Eradicating Mold?

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Thu May 08, 2003 2:56 pm

Whoops, I left my flute and wooden whistles in their humid storage too long without opening the container, so now I've got some mold growing on things. No problem to throw the Cavallero roll bag in the washer and dryer, but I doubt that would be good for the Olwell and Abells

Any one know the best way to clean and kill the mold on wooden instruments?

TIA,

Loren

kkrell · Post by **kkrell** » Thu May 08, 2003 7:30 pm

Ozone generating machine (just keep away from rubber). Sunlight (but not a good option for a flute).

Kevin Krell

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Thu May 08, 2003 8:44 pm

Bleach works wonders on mold - perhaps a very, very diluted bleach water combo. Lysol works great too. I'm not sure I'd do either for a flute.

Just wipe out the mold, perhaps coat with a drying bore oil, and leave the container open for a while.

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Fri May 09, 2003 8:12 am

Second Jayhawk. I also suffered the attack of the
killer fungus a few weeks ago, and this
method worked.

johnkerr · Post by **johnkerr** » Fri May 09, 2003 9:11 am

I have a wooden E flat flute that I don't play nearly as often as the wooden D flute I play daily. In fact, months can go by in which I don't touch the E flat flute. I store them both in a sealed Tupperware container with a humidifier, pretty much year-round although I'm not quite so zealous refreshing the humidifier in the summer when the humidity is oppressive where I live (Washington DC). Anyway, a while back I noticed that the E flat flute was picking up that musty smell and getting a faint whitish cast on it. In other words, mold was moving in, although at that point it probably hadn't signed the lease yet.

Here's what I did: I wiped down the flute inside and out with rubbing alcohol. That removed the whitish cast and the musty smell, and left the flute operating-room fresh, albeit a bit dry. To alleviate the dryness I gave it a good oiling and placed it back into the humidified environment. That seems to have done the trick on the encroaching mold.

Why rubbing alcohol? Well, I figured it would be okay for the flute because of an incident I'd had with my Olwell keyed flute shortly after I got it from Patrick. One of the keys started sticking, and it was obvious that the metal key was getting hung up against the wooden sleeve it was sitting in. I ran into Patrick and asked him to take a look at it, and the first thing he said was "What's this brown grunge on your flute?" Only then did I remember what had happened a few weeks before in a crowded session in my local (which that night happened to include most of the visiting Tulla Ceili Band, to indulge in a bit of gratuitous name-dropping). Anyway, at one point during the evening, the waitress was reaching over me to deliver a few pints to folks seated across the table from me. Her hand was a little unsteady what with the big crowd, and some Guinness spilled into my lap, wherein sat my flute. I thought at the time that the splash had missed the flute, but obviously it hadn't. So to remove the dried Guinness from my flute and unstick the key, Patrick suggested rubbing alcohol, in moderation of course, enough to do the job. So I figured from that that rubbing alcohol wouldn't do grave damage to the wood of a flute. Which makes sense, because alcohol is used a lot as a drying agent and wood flutes dry out naturally all the time. The alcohol just speeds up the drying process, and you do need to be aware of that and deal with it accordingly. Acetone would probably have the same effect, but rubbing alcohol is probably more readily available and a better choice since the flute is played with close bodily contact. I'd use rubbing alcohol on my skin, but probably not acetone...

The diluted Clorox solution that someone else suggested probably would work too, maybe even do a better job against mold than rubbing alcohol, but personally I'd be a little worried about the bleaching effects on the wood. Although if the solution was very dilute they might be greatly reduced or even eliminated.

toddyboy50 · Post by **toddyboy50** » Fri May 09, 2003 10:28 pm

Howdy Loren.... tea tree oil is a natural anti-fungal and kind to wood. I would try this before any harsher methods. It's available at many health food stores, get the smallest size you can find. Good luck - Tod

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Sat May 10, 2003 12:36 am

toddyboy50 wrote:Howdy Loren.... tea tree oil is a natural anti-fungal and kind to wood. I would try this before any harsher methods. It's available at many health food stores, get the smallest size you can find. Good luck - Tod

This is a good suggestion.

I've had mold problems a couple of times, but i was able to get rid of it by just using a moist cloth to remove the mold, then drying the flute and oiling it with the same oil i use in my regular flute maintenance (http://www.doctorsprod.com/BoreDr.html).

g

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Sat May 10, 2003 7:28 am

Thanks all. I had thought about a mild bleach solution, alcohol and even acetone (not all at once of course

), but had some reservations about each, for various reasons. Tod's suggestion is very interesting, something I hadn't thought of, to be sure (glad to hear you're still out there dude!).

Hmm, I'll probably wait another day or two and see if any more interesting ideas roll in, as I gradually reduce the humidity in my storage container in preparation for having to remove the instruments while I wash and dry their soft cases.

Thanks again,

Loren