threats.

In the meantime, if any of you has had any experience with this issue or has any advice, please do let me know.

Thanks!
Sergio

That looks like a "white mite". Are you sure you don't have them elsewhere in your house? There is an outdoor variant that lives in gardens and
can develop into an infestation that finds its way into your house, and there are permanent indoor variants too that infest kitchens, carpets, etc.
We briefly had some red mites at our house a couple of years ago. They came in from our garden. They didn't get on my flutes, but I started noticing
them crawling across my keyboard every time I used my computer. It took me ages to figure out where they were coming from and how they were
getting into the house. So, the good news is that it is likely nothing to do with the flute or the case. Maybe you just noticed them because of their
white color on the black background of the flute and case. You can find more info about it online.

These are mites. Some are ´dust´ mites. There seem to be a multitude of clades of these little beasties. One thing they cannot stand is paradichlorobenzene and naphtha. . .yup, old fashioned ´mothballs´. Mothballs are toxic to people as well as mites, but some small shavings left in your instrument case will eliminate the problem root and branch in short order and probably not be too much of a problem to you. A little more enviro friendly would be Cedar oil, camphor oil, or some preparation made from Pacific Yew trees, oil or dust. Put this in your case and you are good to go.
When I grew mushrooms, these guys cousins were the bane of my existence.
Good luck.

Bob

If they are mould mites, they're not harmful but they can be quite hard to get rid of because they reproduce very quickly. I had them in a rented house decades ago, and ended up moving out because without central heating, it was impossible to avoid the slightly ramshackle old place from becoming damp in the winter.

The mites feed on mould, so I wonder if moisture has got trapped inside your flute case and allowed spores to grow? It might be too minimal to see, but still be enough to provide a meal for tiny mites.

Perhaps one approach would be to find an alternative box to store and transport your flute, whilst you leave the existing case open for a significant period to dry out any lingering moisture? If that's how the infestation has developed, dehumidifying the wood will mean that spores can no longer grow and the army of little mites will have nothing to eat (which is the best way to get rid of them for good). You could also try wiping any surfaces inside the case that wouldn't be damaged by a damp cloth with anti fungal wash.

Thank you all for your replies, useful info there. I bought a pistol case as a temporary case for my flute and will figure out in the next days how to disinfect the case.

Sergio