Hey guys:
A recent discussion on the woodenflute list was about drinking alcoholic beverages while playing with the flute. A couple of people mentioned that the sugars from the alcohol and saliva processing mechanisms can cause bore degradation or “pocking” in the bore.
I not infrequently grab a large bottle of Qingdao (big bottles of beer in China!) and off to play my flute when I get home from work at night. Noe that I have the R&R that I’m babying…think I’m going to harm that flute?
G.,
Yeah man, you’re gonna ruin it that way, better send the flute to me.
Loren
nice try, loren 
I’m an ale drinker when I play (Bass Ale, thanks very much)…and I think the alcohol does more harm to my playing than to what I’m playing!
actually, the alcohol and sugars build up inside the bore…I don’t think there’s any degeneration that goes on (I’ve not ever seen it on my flutes!), but I do see deposits line the bores if people don’t swab the flutes out after playing. It’s like a line of crust that forms, which I call “calcifications” and it’s a pain to get out. Not impossible, just a pain.
A good non-acidic wood cleaner (I use Fornby’s cleaner, which is green) to lightly clean the bores about three times a year to get whatever coatings are on the bore, then reoil liberally (remember to protect the pads!)
That should be just fine.
I’d be more concerned with deposits in the bores of flutes that aren’t as smooth as a Rudall. More room to adhere.
and Greg…stop “babying” that flute. Take care of it, yes, but play the darn thing! It’s still in its best years!
Not to mention the risk of drunks staggering around in close proximity to the fragile and expensive wooden flutes! I speak from experience here - it’s a sad tale of a brand new boxwood flute, the first session I took it to and a guy (not me!) who had had a little too much to drink. I still have nightmares…
Well, I guess that answers that question, since I was just considering taking up the bouzouki if some credible data could be presented to me. Now I can continue with the Qingdao sessions…
Oh yeah, Dave. I play that darn flute, and it is freaking awesome. Those cuts! Though I’ll still need to figure out the C and C# notes; they are fickle, and I took the keys off and now probably have a leak on the low C key it seems. I want to get these strong, like the rest of the flute. But I don’t want to mess with that too much. Guess I’ll wait till I get back to the States to have someone better acquainted help me fix these keys.
Later, fellas.
If you have pads, I wonder if you might have problems with sticking pads. Back when I was a highschool sax player, jazz band got moved to the period just after lunch. About a month into the year, my pads started sticking like crazy (I did clean the sax after playing). After that, I started brushing my teeth before practice, and the pads recovered.
Diana