Will silk scratch ebonite?

[Jayhawk]

I've been using a silk pull through swatch (it's really for an oboe) to clean my ebonite flute. I'm probably being paranoid here, but I've started worrying about it...

Will silk scratch ebonite?

I've been debating taking off the silk square and putting on a cotton t-shirt square instead, but I'm pretty lazy and wouldn't want to do that if the silk won't harm the ebonite.

Thanks,

Eric

[ImNotIrish]

I've been using a silk pull through swatch (it's really for an oboe) to clean my ebonite flute. I'm probably being paranoid here, but I've started worrying about it...

Will silk scratch ebonite?

I've been debating taking off the silk square and putting on a cotton t-shirt square instead, but I'm pretty lazy and wouldn't want to do that if the silk won't harm the ebonite.

Thanks,

Eric

Wow.

[Jayhawk]

Arbo, I'm rather confused. I was being serious...silk is not soft like a t-shirt, has incredibly high strength...there is a reason the Mongols wore it to protect against arrows and allow easier removal of an arrow.

I honestly just don't know if it might scratch ebonite over time. Unlike an oiled wooden flute, there is no lubricant layer to protect the ebonite beyond condensation.

Then again, maybe I'm just being stupid.

Eric

[Feadoggie]

I don't have an ebonite flute. So, one way to find out. Look inside the flute and see how the bore looks. Simple enough. Stop if and when you see scratches (or stop just before the scratches appear ).

There is an ebonite bowling ball in the basement maybe I guess I could ...

Really, as long as you don't twist the silk into something stiff and moist that would be prone to getting wedged into the bore, that light fluffy silk flag shouldn't hurt the bore or anything else. Don't pull it through so fast that it would cause a fire to start in the flute either.

Feadoggie

[chas]

Strong doesn't scratch, hard does. As you pointed out, silk has a high tensile strength. But it's not hard, so no need to worry about it scratching your flute.

[Doug_Tipple]

Silk is used to swab the finest silver flutes, and silver is easily scratched. As others have said, there is no need to worry about silk scratching ebonite. Silk is preferred to cotton for a swab material because cotton tends to leave fluff in the bore while silk does not, and Confucius once said: Fluff in the bore not good. However, I tend to recommend cotton for pvc flutes because silk is too elegant. A little fluff in the bore is no big deal and may actually add to tonal complexity.

[Jayhawk]

Thanks everyone!

Eric

[tsackett]

"Fluff in the Bore". If there isn't already a reel called that, there should be.

[Jim Troy]

It could be a party game, Fluffin' the Bore , or our piano accompanist, Fluffin, the bore.

Eric, I use those little thingys, you clean your glasses with, they seem to be fairly lint free, and the golliers (spit) washes out easily.
Your local Specsavers will sell you one or three, for a dollar or two.

[benhall.1]

What are you doing up at this time of day, Troy? Have you no bed to go to?

[Jim Troy]

Can't sleep, Matron keeps fluffin' my pillows.

[monkeymonk]

I use the same exact sort of swab on my antique ebonite flute. I far prefer them to the fluff on a wire or cloth threaded through the end of a stick type of swabs. The silk is absorbent, dries fast and packs away neatly. The only thing that worries me is that damn heavy weight knocking around in the flute; it's way to heavy and the string too long for the job. I will probably trim down the string and sew a button on the end like i did on the last one.

[Jayhawk]

I should probably clarify why I was concerned about this from the beginning. I am not, and never was, worried about pulling the silk thing through the bore (I keep the body connected, and this is really nice and easy).

Originally, I had been dropping the weighted string down the embouchure hole and pulling it through the entire flute which was way handy when playing. It was fear of the silk scratching the embouchure as it was pulled through that was my concern, because it's being pulled through essentially at a right angle over a very important, and sensitive, area of the flute.

So ultimately, my real question should have been will pulling a silk swab over a sharp right angle of Ebonite cause any problems over time. Going through the embouchure like this it takes a lot more pulling to get the swab through the small hole thus increasing pressure on the edges of the embouchure.

I've since just started shaking out the head joint and pulling the silk patch through the bore, only, and I have no worries of that. It does require one extra step, and my session mates are insistent no condensation from the head joint flip onto them (prudes).

Eric

[Nanohedron]

Originally, I had been dropping the weighted string down the embouchure hole and pulling it through the entire flute which was way handy when playing. It was fear of the silk scratching the embouchure as it was pulled through that was my concern, because it's being pulled through essentially at a right angle over a very important, and sensitive, area of the flute.

This changes everything. I would urge you to never do this any more. Please. Just because. For me.

[jim stone]

I always figured that a benefit of ebonite is that you don't have to swab it. I've minimized swabbing (my flutes are all wooden)
I use a flute flag, run it through the whole flute in one swipe, to break up bigger drops, or just shake out the flute.
Seems to work so far.