Flute Care: Correct Humidity and Oiling Schedule

Irish Flute
1

Hey everyone I have a question about flute care centering around humidity.

I’ve only been playing flute for 7 weeks now, and 3 of those were on a “tin typewriter”. I am concerned with what the proper humidity level for a (wooden) flute should be and also how often to oil the bore.

I just moved to upper Michigan from NJ, and humidity was almost always >75% there in NJ. Up here the humidity has been dropping fast, and I just today pulled out my humidifier to compensate - mostly for my own lungs! The last few days relative humidity has been in the 40s during the day and even lower at night. Too dry for my comfort and I’m sure too dry for my instruments. I hadn’t had to worry about this issue previously with ocarinas because they have no metal, so there was no chance of damage, no matter how dry the air got, plus the relatively constant high humidity prevented them from real drying out.

  1. So, what is the correct level (or range) of relative humidity for a flute? If I had to guess I would say 75% just because thats the humidity I’m used to, but is that too humid for it?

Also, I’m still in the break-in period on my flute, so I know to oil it very frequently after it has been dried out after playing. I am playing it every day for the maximum allowable time, swabbing out all the moisture, giving a “rest” time to air dry, and then oiling the bore lightly afterwards. I try not to oil every day, mostly every other. If I think it needs oiling a second day in a row, I use less oil. If I didn’t oil it for a day I use a little more the next time I oil it. Is it possible to oil it too much? I always remove the excess oil, and the wood is Cocobolo - a naturally very oily wood. Cocobolo yields an orange-yellow-brown oil residue on the oilcloth when oiled, my ocarina still does this after many months, is it’s quantity or color indicative of anything useful? Sometimes there is a lot more than other times.

  1. Once “broken in” how often should you oil the bore? How much of the “intensive break-in care” needs to be extended once broken in? Is it possible to over-oil? Are there any signs to it being over or under oiled?

I have very acidic skin, so things I handle constantly tend to age and wear prematurely. Thus, I would rather be on the safe side of things, even if the care shown seems excessive I don’t mind as long as it is not destructive.

2

I’ve removed some of yer questions…

Depends on where it was made.
50-65% seems reasonable enough.
If you purchased it new, from a maker, ask the maker… (oddly some of them get testy if you ask a bunch of eedjits on the internet and cause problems that they have to fix.)

maybe once or twice a year.

the flute doesn’t suck any up then yer wasting yer time & oil

you could be the first to wear laytex gloves while playing

sounds like the wrong forum, doesn’t it

3

Thanks for the replies!

It was made in a very dry area in southern california. I will send the maker an email though, I asked him before about break-in care but forgot to ask about beyond that. It’s still sucking up oil pretty regularly, but I suppose thats mainly because it’s still being broken in.

I’d rather not wear gloves while playing haha. To give an example of the acidity; the brass ferrules that were mirror shiny when I bought it a mere month ago have already darkened to a chocolate brown patina. I don’t mind though it makes it look like I’ve been playing longer, and I have #0000 steel wool should it need polishing. One of the main reasons I stick to dense oily hardwoods like cocobolo is because they seem to hold up well to my punishment. I’ve heard teak and lignum vitae do well also, but have not tested them yet.

4

Here’s some good information on care and oiling from Terry McGee’s web site:

http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/McGee-Flutes-Care.htm

5

If the brass rings are not lacquered, then just wipe with a little vinegar on a cloth (or paper towel) to clean/brighten.