I’m looking for some ideas from this resourceful group on how to clean the windway of whistles. Running hot soupy water seems like its likely to miss built-up stuff. I don’t want to put anything like a wire or pipe cleaner in there because of the danger of scratching. The openings are too narrow for most things to slide in there. I tried cutting a business card into strips and sliding it back and forth but they get wet of course and mushy. (I’m cleaning a couple Chieftains (low D and F), a Generation (Bb, a Clark C and a Sweetone high D)
Go to a fabric shop and ask them to show you some of their stiffer materials: Some of these a stiff enought that, when dry, you can push them all the way through the windway, so what you do is cut an overly long strip, pass it through the windway dry, run it back and forth a bit to knock out any big stuff, then while it’s still through the windway, wet it with soapy water, and pull it back and forth through the windway some more, to clean out the rest of the gunk.
Try one of those credit cards you get in the mail. Some are almost as thin as a business card, but plastic.
I used one when sanding the windway of my Walton C. I just cut it into an appropriately-sized strip and wrapped a bit of sandpaper over it. You could do the same using a piece of fabric or something instead of sandpaper. Just the card itself may be enough to knock buildup loose enough for the soapy water to work.
Try a pipe cleaner for the wind way- one wet with mild soap, rinse then a dry one. I use a soft nylon condenser tube brush that is designed to not scratch the surface to clean the rest of the whistle. We use them where I work and throw away a bunch after use. Used (broken in)they are softer and seem better to use to clean a whistle. If someone has a good reason not to use one I am all ears. Ive had no problems and have worked great on my O’Brien D Rover and Dixon D aluminum.
I can get 20 or so of these brushes in the late fall and would be happy to mail them to folks who may be interested and will try to remember to post a message then.
Be careful with wooden whistles. I use a Q-tip. Even then the plastic stem makes me nervous. If you’ve ever tweaked a whistle you know what a difference a small change to the blade (labium) can make.
Whatever you use, make sure it’s very soft. Frequent rinsing will keep the calcite (?) buildup down without resorting to abrasive things like paper, credit cards, or brushes.
I’m a bit paranoid after seeing too many hard rubber, ebonite, plastic, and even metal sax mouthpieces wrecked by years of cleaning. Maybe Delrin is tougher, but I doubt it.
For dislodging organic material (goo), Hydrogen Peroxide is effective. I can’t recommend it for wood, though. No experience with wood whistles or mouthpieces.