My sweetheart has some gunk built up in the fipple region–in the windway and against the back wall, right beneath the noise maker.
I’ve been able to use my clarinet gear to clean all of my woodwinds up until I got into whistles and recorders. (Oh, sorry, I forgot that saying Rec-- erm, You Know What on this forum is like saying Voldemort in Hogwarts.)
I’d like to extradite this gunk. Remove it with extreme, hostile prejudice.
At the same time, I do not want to harm my whistle. I got the bright idea of trying a tooth pick, but thats not really doing the job.
Pardon my intrusion, but where are the tips on cleaning Sweethearts and other wooden whistles, that, according to the topic title, you promised io provide?
Okay…how to clean a windway. My best shot has always been with a cardboard match end, or toothpick, or something like that. I’ve also used the dental floss with the fuzzy section in the middle.
If the stuff is really grody, use a bit of soapy water on the implement of choice.
No metal picks…nothing hard, but if you use it VERY carefully, a pipe cleaner used gently works too.
I use a narrow strip (1/2" wide X 3" long) of innerfacing (Pelon) which is the stuff seamstresses use to stiffen collars and cuffs. Its available from almost all fabric stores and a half yard of the stuff will provide your whole block with a lifetime supply. It comes in different thicknesses so get one that will fit in the airway. Poke it thru and work it back and forth with a bit of soap solution on it then run a clean dry one thru to polish.
I made myself a fairly stiff whistle ‘flag’ out of delrin rod and chamois, per plans in another thread… it works well! With the Sweetheart, you need to make it narrow, but it does the job quite nicely. Oh… be sure to make the tube for the rod snug, as if it’s not, it might end up staying in the whistle when you extract the rod! That was fun to undo without tweezers!
That was fun to undo without tweezers!