Hi guys and gals,
Just a question regarding maintenance of whistles. Do you clean them on the inside? What about the copper that is touched up by finger grease and acid? Do we leave them with that "antique" finish or do we give them a clean now and then and with what? Best wishes,
Ron
Cleaning whistles?
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Ballyshannon
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Since no one has responded, I'll take a shot at it.
How you want your metal whistles to look is up to you. Do you want them to always look new...like you've never played them, or aged and well-played?
I prefer to let my metal whistles age and attain a patina so don't clean the outside, but I do periodically gently wipe the inside of the finger tubes using a gun cleaning rod with a clean, dry patch on the end. I keep one in my whistle bag with spare patches. If you can remove the head, you can run a piece of clean cloth through the tube by attaching a piece of string to one end, letting the string exit one end of the tube and pulling the cloth through. Some people use a small feather duster. If you have a whistle with tube inserts like Burkes or Reyburns, be careful not to dislodge them. Also be careful with tuning slides that contain o-rings so you don't inadvertently dislodge them.
You can use canned air or low psi compressed air to clean out the window area and windway. You can also sanitize and clean the windway by placing the mouthpiece upside down at a downward angle with the mouth end pointing up, place a few drops of a dishwashing liquid/water solution into the end opening and let it drain out the window. Just let it dry. You can also run a strip of heavy paper or business card through the windway to force out any junk that may have built up. Don't use metal, plastic, or other material that can damage the windway.
I do, however, completely clean the outside of metal whistles when selling or trading them. For some reason I like them to look new when the buyer receives them. And for that, I use Never Dull padding, which leaves no white residue. And you don't need much. One tiny piece of padding will do the job. After using the padding, you'll need to wipe the whistle down with a cloth or paper toweling. I've never tried it on copper, but it's supposed to work with any metal.
Hope this helps.
How you want your metal whistles to look is up to you. Do you want them to always look new...like you've never played them, or aged and well-played?
I prefer to let my metal whistles age and attain a patina so don't clean the outside, but I do periodically gently wipe the inside of the finger tubes using a gun cleaning rod with a clean, dry patch on the end. I keep one in my whistle bag with spare patches. If you can remove the head, you can run a piece of clean cloth through the tube by attaching a piece of string to one end, letting the string exit one end of the tube and pulling the cloth through. Some people use a small feather duster. If you have a whistle with tube inserts like Burkes or Reyburns, be careful not to dislodge them. Also be careful with tuning slides that contain o-rings so you don't inadvertently dislodge them.
You can use canned air or low psi compressed air to clean out the window area and windway. You can also sanitize and clean the windway by placing the mouthpiece upside down at a downward angle with the mouth end pointing up, place a few drops of a dishwashing liquid/water solution into the end opening and let it drain out the window. Just let it dry. You can also run a strip of heavy paper or business card through the windway to force out any junk that may have built up. Don't use metal, plastic, or other material that can damage the windway.
I do, however, completely clean the outside of metal whistles when selling or trading them. For some reason I like them to look new when the buyer receives them. And for that, I use Never Dull padding, which leaves no white residue. And you don't need much. One tiny piece of padding will do the job. After using the padding, you'll need to wipe the whistle down with a cloth or paper toweling. I've never tried it on copper, but it's supposed to work with any metal.
Hope this helps.
I swab out my wooden whistles, and run a cloth over them on the outside with a bit of almond oil every so often.
My brass whistles I let age for years, then go the other direction and decide to polish them up nice and pretty for a few months, then let them get old and patinaed for a few more years.
Mouthpieces get yucky....I clean them out whenever I see there is schmutz in there.
My brass whistles I let age for years, then go the other direction and decide to polish them up nice and pretty for a few months, then let them get old and patinaed for a few more years.
Mouthpieces get yucky....I clean them out whenever I see there is schmutz in there.
Remember, you didn't get the tiger so it would do what you wanted. You got the tiger to see what it wanted to do. -- Colin McEnroe
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Sober Sam
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Re: Cleaning whistles?
Personally I like it, when one can see, that a whistle has been played and has seen the world, so I keep cleaning to a minimum. But the question is: What do YOU like?Bodhro wrote:Do we leave them with that "antique" finish or do we give them a clean now and then and with what?
Why do people use aluminum to put beer in it, if you can make whistles out of it?