The surface of my flutes headjoint is all cloudy and discolored. It looks like its normal but then if you look at it closely you can see the real color of it in some places. Could this be from not cleaning my flute out every time after i play it? I have been cleaning it out all the time now for about 2 months but before i did it about 1-2 times a week and i played it every day.Sorry if this is kinda confusing. Any help would be appreciated.

You might have avoided this if you would have just cleaned your flute after every time you played like you were supposed to.

Now we are supposed to help you with you problem because you were negligent?

If you are going to play the flute, at least take it seriously and treat it with respect. I will drop a student if I notice they are neglecting their flute.

Sorry, I know you didn`t come on here for a lecture, but I see this happen so much that it just irritates the bejusus out of me!

PS At least you are cleaning it out now after every use, so I will give you credit. Sorry if I came off as being harsh.

Put a small amount of tooth paste and rub on the clouded spot.

if almost the whole thing is like that, can i stll use toothpaste on it?

I`m sorry but I would never use toothpaste on my flute. I know toothpaste does have harmful chemicals which could make the plating bad on your flute making it look worse than it already does. The only thing I can reccomend is just from now on to wipe it down after every time you play it, and remember it`s not what your flute looks like that is important it`s the sound that comes out of it!

I am pretty sure most kinds of toothpaste have gritty stuff in it, might leave very fine scratches.

A silver polishing cloth that has a buffing compund imbedded in it would work best. You would need to use a soft all cotton cloth after to wipe off buffing compound, and only use cloth when it looks bads. Imbedded cloths will eventually buff plating off it used way to much, once a month will not hurt anything.

I seriously redommend NOT using toothpaste.

Sorry, I referred to the recent post in this THREAD, promoting the use of toothpaste.

Toothpaste can safely be used to remove tarnish so long as you dissolve it first. It works wonders for the riser (especially my golf ball riser!).

Get a pea size amount of plain white toothpaste (I use scented, but plain white). Dissolve the toothpaste into a shot glass. Dip a q-tip and clean out your embouchure hole. You`ll see the tarnish rub right off on the Q-tip and it leaves your head joint cinnamony-fresh, well depending on your desired scented toothpaste of course.

I don`t generally care about tarnish on other areas, but you could dampen a soft cloth and go over trouble areas for the lightening of tarnish (and eventual removal in time).

The use of pure toothpaste on silver is ok if you are going for that "patina", so many scratches you can`t tell it`s scratched, look... which can look really nice.

All recent posts by Arak in this forum, including the last one in this thread were written by an imposter.

Obviously, in this relatively out-of-control forum, there can NEVER be a post written again by the real Arak, whose integrity has been destroyed by a mishief-maker/troll. Regard ALL future Arak poss as mischief-making, and do believe ANYTHING written in this name again.

You need to start cleaning your flute. Try usind Ajax to get the cloudy spot off, it works like a charm.

All recent posts by Arak in this forum, including the last Two in this thread were written by an imposter.

Obviously, in this relatively out-of-control forum, there can NEVER be a post written again by the real Arak, whose integrity has been destroyed by a mishief-maker/troll. Regard ALL future Arak poss as mischief-making, and do believe ANYTHING written in this name again.

This post is likely to keep re-appearing until the offending posts are removed. That seems fair.

I would like to clear this up once an for all! I am not an imposter. The post above is simply a troll trying to stir up trouble. Very sheep like behavior.

I REALLY WOULD APPRECIATE IT if the "moderator" removed the OFFENDING posts. Then, of course, you will see the end of messages like these. Fair is fair.....

All posts following 24th Sept, 2005, by Arak in this forum, including the last one in this thread were written by an impostor.

Obviously, in this relatively out-of-control forum, there can NEVER be a post written again by the real Arak, whose integrity has been destroyed by a mischief-maker/troll. Regard ALL future Arak poss as mischief-making, and do believe ANYTHING written in this name again.

This post is likely to keep re-appearing until the offending posts are removed. That seems fair.

If the moderator does not even have sufficient access to the source details of those who post, to discriminate between the genuine and the non-genuine, then this is a very sick place.

It is time the moderator did something more effective. Otherwise this forum is heading towards history, like its predecessor. Bona-fide people should migrate.