Hmm, well, I’m sure this topic has been brought up lots by newcomers like myself, but when I did a search, all that came up was oil and politics…not that i’m not interested in that, but…I am curious what kind of oil you are using on your flutes? I’ve read several different recommendations online and from makers, but I’d like to know more from personal experience why you use one over another.
thanks!
You should go with what your maker suggests, though opinions vary.
One of my makers actually advises against oiling, on the grounds that blackwood is a naturally resinous wood and doesn’t need it.
Another recommends almond oil, which is what I use. I get it from the health section at the local supermarket, pure almond oil with tocopherol (Vitamin E) - it’s sold as an aromatherapy product, and is a lot cheaper than stuff from the chemist (pharmacist). Does the job nicely and the maker in question concurs.
You’ll probably get a lot more responses than mine though, it can be an emotive subject!
Pharmaceutical-grade almond oil. Easy to find, good smell, doesn’t give (me) allergies, works perfectly well.
I’ve used linseed oil, too. But it’s difficult to find a really clean one, with no chemical additives, and the smell is weird (but I like it 
).
I read some people used camelia oil, or greases of animal origin…
I tend to oil a lot. At least one or two times per month. I like the sound of a recently oiled flute.
But I met people who never oiled their instruments.
Completely agree with GaryKelly.
Like to add I use to use walnut oil, now I use almond oil. Commercial bore oil stinks and made my fifes almost unplayable until the smell died down. Use to use walnut, now almond.
Hmmm, I use almond oil with vitamin E also. I can only find it at the whole foods market,
(which about a year ago, one of them actually renamed itself from ‘Bread and Circus’ to
‘Whole Foods Market’ … an interesting marketing strategy, perhaps, so that when people
say ‘at the whole foods market’ the people hearing my think what is meant is ‘at the Whole Foods
Market’ hmm? )
Anyway, it’s in with a bunch of other nut oils and such. The regular supermarkets don’t seem
to carry fifteen different oils, but not Almond. It’s only a few bucks for a lifetime supply of it
in terms of oiling flutes.
Although it might be smarter to just use some of it for cooking a buy it a again every year
or two. Even with vitamin E added, I’m not sure I’d still want to be using 10 year old oil.
Though mine is 3 years old and still look and smells the same as ever.
Where on earth do you find ‘pharmaceutical grade’ almond oil?
This is a huge subject for any wood instrument. I have heard professional oboists who say “nothing,” others who say “Thompson Water Seal” and everything in between. I use Almond oil, but I am no expert.
Disclaimer: I would not go with Thomposon’s water seal! I just thought you all would be interested (amused? angered?) to hear what some people will do to a perfectly good instrument :roll:
Hi Chris,
Here (in France) supermarkets don’t have a “health section”. Pharmacists are strongly protected by the law against supermarkets.
So the only way to find almond oil is in a pharmacy… Sometimes in vegeterian food stores too, but this one is not “pharmaceutical” 
(OT: I remember some years ago in Ireland (it’s probably still that way) you let your camera films in pharmacies for processing. All my french friends found that incredible 
)
Oh, there’s a misunderstanding here. The ‘Health Food’ section of the supermarket is where you find herbal tea, soy milk, sugar-free salt-free flavor-free whole wheat crackers made with 100% organically grown whole wheat lovingly hand picked and ground with mortar and pestle, and so on.
The aisle with over-the-counter medicines is sometimes called the ‘Health and Beauty’ section, or something like that, but that’s not the kind of ‘health’ section that was being discussed and you woudn’t find almond oil or almond-flavored rice milk there. Err. You woudn’t find food-type oil there. I’ve never seen pharmaceutical almond oil, but then, I’ve never really looked for it since it never occured to me it would exist.
I don’t know about Ireland, but in America we can still take film to the pharmacy for developing. For that matter, at most pharmacies we can buy milk, bread, a tin of coffee, ‘Princess Diaries 2’ on DVD, purple nail polish, a screwdriver, an emergency sewing kit, 60 watt light bulbs, a notebook, and a ballpoint pen that lights up when you use it.
My town has an old-fashioned pharmacy where they only sell medicine, bandages, vitamins, and other directly-health related things. Errr. Almost. For some reason they also sell little remote-control cars and keychain laser pointers. But no rack of Disney DVDs.
I must say I never went in an american pharmacy. But it seems that ours are only of the “old-fashioned” type 
Sorry about that misunderstanding.
Stores where you can buy all this stuff here are in general very small villages’ groceries, where everything (I mean everything) is available
But the product (almond oil with a drop of vitamin E) is probably exactly the same in France and in the US of A…
First, GaryKelly is exactly right: you should follow the oiling program your maker recommends.
I have followed Hammy Hamilton’s suggestions so far on all my wooden flutes, and (knock wood!) so far all is well.
He recommends oiling with cold-pressed linseed oil. For normal oiling, allow the flute to dry before oiling. Being careful to not get any on the pads, use a very light coat of oil on the bore–just enough to make it look shiny. Allow to dry overnight and then remove any remaining oil with a soft cloth.
For new flutes he recommends oiling once a day for the first week, then once a week for the next month, then once a month from that point on.
Be careful to not use too much oil–it is better to use too little than too much. You want just barely enough to make the surface of the bore look shiny.
Linseed oil is a drying oil–it will harden through a process called polymerization. The purpose of oiling is to prevent cracking by sealing any end grain exposed in the bore. Oil will not enter blackwood except at the end grain.
–James
I’ve been using lindseed oil mainly and vitamin E occasionally, but I think I’m going to switch to bacon grease. (wiping off any excess with toast)
Aren’t there two kinds of lindseed oil? I thought that the cold pressed was not the kind that hardens. Boiled linseed oil does harden, though, I think. And I think, but I’m not sure, that the boiled linseed oil is the kind that everyone says to avoid? 
Yes, avoid boiled linseed oil.
There is a type of linseed oil that has no chemical additives use that one.
Matt_Paris wrote:
Here (in France) supermarkets don’t have a “health section”. Pharmacists are strongly protected by the law against supermarkets.
So the only way to find almond oil is in a pharmacy… Sometimes in vegeterian food stores too, but this one is not “pharmaceutical”
Matt, here in France, I buy my almond oil from hypermarkets (skin care section) at a very affordable price (about 4 euro/5 US dollars for 100ml if my memory doesn’t fail me). One brand (Mercurochrome) comes with vitamin E, another (Vendome) is 100% pure.
I have more problems finding silicon grease for the tenons. Any tips?
Pierre
Also … bits of torn-off wax paper, cling wrap – or in a pinch, paper towel – are a good, quick, and easy way to protect pads when oiling.
Finally, don’t forget to hit the insides of the fingerholes as well as the tenon ends, socket joints and the like – anywhere where condensation might accumulate. Q-tips are good for this.
Hi Pierre, (I love speaking english to french people)
Actually I play a lot (really a lot) of traditionnal woodwinds. And I don’t use almond oil only for instruments. So I buy it in 1l bottles, thanks to a pharmacist friend, for something like 15 euros I don’t have to go to french pharmacies… And I don’t drive, so I can’t go to hypermarkets easily from Paris.
For the tenons, I always used sax (or clarinet) cork grease. It’s more and more expensive, but it works well… I don’t think it’s silicon, though.
Where are you in France?
CB recommends either raw linseed or almond with the water impurities decanted…I am leaning towards raw linseed (I’m pretty sure I can smell it on my flute) but cannot find it anywhere…I make natural herbal products, so I’m pretty familiar with almond oil (and it’s tendency to go rancid…blech.)
If you use raw linseed, where do you find it? I went to our local corporate art/craft places and they don’t have it.
Erica
So, since some of you are using walnut and other oils, is it OK to use any kind of raw, unrefined oil? I actually buy unrefined, cold pressed olive oil by the 5 gallons. Would that work?
Erica
Both cold-pressed linseed oil and boiled linseed oil polymerize; the boiled version does it much faster than the cold-pressed version.
If you don’t particularly like the smell of linseed oil, there are also commercial bore oils which behave similarly but do not have the slight color and smell of linseed oil.
–James
Finding unrefined raw linseed oil has become a bit of an issue… I think that may be why Casey started recommending almond.
Olive is a bit iffy.
If an oil goes rancid over time adding vitamin E to it before using it should help.