One of the great mysteries of whistling is the source of moisture in a whistle. I’m a firm believer in the “lung juice” theory. Playing a fife is an entirely different thing, though, and I have no doubt that the liquid that runs through a well-played fife is saliva. I often see it foaming and bubbling as it runs down the side of the embouchure hole opposite one of my pals. Needless to say, I fastidiously swab out all of these blackwood beauties every time I play them, and leave them out to dry thoroughly before packing them back in their cases.
Well, last week a woman came over to me at a little gathering of fifers and asked if I could identify something inside her fife. I took a look in there and (I swear I’m not kidding) MILDEW was growing in there! Then she wanted suggestions for getting it cleaned out. I thought I was going to be sick. I mean, I wouldn’t put that thing up to my mouth again until it had been soaked in enough bleach to eat away a couple of layers of blackwood. I had to tell her I wasn’t really sure how she should proceed. The awful thing was that she then put it up to her lips and played for another hour!
Sorry if I’ve ruined a meal for anyone. I just had to share that little story.
Arghhh! How gross! I guess nobody ever taught her to clean and dry the poor thing before putting it away.
Sounds like the name of a sad air (or perhaps a bad pub)…“The Mildewed Fife” 
Must say, that’s one nice thing about plastic-headed metal and all plastic/pvc whistles…if they start to get grungy, you can always just give 'em a bath!
Redwolf
Eep! I think that -bleach- would be a -very- bad idea, but maybe a light brushing with acetone, then clean it thoroughly with ye standard flute-cleaning brush, then oil it thoroughly (the acetone will draw out the oil as well as the water).
Of course, sudden drying (as with acetone) is going to risk cracking the flute…
The safer, slower alternative would be to twice daily oil and brush the bore, leaving the instrument -out- of its case for a while so it can air out thoroughly.
You did tell her she should be oiling and swabbing her instrument at least…?
–ChrisA
I wonder if one of those mildewcides sold for using on plants would help (without causing damage to the fife). Of course, those can be pretty toxic, but swabbing it out well afterward would remove most of the residue. Don’t think I’d try it, though, unless the fife was pretty much toast already.
Redwolf
Mildew!?! Oohh … yecch! Not only do they look disgusting but aren’t some moulds and mildews toxic?
Some are, but most aren’t…at least not terribly. Probably more a “gross out” factor than anything else (well, it probably doesn’t do the sound of the instrument much good either, come to think of it)
Redwolf
I’ve seen posts here from people who clear their whistle fipples by forcefully sucking the “moisture” into their mouths. Have you ever slid a strip of business card through your windway to clean it? You’ll never draw anything into your mouth again from your whistle after you see what’s on the card. It ain’t pretty.
Tony
This seems like an appropriate place to tell my story about the tuba and the dead mouse…naw, maybe not.
Tom
Ewwww! They SUCK that stuff back into their mouths??? Even if it were just plain ol’ spit, that would be gross. Gag, gag, gag!
Redwolf
Maybe she was just experimenting with changing the bore on the fife, trying for a narrower bore…