I have really sweaty hands and sometimes the sweat marks that my hands make on the flute won't come off with the the cloth, I was wondering if it was safe to use alcohol on a sterling silver flute?

I tried the polishing cloth <i rub and rub, but the mark remains there

THe flute itself is new, bought for less than 6 months, but my sweaty hands recently left wheat marks/finger marks all over the body of the flute, but i can't seem to rub it off.

will the alcohol affect the color or tone in anyway

No, it won't hurt your flute. I use to use those Alcohol pads every now and again on my flute.

have you tried blowing 'steam' from your breath on it and hen using the polishing cloth, i do that to clean the body off.

Already posted a reply on another board..

Joe B

Spit shine. Sounds gross, but I do that. I put a tiny glob of spit on my flute cloth, then rub in gently circles where there are marks. Works for me. =D And so far, it hasn't been harmful but why would it be? It's just spit. =]]

That's disgusting! To the original poster, please don't spit on your flute.

I don't see why not. I'm not saying to spit a loogie onto it. Just get the cloth damp enough to rub away the fingerprints. I mean, when you play, spit comes out of the keys anyway. And it's YOUR spit, so why does it matter?

it's not disgusting...but could potentially scare away a potential buyer when you look to sell your flute.

Also, isn't spit for dissolving food when you eat it? I know it destroyes bassoon reeds because of its digestive properties...so it may destroy a flute.

"I mean, when you play, spit comes out of the keys anyway. And it's YOUR spit, so why does it matter?"

No, it is not spit that comes out of your keys, it is condensation. I don't know about you but I don't spit into my flute when I play. There will always be kids that think that they know every thing though and you can't change that. Why do I bother, I am just beating my head up against a wall.

I'm in the same boat. I don't know what it is in my sweat, but it seems to like silver...

One thing that helps is to wipe down the flute with a microfiber cloth every time after you are finished playing it. As someone suggested, blowing on it with warm air ("ha") helps with the tough spots.

I also use a treated polishing cloth about once every 4 months. Just be careful not to get it on the pads or in the mechanism.

Then each year I get it cleaned during the COA.

Best of luck!

Go to the grocery store or Rite-Aid and but a small bottle of Aspirin. There should be a small tiny can of desiccant in the thing. I know the Kroger brand I get at Ralph's does. Toss or keep the aspirin - your choice.

I put the little thing in a corner of my flute case and it keeps the flute dry.

Omg spitting on ur flute is disgusting! Even inside... Kara has right. when I read ur thread about everyone spits in their flute it's not right cuz it;s just the steam and it is not saliva... Just imagine, especially in the winter time, when you say "HAAAAAA" on your cold window... Consendation... and it's not a spit. Actually I don't spit in my flute not even on it. I use gaeze (lol I dont know how to spell) inside and microfiber outside.

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correction: kara is right :D

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Added:

It is not spit what comes out of ur flute it is just plain steam!! (water) like I said in the winter time when u walk on the street and it's like -10 and you can see the steam coming out of ur mouth when u talk or u do "haaaa". It is the same thing in the summer time (like +35 celsius) but u can't see the steam but it's still there it is because of the higher temperature. Now it's the sdame thing in the flute. when u blow it it touches the wall inside (like the "haaa" on ur window) and it's just plain water. H2O