Hello all,
I see the term dupenol pop up hear and there through out the forum, and while I know it used to stop clogging, I have never found out exactly what it is or how to use it. Anyone have any info? I also realized I haven’t introduced, or rather, reintroduced, myself. I’ve been out of commission as a musician, and as Chiff and Fippler (Chiff and Fipplee…? Do we have an official name for ourselves? 
), for the past couple of years, due to a rather series illness. And now I’m starting putter along again, working on getting back up to speed. I’m relearning to play the whistle, the pipes, the flute, and the harp. So, thanks for all the fun, its nice to be back.
Slainte,
Stephen
Good to hear things are looking up for you.
I’ve never actually seen dupanol myself either - just read about it on the forums. I actually went to two local music stores and asked, and neither of them had heard of it. These are both fairly well-stocked stores in the Live Music Capital of the World.
Granted, here it’s mostly guitars and blues/rock, but they carry school band instruments too, so I thought they’d have it, but alas…
Anyway, you can also get good results with plain dish soap. I just filled a mug with warm water and put a little dish soap in an stirred it around. I then put the whistle heads in the water for a few seconds, took them out, shook them a bit and let them air dry. This did seem to help with clogging a bit.
I did this for all of my cheapies, my Hoover Whitecap, and my all aluminum Kerry Songbird Low D.
I’ve also read (here on the forums I belive), that rubbing a dryer sheet in the windway can help as well. Something about the fabric-softener stuff helping break the surface tension of the water droplets, so they don’t form large enough to clog.
Hope that helps,
Jason
Check here:
http://courtlymusic.com/Accessories.html#Duponol
Scroll down and you’ll find it. Works great, and it comes in a handy little dropper bottle.
Yeah, it’s different than soap. I think it’s the same thing as Jet Dry for dishwashers. I think it would work better than soap.
I can’t recommend it. I tried it on a chieftain I used to have. It worked but I noticed an unpleasant taste when playing. So I wound up rinsing it out.
I understand that it’s a mild, low residue detergent that breaks surface tension. It seems to be more popular among classical woodwind players, so the average GC type store might not carry it. Its been around for a long time.
Some music shops sell anti-condense fluids for recorders. I use some made by Moeck. It is just soapy water I think but it works well and is very useful in the cold months out here. Pulling waxed dental floss through the windway of the whistle also works.
Tim 2723 nailed it. A mild low-residue detergent. I clean all 15 of my Burkes in the stuff. And as Mike instructs, take them out of the soapy water with NO rinsing, and let them air dry. I used to work with a plastic surgeon who told his patients to buy an 85 cent bottle of baby oil and rub it on their incisions to keep the skin soft. Patients would ask, what about Vitamin E? He’d answer “Well, if you want to spend all that money to do what the cheap baby oil does, go ahead”. Dupenol = mild soapy water. You wanna spend the money, go ahead. But a few drops of Joy does it for me and helps me save money for motorcycle chrome.
Oh and yo, Adrian, that dental floss has wax on it which can leave a residual in the windway. Careful, my friend.
duponol is sodium laurel sulfate. If that sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve probably read it on the ingredient list for shampoo or toothpaste.
I buy mine from a harp shop in houston. 2.5 ounces has lasted me about 5 years, and cost a couple bucks.
It’s a detergent. It makes water sheet rather than bead up, so the whistle clears itself rather than clogging.
I never noticed any taste with duponol. Jet Dry definitely has a taste and makes my tongue tingle. Soapy water tastes like soap. I’m a big fan of duponol for clog control.