hi
i need help my flute needs a really good cleaning and i am not sure what to use without damaging it and i mean it is really dirty not just finger prints there is black "stuff" in the circles of the keys i unforunatly have not taken near as much care of my flute as i should of sure when i was younger i really did not care but now am a little embaressed when i play a concert and everyone elses flute is so nice and clean my mom wants me to try goo gone and i don't know if that would do anything bad to my flute has anyone been as mean to there flute as me if so what did you do
can you also give me some tips to help me never do this again and to help prevent other possible things to happen and i mean anything you can think of just plain maintence tips would help

please help
SomeRookie

Well, I have never done (or not done, such is the case) things like that to my flute, but what is done is done!

What I could say to do is DONT use the Goo Gone because it WILL mess up your pads. Take a polishing cloth and gently rub out all of the "black" stuff from the outside of the flute (don't stick anything inside the body of the flute except a cleaning rag on a tuning rod, and be careful if you do that). Don't mess around with anything that could break your springs because you wouldn't really want to snap any of those off. That means a trip to the repairman and he could just clean the flute for you there! (That's not such a bad idea, anyway... if you really want to, get the flute professionally cleaned. Even though it costs some money, you know that YOU won't break anything and everything will come out okay).
If your headjoint is dirty, take a soft cotton swab and gently wipe the inner rim and the inside of the headjoint to get the dust out. If you have problems getting your headjoint into the body of the flute, wipe off the greasy stuff on the headjoint and the body where the two connect. I have heard that soft lead from a pencil will act as a lubricant in a pinch. (Correct me if I am wrong on this, fellow-forum-memebers... It is something I heard at a clinic once, so I am not 100% on that...)

If your flute is really as bad as you make it out to be, and if you can afford it, just take it in to get professionally cleaned. If you have a band director or other musical instructor, they can help you out on finding where to go and how much it would cost.

Hope this helps!

<Added>

But, Alieannie already said don't use the Goo Gone... sorry to be an incidental parrot! :)

<Added>

And I meant members, not memebers... gah... sorry...

Agreed. Take it in to have it all cleaned. I would not use a treated polishing cloth to wipe down your flute after each use simply because if you flute is silver plated, it will eventually start to lift up the plating. On top of that the treated polishing cloths have a powder like substance in the fabric that will get into your flutes mechanism. If you want to use a treated cloth, only do it like twice a year. Wiping it down with just a soft cotton cloth when you are done will do just fine.

If you are in the US, you are also welcome to send it to me and I will take care of it for you. Just drop me an email in my box.

i also experienced having that tarnish(black thing) on my Yamaha 681.

Silver is tarnished by sulfur-containing materials,
Tarnish is accelerated in a humid environment. Oily salts from our fingers may, if not removed, show up as corrosion patterns that may have to be professionally removed.

it is easily removed when first noticed.
you can use SILVER POLISHES and CLEANERS to remove those nasty tarnish.(3M's Tarni-Shield™ Silver Polish and Twinkle®)

Don’t use polishes that have dried-up; the abrasive particles are now much too concentrated and will harm your silver. Never use steel wool (too abrasive and rust may result if not fully rinsed from the interior of an abject), Scotch-Brite™ and scouring pads (too abrasive), or dips (too toxic)

i hope this helps

you can use SILVER POLISHES and CLEANERS to remove those nasty tarnish.(3M's Tarni-Shield™ Silver Polish and Twinkle®)

Yes, but never use these unless your flute is completely disassembled and you really know what you are doing.

Sounds like your flute needs a good cleaning from a repair tech.

There are two types of Tarnsih Brown and Black. The Brown stuff is a sulpher from the air that is deposited on the flute through the catalyst of skin oils from handling. These can be just wiped off before they convert to black tarnsih. The black tarnish is essentially "Rotting silver". Removing it by polishing or chemical dipping (usually Thiourea) removes metal in the process. You can do a conversion back to silver but unfortunately many shops don't do it that way.

The key work will only come out so-so clean unless you are getting it repadded. You can't use regular cleaning methods with the pads in place. It's much more difficult with pads in the cups.

The mechanism can be removed and the body cleaned completely. The keys can be moderately hand finished for an acceptable level until it needs a repad and a full blown cleaning can be done on the keywork.

Preventive maintenance can prevent much of what you're experiencing. Be careful to wipe the flute down (being careful of the pads) when you are done playing. Don't use polish of any type. The silkweave or ultrasuede cloths are very nice for this. Keep the skin oils off when you are done and you will encourage tarnish less. #M Tarnish strips act to attract the sulpher and trap it before it gets to your flute.

Some people's chemistry is such that, even with these measures, they tarnish rapidly. So either live with it or get it cleaned more often...

Joe B

Sounds like your flute needs a good cleaning from a repair tech.

A good quailfied repair tech in your area would be the best person to handle this for you. If you neglected wiping your flute down on a regular basis, you probably also have not had it in for adjsutments and maintence. Get that flute worked on!

"Yes, but never use these unless your flute is completely disassembled and you really know what you are doing"

i agree on you Kara.

How much would getting my flute profesionly cleaned cost

i was going to get my flute in for maintence this summer when i did not really need if for band and would be able to give it up for a little bit i will now try to get it cleaned with that because i would be to afraid to clean it myself in fear of incedentily screwing something up

if you can think of anything else that might stop this from coming back i would like to know

SomeRookie

How much would getting my flute profesionly cleaned cost

Well it varies considerably out there. I usually charge $50 to disassemble, tarnish conversion, and then a tarnish shield application.

Some places include the cleaning as part of a COA.

You can see the differences on my yahoo photo album site:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/butkevicius@sbcglobal.net/my_photos

Look at the any of the flute folders to see before and after photos. The Haynes 1921 folder shows the body tube done but the foot and head still tarnished. The pic is marked "Partial clean and dissassemble"

Joe B

Hey Joe,
I love the pictures. I love seeing before and after pictures of flutes. I am a dork that way. Lol! That Lot is beautiful. Is it yours? I like the shrink wrap idea. Your work is very impressive. Thanks for sharing.

That Lot is beautiful. Is it yours? I like the shrink wrap idea.

No, that was job for a customer a couple years ago. He had me take pictures of the work I did when I told him of some of the problems I found in it, (like the key chimney metal crumbling). I've done a few of those. The nicest one in my area is a wood Lot, Open G#. Gorgeous instrument.

I've been a bit negligent on my photo taking lately. When you said my work was impressive I thought you were looking at the family pics!

The shrink wrap idea is Jupiter's. They started coming in that way about a year ago. I know why they do it and it serves the purpose, but there are some other things they need to do to not have it cause some problems...

Joe B