For those of you who use almond oil to maintain your wooden whistles and flutes, how much vitamin E do you add to what quantity of oil?
Thanks.
None, I use it pure and have had no problems.
Trisha
pure almond oil for me. I’ve heard of using vitamin E, but I don’t really know if there’s a benefit, other than it’s a little thicker.
I, too, have been using only almond oil and haven’t noticed a problem. I have read on C&F, however, that some use some E added to the almond in order to prevent the oil from turning rancid. Perhaps I just play too frequently for that to happen.
Zilch. Nor do I use amino acids in the oil. Some amino acids are said to assist the metabolism of oils. We need to remember that the flute is not a GIT and does not have a liver neither.
I use whatever the manufacturer recommends but that is mainly pure almond oil.
My reason for sticking to the same oil relates mainly to the playing in period and involves some armchair chemistry worries that might not be well-founded. When the whistle or flute is being manufactured and played in, there are chemical interactions betwen the wood and the oil when the soaked wood is exposed to oxygen. It is at least plausibile to suppose that the chemical changes in the wood are slightly different when different oils are used. For that reason, I’d rather not mix oils although I doubt if you’d have a disaster if you did, especially not after the playing in period.
interesting point wombat! I never thought of the mixing oils thing, and am glad I haven’t 
I use a formula that Glenn Schultz passed along to me. It’s a 5:1 mix of LIGHT olive oil to almond oil, with “a couple of drops” of vitamin E. He never specified exact quantities, and I don’t really think it’s critical. I bought an 8 oz bottle of light olive oil, poured out approx 1/6 (used it for cooking) and filled the bottle back up with almond oil. I added the bit of vit E oil and I’ve been using that mix for the last three years. FWIW, I checked the bottle of plain almond oil which was still hanging around recently, and it did indeed smell rancid.
I use one capsule of vitamin E to one 5-oz jar (an old hot-sauce jar) of the olive/almond mixture. Note that, depending on where you get it, the almond oil may already have vitamin E in it. A jar that my wife got several years ago does.