Ok I haven`t been playing Flute for long but sometimes i have oil coming from my finger tips and when i play its makes a mark on it like a fingerprint (well duh) but it ends up being dirty and i do know how to clean it off. With a silver polish cloth. But if i keep rubbing it off the plating will wear away!!! I do wash my hands before i play but sometimes for playing like for a long long time they get sweaty!! (also because my room can get hot) but this matter hasn`t happened lately pnly once or twice. Can anyone suggest anything to help stop it?!?!?!?!?!!?

I use alchol swabs. Just whipe it down with one of them, but make sure to stay away from the pads.

Sorry, let me say this agian with the correct spelling this time.
That is what I get when I try to type and talk on the phone at the same time. Lol!

I use alcohol wipes.

Musio4Fun, the silver cloths contain chemicals and abrasive especially formulated for removing silver TARNISH.

If you are just removing finger marks, then why not simply use the slightly damp cloth you used to swab the inside of the flute?

Keep the silver cloth for when you notice slight tarnish, or for a cosmetic spruce-up before a concert.

From my experience, alcohol swabs work better than a damp cloth. The damp cloth will just smear it around and it is harder to come off.

A wet cloth doesn`t work well tried still use it but aint the best!!!

I didn`t say `wet`! I said `damp`.
...I think.

Do people take alcohol swabs to rehearsal with them? Just asking.

If ht problem is indeed grease, then a cloth very slightly moistened with lighter fluid would probably work better than alcohol.

Another possibility is to use a microfibre cloth. They remove smears of reading glasses very well.

Yes, I have seen a few people take alcohol swabs and put them in the pocket of their flute case. I know even a guy that plays the trumpet carry`s them also. They come in very little square packages made for easy and convenient travel. They are made for people that have to take insulin of other types of shots, to be able to wipe down their skin before doing so. I think that is is a great idea. Especially since alcohol dries super fast and doesn`t leave a residue behind.

Excuse me, but I would rather use alcohol on my flute than lighter fluid. Thanks anyway.
Why can`t you just admit that alcohol was a good suggestion. If the advise isn`t from you, then it is not any good then?? That is what I am getting here.

I never said there was anything wrong with alcohol.

BTW do you know which alcohol(s) is in those swabs? Methyl? Ethyl? Isopropyl? They all behave differently.

I use two types of alcohol, and two other solvents a great deal during instrument servicing. I just happen to know from a great deal of experience that lighter fluid is a better solvent for oil and grease, than alcohol is.

Alcohol is better for gummy deposits. Lighter fluid is more likely to soften sub-standard glue used for corks and felts, but the idea is NOT to drench the flute to this extent!

The swabs are used medically because alcohol is reasonably good at killing bacteria.

METHYL alcohol vapour are known to be damaging to the optic nerve and retina.

What is the problem that you perceive with lighter fluid? It, or very similar solvents, are used widely for cleaning purposes, both domestically and in industry.

I can answer your question. They are made with Isopropyl. Lighter fluid is a bit smelly....

Thanks, KC.

Kara, do larger hardware stores in USA - sorry if I am presumptuous in assuming you are in USA - stock litre (or quart) bottles of isopropyl alcohol for a few dollars, as they do here?

If somebody really likes using isopropyl, then although less convenient perhaps, a bottle would be many times cheaper than buying swabs. Just a thought.

Bottles of alcohol are available at nearly every grocery store, convenience store, discount store (Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, etc), nearly every kind of store, for just a few dollars, or less. It is very cheap. The little alcohol single-wipe packettes would be more convenient for away from home, but of course more costly in the long run. I don`t like the smell of alcohol or lighter fluid, so I guess I`ll have to use the same damp cloth technique I`ve used for several decades...

I, too, find the damp cloth very successful for finger marks.

However it may be worth adding that poly-cotton cloth is far more common, but far less successful than pure cotton cloth.

Perhaps a decent, pure cotton cleaning cloth would make the alcohol swabs unnecessary. Just perhaps.

what about baby wipes? To be honest, iv never tried them but apparently they work a charm