I suppose this has already been covered somewhere, but is safe to just wash the fipple from a Dixon trad in soapy water? I assume with an ABS plastic head it wouldn’t do any harm, but I would really hate to do something to damage it. Also, I remember reading somewhere that the best way to clean the whistle itself is with a clarinet cleaner. What about polishing the outside, or is that pretentious? 
Thanks!
Soap and water should do no harm. and NO it is not pretentious to keep the tube clean. The term “clean as a whistle” came about for a reason 
Go to a local music store where they sell band instruments and get a polishing cloth for Brass instrtuments. They are usually Yellow and have a cleaning compound in them that will do a great job on these whistles (as well as any other brass ones you have), last for years and years, and won’t make you sick like brasso could.
Brass polishing cloth! Thanks, Scott.
While you are at the music store, get a small cleaning rod. They are probably with The Fipple Flutes That Cannot Be Named (recorders). The rod is probably plastic, about a foot long and has slot on one end for a small piece of cloth to swab out the bore. Very handy for cleaning out the crud that settles in the tube.
See the “My Whistle Smells Funny” thread.
I didn’t see this in time to ask about a cleaning rod. I just got one of those clarinet cleaners on a string. It seemed to do a pretty good job, but I can see how a rod might be better for a controlled swabbing.
I didn’t see this in time to ask about a cleaning rod. I just got one of those clarinet cleaners on a string. It seemed to do a pretty good job, but I can see how a rod might be better for a controlled swabbing.
A while back, I bought a “Wicked Good Whistle” from the “WhistleSmith”, and he reccomended somehow using dry silicone spray on gun cleaning bonnett attached to a dril. He was talking about fighting moisture in plastic whistles and I learned that SOME silicone sprays can HARM PAINTED FINISHES, so be careful
But
I did learn that a 22 caliber cleaning rod makes a good whistle cleaner,
and
An old grungy brass barrel whistle soiunded much better after cleaning with the 22 caliber cleaning rod inserted in a power drill chuck to really scrub the barrel.
I have to admit it never occurred to me to check out the rifle section of a sporting goods store for help cleaning my whistle. It makes a lot of sense, though. Thanks!
The 22 rod may not be as cheap as the cleaning swab that you use on a soprano rr, but it will stand up to use with the power drill. The end of the 22 rod really looks just like the rr swab. Just put a proper sized peice of cloth in the slot.
The silicon spray may help things, too. I am NOT convinced that it is safe for all kinds of plastic. It didn’t seem to hurt the plastic of the Wicked Whistle. I haven’t tried it on my Dixon and really don’t intend to. BUt it made an old Walton’s Mellow D sound real good.
Speaking of Mellow D’s (this may be a new thread): I recently bought one and the upper octave sounds terrible. Also it’s pretty sharp. Is that typical of these? Is there an easy way to fix the breathiness in the upper octave or is it just me? I’ve noticed that Freeman whistles have a little extension on these bodies, I assume to bring down the low note. Is there an easy way to do that? I also realize that Freeman adds a Feadog fipple to his, which I’m sure makes a big difference. But without going to too much expense and with very little expertise, what could I do to improve the tone quality?
I don’t know . . . mine is pretty good. I’ve checked the tuning with electronic tuners, and it’s passable, and it sounds pretty good . . . kind “mellow” . . . wonder why? I did tweak it a bit . . . I couldn’t find blue tac, so I used candle wax to fill the cavity in the mouthpiece. It did improve it.
When I bought my Dixon, I bought a little black whistle. The tuning on this is the worst. It’s sound was also kind of thin, but filling the cavity again, it sounded lots better. As a matter of fact, for solo playing, I like it. The tuning is off, but it sounds ok by itself, and I really like the tone.
I’ve always heard that mellow d’s had tuning problems with the low d note, but mine is ok. The problem does exist on the little black whistle.
Instead of using a long rifle cleaning rod, maybe look at the ones for a pistol. Check the length for proper sizing, but these might be a little more sturdy than for a .22 cal rifle. My rifle rod was always breaking after some use in by rifle. I use the rod from my duty pistol to clean my whistles and it works great. Check in the caliber of .38, .40, to .45. Then use the slot tip with a cleaning patch.
Okay…I’ve read about this before, and I am a little dense when it comes to these things, but what cavity in the mouthpiece exactly do you mean? When I tried doing the blue tac thing once, I couldn’t figure out where it should go. I did manage to block the thing entirely for awhile, which some would say is an improvement for my whistling 
but it wasn’t what I was after. I need very slow instructions here.
As for which cavity to fill, see this link
http://www.chiffandfipple.com/tweak.html
here on chiff & fipple.
When I use wax, I ball a little of it up while it is still warm but solid. THen I take off the head of the whistle, lett it roll to the back, and tamp it ito place with the back end of a ball point pin.
Well, I think I got it right on the Little Black I have. It does sound a bit better. It doesn’t squeak so much in the upper octave. I’m still debating about the Mellow D, though. The more I play, the more I realize that the best corrective is just more practice.