if you’re spending thousands on a flute…
why are you going “cheap” with the single item important to keep it in shape?
I use padsavers…a newly made product is forthcoming for woodflutes that we’ve been working on, including tips that will clean out the water at the cork!
in Rudall and Pratten lengths
dm
A silk swab on a stick is quite versatile – you can put it on any way you want, and it can be twisted on in such a way that it does dry the cork quite well in addition to being twisted on thinly as Cat pointed out. Also, it’s been pointed out many times that following a maker’s instructions is a good idea, and that’s what I do (although not to the point of using silk on an Olwell and jersey on a Hammy).
David, I just looked up padsavers, and it didn’t look to me as though they were for swabbing, but for leaving in the flute to dry the pads out. Am I missing something?
Just a note: never leave anything damp (be it a padsaver or anything else) inside the bore of any flute, wood or metal.
On a wooden flute, this seems to me likely to keep the wood stressed and I would think it could easily lead to a crack.
On a metal flute, this will keep moisture next to the pads, which will tend to keep them damp and sticky, which is the last thing you want them to be. It will cause them to swell and loose their seating, it will cause them to make loud popping sounds on opening and closing, and it can make them rot.
Use them fuzzy sticks to dry that flute out, says I, and then leave them outside the case so they’ll be nice and dry for the next go-round. 
–James
Hi Cathy! The ‘cork grease cap fellow’ was me - glad to hear my crazy idea has found a friend 
I still dry my head joint like that, although I do plan to get a pad saver next time I visit the music shop.
You are just incorrigible.
Cute, but incorrigible.
You could use finely woven wool. Lambskin would get stuck up your end. You wouldn’t want that, would you?
Silk is a lot better. Those worms go to a lot of effort for you, as do the microfiber guys. I tell you, you can’t beat microfiber.
You get a little sauce on it, and it washes right out. Can’t say that for lambskin.
i use a fishing weight, tied by a thread to a piece of old tshirt. the clothe is thin at the one end near the weight, and then gradually tapered out a bit wider at the other end.
then i just take the hj off the flute, slide the fishing weight down the flute til it comes out the foot end and then drag the clothe thru the bore. i find this to be fast, cheap, easy and effective.
i learned it form my old shaku teacher. it is how he mopped out the shakuhachi.
For a low-cost source of silk swabs, go to your local thrift store (Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc.), and buy a silk necktie. Just look for one with the tag still on the back that gives the fabric content. I paid $0.50 for my last 100% silk necktie, and got 6 swabs out of it.
My issue with Pad Savers is this - they release little fuzzys after a while. Also, the little plastic cap at the end can come off, revealing sharp metal underneath. I’ll use then for oiling, but nothing else. Wood or plastic flute cleaning rods are inexpensive and readily available, and the silk cloths really absorb well. If you want to put out some money, the flute flags are a wonderful invention, and allow you to swap/mop without taking the flute apart. They’re at http://home.nethere.net/roger45/fluteflaga.htm .
Dana
No … no, I suppose not.
djm
About 20 years ago, Marcas o’Murchu told me the best way to clean a flute was with rolled up newspaper. I found that quite good if a little messy (the ink always comes off). I switched to using pages from magazines, which I found works quite nicely.
I have used baby oil to oil my flutes for many years now. Its thinner than most other oils and smells better too!
Well, that brings up a fascinating question!
What does Irish baby oil smell like?
American baby oils all have a characteristic scent, but there’s no way to describe it. It’s just “baby oil.” Johnson & Johnson.
You’re not taking the pish, are you Paul?
No way! I used both bore oil and almond oil at times up to about 10 years ago. I was then speaking with Deirdre Havlin (flute player with Deanta) and she told me she used baby oil (Johnston & Johnston is fine!) to oil her flute.
Try it and see!
But isn’t baby oil petroleum based, like commercial bore oils, vasoline, etc.? Isn’t it petroleum based oils that people here are freaking about?
djm
So if you don’t dry it sufficiently after such an oiling, does the flute start to smell like wet nappie?
That’s interesting, rolling up pages (preferably ones that hold their ink). Good to know in a pinch, that’s for sure!
Lambikins, I’m on the back order list, too. And I’m signed up for two of the little devils … figure I might as well stock up.
Rama, how do you clear your HJ with the bead/fishing weight/string method (after a pint or two, I always found being in possession of a string and a weight mildly dangerous)? Do you just shake it?
P.S. Now that it’s winter (18 dF here last night!) and the woodburning stove/central heating are firing up at dear old Mudhaven Manor, I sometimes don’t dry the flute completely when I’m at home, but instead just shake it out well and let it air for a bit. I think I remember Hammy saying something about that somewhere … does anybody else do that?
Yep, even here in the PNW it’s hard to keep the relative humidity up with a wood stove goin’
the PadSaver is designed to wick away moisture from metal flute pads. Ergo the item is left inside the flute.
They have th cotton variety and a new micro fiber.
the idea is to pass it through the flute several times. It absorbs the biggest puddles and leaves and nice even barely notice coat. Run it an extra time or two and it’s perfect dry (which I don’t do).
The plastic tips have never fallen off for me, Dana. Sorry yours did! I’ve had my cotton ones for about 8 years (yes, yucky looking, but work great…and no lint…you much have gotten a really bad one!).
And I have 3 of the new fiber ones. They’re not as quickly absorbent, but work nice.
Tip: buy the Clarinet ones, not the flute, which are too thick for conical bores.
the woodflute ones will be out next year, i’m hoping, after the makers and I converse my thoughts on the protypes I’ve been using.
and for oiling they are top notch.
dm
Bleah… 
I’d recommend against leaving anything damp inside a padded flute, unless you like sticky keys/pads.
Dana
I agree with Dana. I don’t believe in leaving anything in the flute. The theory behind pad savers is to swab the (Boehm) flute dry with a stick and cloth, and then insert the dry pad saver to wick any excess moisture from the pads. So, in theory, nothing damp is left in the flute, but I’ve never seen them work very well.
Using them for oiling/swabbing a wood flute seems like a good idea, however. I might have to give up my oily little T-shirt rags…
By the way, while commercially available wood or plastic cleaning rods are fine, my favorite combo is Terry McGee’s idea http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/rod.html and a silk swab. Works beautifully, and dries the stopper face, too.
Edit: Just to clarify (in light of David’s justified indignance below), I’m not disagreeing with David’s use of pad savers as swabs. I’m objecting to what I see as a flawed principle of their design (for Boehm flutes, and I wouldn’t like to see them used according to design on wooden flutes).
Dunno if it’s the best - or even a good method, but I’ve been using strips of paper facial tissue (Kleenex) and a wooden cleaning rod.
Tear a tissue in half, fold it over several times to fit into the slot of my cleaning rod, then use it to gently mop the bore and (carefully!) the head up to the cork. Shake out the worst, one pass through the head, a pass through the barrel, and I’m done.
More or less the same for oiling, except that go even slower and do my best to check that the oil has been evenly distributed.
Should I be doing more, or doing it differently?