How to Clean and Maintain Your Flute
A flute is a delicate instrument that must be cleaned carefully and dutifully. Your flute's sound quality can be affected by how well you maintain and clean it. If you clean the inside of your flute every time you play it, you can maximize its playability and minimize repairs. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Flute
- Flute case
- Cleaning rod (usually included with a flute case)
- Clean cloth (any material is fine, but cotton and flannel are often a good choice)
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Instructions
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Make sure you clean your flute after every playing session. When you blow into your flute, moisture from your mouth sticks to the inside of the instrument, which can corrode and damage it if not removed promptly. To start, be sure you have a cleaning rod, a long metal rod with a wide hole at one end. Most flutes and flute cases come with such a rod, but if you need one, you can easily find one at your local music store.
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Thread a clean cloth through the hole in the rod. Many music stores sell special soft cleaning cloths for this purpose, but if you don't have one (and don't wish to purchase one), you can use a clean, dry handkerchief or other similarly sized square of cloth. If the cloth is long, you may need to fold it before inserting it through the hole.
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Wrap the cloth around the rod, making sure that the end of the rod where the hole is is covered by the cloth as much as possible. Hold the rod so that your hand is securing the bottom of the cloth against the rod.
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Break your flute down into its three composite parts. It's a good idea to wait until you have the above steps completed first before taking your flute apart, because residual saliva can often collect into pools inside the flute, and you'll want to have your cleaning implement prepared so that the saliva doesn't drip everywhere! First clean the head joint (the part with the hole that you blow across to produce music). Insert the rod fully into the head joint and then move it in and out, while twisting your wrist a little to ensure that every space inside the joint gets cleaned. Then clean the body (the middle, and largest, section) and finally the foot joint (the smaller end joint) in the same fashion.
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You can also clean the outside of your flute using a damp clean cloth. Exterior cleaning does not need to be performed after every use, but should be done regularly to ensure that your flute remains in good condition. Simply wipe the outside of your flute down, first with a damp cloth and then with a dry cloth. No soap is ever required to clean a flute, and for interior cleaning, the cloth should always be dry. Then place the flute snugly back into its case.
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Tips & Warnings
Many music stores offer specific flute cleaning and maintenance tools, including cleaning rods, cleaning cloths and "flute flags," which are made specially for cleaning the inside of a flute. Check your local store for more information.
Don't touch the keys when taking your flute joints apart or putting them together. If you smash the keys down with your hands while twisting the pieces into one another or away from each other, you may bend, warp or break them. Hold the flute pieces by their more solid parts when you assemble or disassemble your flute to avoid having to replace your keys.
