Would it be okay to use peroxide to clean out my flute?

Why would you want to do that? I see absolutely no need at all to clean out a flute using Peroxide. I would not recommend it at all. This may be an advanced flute cleaning technique or something I don`t know about, but the general idea is to keep moisture away from your flute pads and mechanics. Swabbing out your flute with a dry cloth and cleaning rod after you play should be enough.

Is this because you have recently had a cold, or you purchased a new flute and you are not sure who had it before you? If you are concerned I would say you could rub the lip plate with rubbing alcohol and just give the rest of the flute a good cloth rub over. That should displace any flute cooties!

Clariflute, if you want to do a good cleaning of your flute, I would suggest to use a little bit of rubbing alcohol on a cotton cloth and just swab it through. It evaporates fast and doesn`t leave any kind of residue behind, plus kills any nasty germs that may be lurking.

Peroxide may well attack the cell walls of the membrane covering the pads. It probably would not harm the silver. I`ve never heard technicians mention its use, and I am in regular contact with heaps of them in a forum.

Chemicals should never be used to clean your flute. instead a pull through used every time after playing is much better for your pads. Remember that prevention is better than cure

I disagree, rubbing alcohol works great and evaporates fast. If it was dangerous in anyway, I would NEVER use it on my expensive flute! I have been doing this for years twice a month on my flutes without any damage. Use only a small amount of course and don`t soak the rag.

Of course I ALWAYS swab out my flute after each use and in between long session playing. I wouldn`t recommend any other chemicals though, only rubbing alcohol.

This will probably make me sound REALLY old, but when I was still doing studio engineering, we would clean the tape heads with isopropyl alcohol and Q-tips. Of course, very few studios still offer analog tape recording these days... but it will work on your VCR also.

My technician told me to just run water through the headjoint from the kitchen sink. Hot (but not HOT). I am not sure how I feel about it, but I did do it every once in a while...it actually cleaned it very well and never caused problems. Maybe it even keeps the cork from drying out? But the q-tip and alcohol is usually my way to clean the embouchure hole and such.

As for the body, what gets in there other than condensation? Just a swab is good.

Okay...this is just for laughs...but I actually had a flute teacher at music camp in high school tell us to clean the tenons of our flutes with TOOTHPASTE? Can you believe that? Soooo wrong...

Those silver cleaning cloths (the treated ones) aren't great either because the stuff they treat it with can get in between the mechanism and cause problems.

OK I know I am new at this flute stuff but-there is cork in the headjoint?

Normally yes. There are a number of different stopper options, but most flutes will have a cork. If you look through the end of the flute that goes into the body, you'll see a metal plate at the far end. Just beyond that is a cork that seals the end of the headjoint, and helps make the flute sound like a flute. You can also take the crown (that cap at the top end of the head) off, and you will see another plate, with a screw protruding. Below this plate (but above the other) is where the cork is housed.

I am curious about how the cork assembly can be dis-assembled (to inspect or replace the cork), once the assembly has been extracted from the headjoint.
i.e it comes to: how are the two metal plates held together?

In my Gemeinhardt M3, the cork is so loose that it comes out from the crown side if I blow on the tenon side (with embouchure hole closed by finger).

>> my Gemeinhardt M3, the cork is so loose that it comes out from the crown side if I blow on the tenon side (with embouchure hole closed by finger).<<

Definately too loose and needs to be replaced!!!!!!!

Joe B

Right JB! now, could you please tell me how these two plates come apart?

Normally some shellac will hold the cork to the bottom (tenon end) plate, and the top plate is screwed on snugly. To remove the cork from the bottom plate, you must heat the plate to melt the shellac.

Thanks.

You mean that the metal plate (crown side) is just screwed-on the cork?