I have been using something called Nevr-dull (sic) metal polish on my aluminum whistles. It’s some kind of wadded up cloth treated with chemicals. You tear off a bit of the wadding then rub the metal until it shines. It works great on my aluminum whistles. Really shines them up like new. But I’m wondering if it will do any damage to the whistles over the long haul. Has anyone heard of this stuff and know anything about it?
I don’t think it will hurt anything. It does have petroleum products in it though, so you may want to avoid using it on the mouthpiece, or at least washing that area before you play.
Yes, I always wash the entire whistle with warm soapy water after using the stuff. Wash my hands thoroughly too. I’m wondering if the stuff removes a little bit of metal along with the tarnish. But if it does I think it would take a long time before it removed enough metal to be a problem. In the meantime it sure keeps the whistles looking pretty.
Some day I will have to try this.
I sympathise with your health concerns. I know two very fine, ‘non-toxic’ polishing pastes that might be safer on your hands/llps:
(1) Toothpaste (though the strong mint smell may not be to your taste).
(2) Sudacreme. This is a proprietary form of the well known skin rash cure ‘Zinc Oxide and Castor Oil’. The zinc oxide is slightly abrasive, and polishes aluminium a treat.
With both of these make sure to remove all solid deposits from tight fitting joins, such as tuning slides, before reassembly.
HTH
Nevr-dull will not harm your whistle. I’ve used it on all kinds of metal for more than 20 years without complaint, and it’s amazingly effective on silver and brass. However, the advice to wash the whistle afterwards is very sound. Nasty stuff, not wanted in mouth or on lips, or on fingers… just as the odor suggests.
My best advice for aluminum is just to keep it clean and dry. Moisture is aluminum’s worst enemy - it enables corrosion. Corrosion promotes further corrosion, by trapping moisture, salts, etc… The oxidation on aluminum is generally a bit harder than the metal itself, so if longevity and durability is what you are after, just keep it clean and dry, and let the “patina” develop. Keeping it shiney means you’re keeping it exposed. 
Continual wiping with a soft, dry cloth, and eventually you’ll develop a happy medium between both.
Personally, I prefer to enjoy a bit of patina on my metal whistles. I don’t have the time or inclination to chase tarnish, and don’t really care. I call it “character” and embrace it.
I guess I’m a sucker for a shiny whistle. And I think my perspiration might be a little acidic. I get some dark discoloration around the fingerholes. Not an overall even tarnish or “patina” but a splotchiness that I find unattractive. So about once every six weeks or so I polish the whistles until they shine like new. Just takes a few minutes.
How about using jewellers rouge, a tiny bit on a lintfree cloth, to buff it up? It is just a fine iron oxide powder, sold in block form or as paste, and quite cheap. Used for millennia on the skin as a pigment, should be pretty harmless.
And has anyone used Renaissance Wax Polish for preserving the metal of whistles? I haven’t, but I am curious.
Hans–there’s one thing odd about how my Bracker whistles (soprano D and C) tarnish. The D whistle will start to show tarnish around the finger holes and tuning slide after about a month. Meanwhile, the C whistle is showing little or no tarnish at all and I bought it before the D whistle. Now, I play the D quite a bit more than the C (about 3 to 1) but after about six months I would think the C would show at least some tarnish. But it doesn’t. I was wondering if you applied some kind of coating or finish to the C whistle but not the D whistle.
No, I don’t coat the whistles. I don’t polish them either. I use 1200grit metal paper to get a satin finish, as I am not aiming for high gloss. then I wash everything in warm water with washing up liquid, and wipe the exterior dry. I don’t know why your C tube should behave different than your D tube, the tubing is the same.
I find a glossy finish on aluminium difficult to maintain, as the tubes gather fine scratches so easily. A matt or satin finish masks these better.
Yes, I’ve been using an impregnated rouge cloth for years, and it works well.
Not the fancy Renaissance wax, but I’ve used Meguiar’s Yellow Wax (which is mostly carnauba) with good results.
Hans–Possibly what explains the difference is that I often play the D whistle for an hour or longer (with only short breaks) which gives my hands plenty of time to work up a sweat whereas I usually play the C whistle for about 30 minutes at a stretch–maybe not enough time to start perspiring. I believe perspiration is the cause of the tarnish. But no matter as the polish can keep both whistles looking sharp. Also, I’ll try to find the wax polish you mentioned. Should be worth trying. But so far neither whistle is showing any scratches that I can see.