I feel really dumb asking this but sometimes the smallest bits of info can be the most elusive.
As I start to fool around with a wooden flute in addition to a whistle, I’m becoming more aware of the importance of drying, cleaning and oiling.
I’ve been looking around for the proper tools. Until today, I never knew that multi-colored squiggly thing was called a “mop”. After not finding them (for months) by seaching google for flute cleaning kit, cleaning swab etc, I now find lots of sellers. And they all seem to be in UK or Australia. Nothing against them, but postage doubles the price.
So my question is this - Are there on-line vendors on the US who offer a variety of drying/cleaning/oiling implements, materials, supplies etc, individually and/or in kits?
I’m ready to move beyond bent bits of wire and dowels, shredded paper towels and almond oil from the health food store. One day, I’ll move on to humidity control, but I’ve seen threads here that discuss this subject at great length, so I know where to look.
Here’s a flute swab from Musician’s Friend, which I’ve ordered from before.
Being in Boston, I don’t think you’d have a problem finding a
brick-and-morter seller, though. Any store that sells instruments to
school children will have swabs and “PadSavers”.
There’s another place called Doctor’s Products, who makes a fairly popular bore oil called Bore Doctor. They are chiefly geared to clarinets and oboes, but many fluters have used them also.
They have an oiling kit too, that looks pretty nice, along with a lot of other interesting stuff. Lots of research it seems have gone into their products and you can read all about it there:
Or you can go to the sporting goods department at Walmart, or your
neighborhood gun shop, and buy the same parts for less, and no shipping.
The rod is the handle end of a two or three piece rifle cleaning rod or maybe a one-piece pistol cleaning rod.
The mops are shotgun bore mops. Used for the same thing in shotguns except for different reasons, oiling the bore.
Slotted ABS tip is a patch holder. Comes in a wide range of sizes to fit every imaginal caliber. One should come with the rod.
The "10 Unbleached, ribbed, cotton jersey swabs - $1.00 " by the way, are available as cleaning patches at Walmart for around 2-3.00 per bag of several hundred. Or if you’re cheap, you could cut up your old t-shirts. Happy cleaning.
Sure, you can do that, but be careful if it’s a metal rod, it could scratch the bore of your wooden flute. If you want a cheap rod, just get a plastic flute swab stick. It already has the tip attached, and then cut up some old underwear! Of course you don’t get the (quoted from their website) “exclusive carbon fiber – epoxy graphite rod (used in stealth aircraft) which is exceptionally strong and will not scratch the wood” with the deluxe handle!
I like the idea of the Bore Dr rod, because you can buy the screw-on replaceable wool mops in 2 sizes for oiling from them reasonably too. Wool mops have been recommended for oiling, from what I’ve read, for more even distribution of the oil in the bore.
Some gun stores probably have similar cleaning rods and mops, I haven’t looked lately, but just be sure you know what caliber flute you’ve got before you walk in and ask for one! And, try not to use the phrase “it’s for my FLUTE” in a gun store! Some don’t take kindly to flutey people!
I’m not sure what the bore of the foot end on an average flute is, but if the bore of the head joint is 19 mm, that equates to 0.748 inches. A 12 gauge bore is 0.729 inches, so the 12 ga. mop should work just fine. If you’re feeling iffy about it, then go to Walmart. Nobody will help or bother you, and you can look through the gun cleaning stuff and find what you need. Looks like this:
What you’re looking for will say “Kleen-Bore 16/12/10 Guage, .69-.75 BP” or something like that. Should be around a buck and a half or so.
Additionally, you can get the Kleen-Bore Saf-T-Clad rod which is epoxy coated, and is available in a 6-1/2" pistol length, or a five piece rod which is 30" fully assembled, for anyone with a two-person, contra bass flute. I’m not sure how much the five-piece is, but the pistol rod I bought last year was about six or seven bucks as I remember.
Actually, there are things that target shooting and flute playing have in common:
–you need to take good care of your equipment; Bad Things can happen if you don’t
–both require concentration, and a certain focused state of mind
–both require fine micromotor skills
–both require good breath control
–both are great ways of burning off some stress
–both are good hobbies to enjoy with your friends
However, of course, there are some drastic differences:
–don’t drink, EVER, when target shooting
–there are no small mistakes where guns are involved
–your flute isn’t likely to kill someone if you aren’t careful where you point it
–no one is ever killed cleaning an “unloaded” flute
–like swimming, you should never go shooting alone. If you get in trouble you will need someone else to be there to help you
–there are very few “self taught” gun enthusiasts; you need serious training from a respected professional. Having no music teacher won’t seriously shorten your life; the converse isn’t true of shooting.
What about the good ol’ dowel or chopstick and a rag of cloth? They’re cheap as dirt – I use the sticks from those toy flags the damn realtors leave n the lawn every 4th of july. Some makers recommend cotton for the cloth because it’s more absorbant, others recommend silk because it doesn’t make lint. I prefer the latter, and stay away from recorder swabs (the word I learned for what are evidently now flute mops) because they leave lint in the bore, although I do use one for the head if it’s gotten too wet during playing.
I like the silk cloths because they dry super-fast. After a session or gig, especially since I’m looking at an hour’s drive home (and in the winter … yipes!), I don’t like the idea of putting a soaked swab back in the case – or worse, storing it in the bore!
Silk swabs also squash down to fit smaller-bore flutes better; i.e., they’re less inclined to jam in flutes with tiny little feetsies.
So I’m a silk-and-skinny-plastic or -wood flute-rod person myself …
Now, all that Cathy said was a good idea, but I especially liked the part about the little feetsies! That does tend to be a problem when using larger pieces of cut up cotton t-shirts and such. They mop well, but can get tight sometimes if you’re not careful. It helps if you have a cleaning rod that you can just push through if it gets a little tight too.
Sorry, guys, I was feeling silly. Glad you enjoyed it, Barry! And it is true, I’ve had a couple of scary “jam-sessions of the cloth encounters kind” on little thinwall flutes like Murrays. And it really, REALLY stinks when you’re dealing with a keyed foot – there’s not much real estate to grab onto, there!
Anyway, here’s a link to the ones I’m rather fond of …
(yeah, I admit, the tie-dye aspect does come into play)
Like I said, one of those with the cheapest skinny plastic flute rod you can find (or make out of a dowel) and you’re in business.
(P.S. I have used that one fellow’s cork-grease cap suggestion from an earlier thread on occasion when I’ve wanted to get really swabby, and it works great for up around the cork – just put the cap on the end of your cleaning rod, drape the cloth over it, and off you go)
I use a microfiber eyeglass cleaning cloth. It’s not much thicker than silk and absorbs spectacularly well. It’s very easy to wash and dries in a flash.
Rapid drying without the threat of souring is important. You don’t want bacteria growing on it. Phew! You would likely never get the stink out of a flute.
Nor do you want oil going rancid on an oiling cloth, so I use bits of old cotton jersey t-shirts or running pants so they can be thrown away.
The silk swabs you found, Cat, look really nice. I notice they are out of stock. Just how many did you buy???
This is great. I thought I was the only one using one of these. I wrapped the metal shaft with black electrical tape to save any damage to the bore. I’ve been using bits of old t-shirts for a swab, but now that I know I can use sheepskin …hmm, where’s Lambchop … “Oh, Laaaammmmby!”
