Some forms of corrosion do indeed stick up a fair bit.

If it some sort of lumpy foreign material,then you could try pushing it off with something made from wood or hard plastic, neither of which is likely to mar the silver surface.

I would avoid toothpaste on anything that is silver plated. some toothpastes have abrasive that will do a lot of harm to silver. Silver is a soft metal, FAR softer than the enamel on teeth, and if ANY abrasive material is used on it, that abrasive should be chosen as suitable in hardness and fineness, for silver. Abrasive cleaners used for most other metals are far too aggressive.

You will not do any harm with using alcohol cleaner on a flute. That does not mean using booze though!

Sure, there may be some bacteria living in suitable areas of your flute, but they will not be responsible for a lump, even though they may a lump of foreign material an appropriate habitat.

Don`t get too upset bout bacteria. We live in a veritable sea of bacteria, and swallow probably millions per day. Our skin is seething with them most of the time. Fortunately our bodies have evolved over a long time to be very, very effective at dealing with them, almost all the time. In general, our bodies get better at dealing with bacteria by being regularly exposed to them. In a sterile environment our immune systems deteriorate.

Thank you Arak, for the nice recap.

I still swab out my flute once a week with rubbing alchole. If you notice after a while, your mouth piece will smell kind of spitty.

It is a good idea to take a Q tip and clean out the inside of the embouchure hole also.

I don`t necessarily use it because of germs, but to clean it out.
Nothing wrong with that.

My flute smells a lot better than some other peoples flutes that don`t bother to clean them. Ewwwhhh.....

"It is a good idea to take a Q tip and clean out the inside of the embouchure hole also."

I agree. An often neglected area. Build-up of gunge here will affect the way a flute plays.

You will not do any harm with using alcohol cleaner on a flute. That does not mean using booze though!

That would be a horrific waste of booze

I find that VERY slightly dampening my polishing cloth takes all the fingerprints off on an everyday basis and so the substances that could cause tarnish don`t build up. Thankfully I`ve never had any mould!

Another tip is to remember not to keep your cleaning cloth IN the case with your flute.

I am amazed at how many people do this. They clean out their flute with the cleaning rod and cloth, then neatly fold the cloth and put it in the case with the flute.

If you are running a cloth through a flute to remove moisture, why on earth would you take that cloth with that moister trapped in it and seal it in a closed case with the flute?

Kind of defeats the purpose.

I`ve NEVER understood the cloth inside the case. For those students that using a school flute keep a cloth in your backpack at least. If the flute is going to remain in a cubby hole you can tie the cloth to the handle.

Also the cloth you use on the inside of your flute should NOT be the same cloth you use on the outside. Ewwwwwwwwwwwww...

I don`t think using the one cloth is really a problem if you are not the sort of person who blows moist air into the flute rather than saliva, shedded mouth lining, food and drink. The moisture that condenses form the air in your lungs is probably pretty pure water.

Although I don`t do this now, I did for years, with no visible build-up of anything or tarnish inside the flute.

As for bacteria, they will be all over a flute, and all other items around us that are handled but not sterilised, no matter what the player does. And if wiping with alcohol sterilised an item, then surgeons and dentists would not need their VERY expensive autoclaves.

"And if wiping with alcohol sterilised an item, then surgeons and dentists would not need their VERY expensive autoclaves."

Yes, but it certainly doesn`t hurt. It is better than nothing...

I use a new handkerchief every time when cleaning my flute.

Why put the same dirty cloth through your flute after you used it before?

Because I often play for three hours at a time, every hour between I have to swab out my flute, otherwise too much moisture gets caught up inside.

The same cloth would be too damp to pull through it again an hour later.

I guess everyone has their own way of doing things.

hmm... i`ve never thought about not leaving the cloth in the case.. i`ve always left mine in there.. my flutes been put away for 5-6 months and it`s still in there since the last time... i don`t use it to clean the inside of my flute tho, i have one of those things ya just put in it... i dunno what they`re called... pad savers?

Pad savers are not meant to clean out the inside of your flute with.

They are supposably made to put in your flute AFTER you clean out your flute with a different cloth, to absorb any moisture in the pads.

I am convinced that this is only a sales gimmick though and I am very doubtful that they really work.

What you are doing by putting the pad saver in your flute and not cleaning it out before hand is trapping all the moisture in it. Not good.

When teaching one of the first things I go over with a student is proper care and up keep of the flute. The do`s and the don`ts.

If a student is neglecting their flute, or not practicing, I drop them as a student.

If they are not going to take care of their flute, then it is obvious to me that they really don`t care. There is not sense wasting my time and others.

I used to use a pad saver instead of a cleaning cloth when I was younger... (12 or 13 years ago!) but it would always stay wet so I stopped using it. Probably looked silly running it though my foot and head and then in the body.

I used to take apart my flute and wash it with dish soap and put it back together again to clean it every now and then too. lol. A wonder it always had adjustment issues and screws that didn`t like to stay in place.

Though I think everyone should try taking their flute apart and putting it back together at some point in their life. Don`t take out the pins though!

One day I will figure out how to put back the pins.

Not all pad savers are the same. Some drop a lot of lint, which is very bad for pads. Others are fine in this respect, and are quite OK to use instead of a swab, although they will not go so near the crown cork.

Moisture that is left on pads collects (by capillary action) mainly where the pads touch tone holes. A pad saver does not contact this area, and nor does it go anywhere near the pads of the keys that are normally open.

In some dry climates, leaving a pad saver inside a flute is a good way to make the pads eventually go mouldy, because the pad "saver" traps moisture inside the flute and reduces the air circulation that would normally evaporate remaining moisture.

IMO the ideal is to keep damp items outside the case, inside the carry bag, where the moisture in the damp item can gradually evaporate through the carry bag to the outside air. However rather than being made of breathable fabric such as canvas or Cordura, most carry bags are unfortunately made of vinyl, which cannot breathe.

One fabric to steer clear of for a swabbing cloth is polyester-cotton, which most handkerchiefs are made from. It does not absorb moisture anywhere near as well as pure cotton, and some of the modern microfiber fabrics.

"One fabric to steer clear of for a swabbing cloth is polyester-cotton, which most handkerchiefs are made from. It does not absorb moisture anywhere near as well as pure cotton, and some of the modern microfiber fabrics."

Well then, it is a good thing my hankerchiefs that I use are all cotton. When I recommended using a hankerchief, I just assumed people would know this.