Delicate question from newbie

[River Otter]

a few fellow partygoers took their turns on it ... and ... OK ... I'm not sure how to put this ... My nephew's girlfriend used it and ... um ... I now feel compelled to disinfect my whistle before I use it again.

It's interesting that of the few partygoers that played your whistle it's your nephew's girlfriend that causes you concern. Just where has this girl been?

[thirdfipple]

you might consider Listerine or any other disinfecting mouth wash. fwiw

[cowtime]

Just where has this girl been?



Do we reallywant an answer to that question?



Oh, and greetings from a fellow haunter of the Appalachians.

[Landis]

It's interesting that of the few partygoers that played your whistle it's your nephew's girlfriend that causes you concern. Just where has this girl been?

We're *all* wondering that.

[River Otter]

I also have a Clarke I play sometimes and I would think that boiling water would do the job without damage to the instrument. As for disinfecting your nephew . . . I think that's a discussion for a different site.[/quote]

[swizzlestick]

If you do use boiling water, a good dip is all you need. Not a soaking.

Studies show that bringing water to a boil is enough to kill all the nasties. You don't have to keep it boiling -- just get it to the same temperature.

Soaking might cause the wood to expand and create more problems.

[Wombat]

Different germs survive for different amounts of time in different environments. Disinfectants don't work equally well with all germs. Whistles aren't organisms, to be sure, but the crud that accumulates in mouthpieces contains organic material. If you haven't washed out your favourite whistle lately, nor used a card to get into those hidden corners, you might get a surprise at what is lurking in that mouth piece. (And that stuff all came from you and not your suspect friend of nephew.)

Call me superstitious, I've been called a lot worse, but I don't think I'd trust a dentist who left used instruments out in the sun for 30 minutes rather than autoclaving.

[dfernandez77]

My mother's advice for anything of this sort is "soak it in tea tree oil." But I think your lips would burn even with the whistle at room temperature after that annointment.

[talasiga]

......

Call me superstitious, I've been called a lot worse, but I don't think I'd trust a dentist who left used instruments out in the sun for 30 minutes rather than autoclaving.

Personally speaking, I have never tried to extract a tooth with a fipple.
There are germs in the normal environment that could infect a fresh cut or incision. These are normal germs that act pathologically in an "abnormal" environment of a wound.

I don't ever recall trying to play whistle after major dental work. I wouldn't even kiss anyone at these times.

[Lambchop]

I'm not sure why you're so queasy about this, but if it's the thought that ANY person has lipped your whistle bothers you, rather than just that particular female, you might want to be very careful about what kind of whistles you buy in future. I believe playing it is a necessary part of making it. Probably, lots of people played that whistle before you ever got it.

Thinking about it, though, I can see where you might not want that gluey, stringy saliva--you know that kind some people have--in your whistle. Snot and gingival pus would put me off, as would herpes and trenchmouth.

Worse, those people had probably been eating party food and now there's skanky bits of masticated chips and bean dip ensconced in your fipple.

But, you know, Talasiga is right--very little survives on a dry surface for long. And I don't think you need to soak your whistle in hot water that long. I think the block would swell and deform.

Just rinse it out well under the hot-water tap, then give it a dip in something alcoholic. Whisk(e)y, bourbon, brandy, tequila . . . whatever your personal choice is. No need to soak it--the residual in the fipple after shaking it will kill anything left in there as it air-dries. If you don't drink and don't want to taste rubbing alcohol, go to the liquor store and get a pint of grain alcohol. If you're this squeamish, you're going to find uses for it daily.

Clean that whistle and get it done with, then don't think about this again. If you do, you're going to start slip-sliding into Monk-dom.

And don't make me have to tell you the story of my contacts that were in a purse that got stolen and ended up in . . . well, just don't.

[Mitch]

When my whistle crud gets infected by dubious friends of even more dubious relatives I use the good-ol home autoclave:

Ta Daa - the dishwasher

Interupt it when it gets to the dry-phase and pop that crud infested specimine right in there.

10-15 minutes of baking should not hurt a Clark, in fact, give it the full pot-scour cycle.

[mutepointe]

i did the dishwasher thing on my whistle that i leave in my car. that "clare" sticker came off, i was disappointed but the dishwasher did get rid of the gunk.

[Dave Parkhurst]

Spend $6 and buy another?

[doogieman]

Yeah really - it's like someone drinking from a glass or using silverware - just a good washing with hot tap water and soap should do the trick. My 2 year old grandson "plays" my whistle sometimes, which I love, and everyone should know how a 2 year old can slobber. When were done, I just give'em a good washing.

[Kansas]

While we are on the cleansing subject so to speak - thought I'd pass on something I've found.

I purchased a Cheftain G used. When I received it, it had some marks on the body as well as a little light black streaks. I used a jewelry cloth and got more marks - the aluminum removed the black tarnish from the cloth.

In near desperation I grabbed a bottle of SoftSoap antibcterial handsoap with the thought that at least I'll get the germs off. Behold - it cleaned the whistle like a tarnish remover on silver! I run it into the inside to get rid of any nasties lurking there as well. I try to make sure the fipple end gets the outside cleaned off as it does not taste so good...

To boot, it reduced any of the clogging tendancy and gave it a real nice sheen. I use it on my Kerry easy Blow Low D as well. I've used it on my various brass whistles. It does not remove the tarnish as much, but does clean them up and reduces the clogging. Keeps the tarninh off it seems on my newer brass whistles. I am careful to not let them soak as they are mostly Freeman tweaked Generations and don't know how it may affect his filler at the fipple. Nor do I want to lose Jerry's mouse logo!

Not sure how strong the antibacterial is, but with hot water is has to better than not doing it. Seems that frequent use keeps the inside clear.
So, here is a product available just about everywhere in the US and you can use to wash your hands when your not whistling!
Smells kinda' nice too!