I recently came into a Sweetheart Professional Whistle. I bought it three years ago as a gift for my brother. It came back to me a few months ago after he passed away. I don’t think he ever played it much.
It is a laminated wood instrument and quite nice. If I recall correctly, the material was called Dymondwood or something close to that.
My questions are about what seems to me to be a persistent chemical smell, and even taste. I don’t know if someone might have tried to sanitize it or clean it with alcohol, but there is a definite chemical presence here. I’m not usually very sensitive to this sort of thing, but it really does bother me.
I have several other Sweetheart instruments and this is the only one which has this issue. Anybody else have this experience? Any suggestions for getting rid of the smell?
Hi John- I recall the chemical odor but it did dissipated over time. You probably need to leave it out of the plastic bag to allow it to air out, though. The smell didn’t stop me from playing the whistle, but I’m more sensitive to food odors than chemical ones.
I’ve had a couple of the older models for several years. They both had a rather strong odor when they were new, but it did go away after a while. My guess is that it might be the finish you smell. These are pretty big sellers and are often coming right out of the shop to you. My D whistle had the strongest odor, and being the more popular item, I assumed it had ben shipped nearly wet to keep up with demand. I also had one of the new Resonance flutes. Although it was made of solid Blackwood, it had a mild odor at first.
I’d simply leave it for a while, unassmbled, to air out. Have you contacted the Sweets? They are really nice people and can advise you best.
Dymondwood is a wood laminate impregnated with phenolic resins which have that peculiar chemical odor. Keep the whistle out of it’s case, in a nice airy place and in time it will dissipate (although there may always be a bit of an odor).
Thanks to those of you who replied. I think now the odor/taste is from the material itself. I don’t believe there is a finish on the instrument, that being a “synthetic” material there was no need for one. So I’ll leave it out of the nylon bag and see if a little fresh air and (not direct) sunlight help. If not, you may see it up for sale to someone less sensitive than me. By the way, the technical term for vapors coming off fairly new paint, plastics, new cars, etc. is “off-gassing.” It often takes a long time for solvents to work themselves out of seemingly “dried” surfaces. But since this whistle is several years old, I thought the process would have been nearly complete by now. But as I said before, the instrument may have been stored and not used much.
I’ve had good experiences with the Sweets in the past. But if I were going to order another instrument like this, I’d ask if they were still using the same supplier for this material. Or I’d bite the bullet and pay the extra for a solid wood instrument.
It is strange sometimes the sensitivities we develop as we get older. My mother became allergic to shellfish. My wife can’t eat salmon any more. And I’ve become really intolerant of noisy drunks!
You’re right-- the Dymondwood does not have any finish applied. It is polished with very fine abrasives as it spins on the lathe and takes a nice high gloss.
The Sweets are using a different laminated product now-- I forget the name.
Walt sent me a piece and it worked very nicely, but still had a chemical smell.