I have been reading about the different oils people seem to use for their wooden flutes, from almond and bore oil to tung and apparently baby oil. But how does lemon oil stack up?
Lemon Oil = Scented Kerosene.
Want that in the bore of your flute?
Rob
bear oil…
You took the words out of my mouth Rob!
I recommend ‘the bore doctor’ oil, all natural, cleverly formulated, very thin and easily absorb able, expensive but lasts a long time.
Alternatively/as well I use almond oil .
I’v been using LeBlanc’s bore oil for years with no ill effects. A little bottle has lasted me for something like 3 years now… there’s like a quarter of a bottle left…
Adds a whole new meaning to “firewood”.
kindling on steriods
There is a story from the baroque times that a composer was trying to put the finishing touches on his new opus, when the town band set up outside his window to busk. Needless to say, the composer couldn’t work with that cacophony going on outside, so he asked them to move on, but without success. Noting that the band leader was a flute player, he paid a little boy sixpence to suck a lemon noisily in front of the flute player. The flute player’s embouchure shrivelled up and the band moved on.
Perhaps lemon oil might have a similar effect?
Terry
I’ve been wanting to get some Bore Doctor for a while. I hear it works really well for fretboards, also.
My wife just polished the dining room table with lemon oil. The bottle reads: “contains white mineral oil (petroleum distillates), harmful or fatal if swallowed”. Every time she does this I have to open the windows to try to reduce the vapor in the room. I wouldn’t put lemon oil on my wooden flutes.
You know, in the process of looking up lemon oil online, I came across a page that said it had mineral oil in it, so I looked up mineral oil on Wikipedia, and it turns out it’s used as a laxative. As if the petroleum vapors weren’t enough of a reason…I don’t think I want to put my mouth on a piece of wood soaked in a laxative. No sir!
Where’s a good place to get this “Bore Doctor?”
http://www.doctorsprod.com/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=14
Their cork grease is good stuff as well.
After some reading I found out that Bore Doctor and Fret Doctor is the same product, but Fret Doctor is packaged into bigger containers, 30 - 60ml vs. Bore Doctor’s 10ml. It looks like Fret Doctor would be a good buy if you have some stringed instruments, also.
I’ll definitely be getting some when my Oz whistle gets here in a few months.
cool, Ill put some on my frets too. 
When I bought my Antique pipes I figured it was worth a few quid on good oil to preserve my Heritage piece. In the end I used half a bottle of the stuff over a couple of weeks and touch it up now and then. I wax using Renaissance wax though I dont like the chemical smell its Museum Quality.
After Ive used the BD oil I use Almond or Walnut on the surface so the expensive stuff gets absorbed into the centre.
Oh, not walnut oil! That thing smells…
I checked out the Bore Doctor site. Actually, that doesn’t seem like a lot of money for the oil. If the smaller bottles last as long as they say, it’s actually not that expensive.
They also have an “oiling rig” for clarinets…Are the mops for a clarinet the right size to use on a flute?
That little rig reminds me of a gun cleaning kit. 
should be way too big…
go to a gun shop