Hi all,
I am a new Irish flute player from Italy. Could you please give me some advise for cleaning the saliva near the embouchure? 
I tried by lightly oil the part but the area remains opaque. Any suggestion?
Many thanks to all!
I would think a damp cloth would be best. 
(Oil would cover it over, or mix in with it, Iād imagine.)
Sometimes the flute gets less shiny where the skin contacts the flute. This can be a transfer of body oils or if the flute had a shellac finish it may be wearing off. You are less likely to get saliva on a flute. I would just make sure the flute is dry by gently rubbing with a dry cloth and live with it. If you can post pictures we can be more helpful.
I canāt open the image. I am not sure how to upload an image on this site, so I canāt advise you on that one. Perhaps someone else can help.
Hereās the image, you just need to click the āImgā button above the text entry box, and past the URL between the tags:
Thanks. I am a bit of a idiot in many internet things. I think you have a shellac finish and this is responding to the sweat where your chin makes contact with the flute. I would not worry about it. It may not be as pretty as it was when it was new but it will mark you as a person who plays their instrument.
Much like your grandmotherās end table would make a ring when you set down a drinking glass without a coaster, varnish finishes may turn white when exposed to moisture. If your really need to get rid of it I would research āHow to remove water rings from furnitureā and pick a method that is not toxic. They range from mixing oil with vinegar to using mayonnaise. I am not sure I would bother. Make sure you donāt use anything you wouldnāt want to ingest or expose your skin to. Some people have reported irritations on their skin from playing the flute. So adding an additional chemical may not be a good idea.
Any experts out there? Could Conical Bore just wipe the headjoint down with vinegar and then oil it?
I would definitely wait for more opinions on this. It looks like a fair number of people are reading this post.
Shellac is not outside the realm of possibility, but neither is it the first likelihood. Before I developed my blackwood sensitivity and had to use lip plates, all my flutes - none of them shellacked, lacquered or varnished - eventually became discolored at the same spot, and I saw that this was true of other peopleās well-played flutes, too. At first I tried oiling, but with dark woods what you see there is actually a bleaching, so oiling didnāt really make a difference. The issue isnāt saliva, but sweat and skin oils, and the chemistry of their salts and the like varies from person to person, so the intensity of discoloration will also vary from person to person. In the end I just took it as a given. Were I to buy a used flute I would expect to see the same discolored patch to some degree, and if it wasnāt there I would assume the owner had hardly played it, if at all.
It may be that some peopleās well-used flutes donāt show the same patch, but I would count that unusual, and chalk it up to their bodily chemistry. Or a beard.
That was my philosophy.
Both my flutes (blackwood and cocus) will tend to show a slightly lighter-colored patch in that area after a while, but not to the extent of the OPās photo. If itās a shellacked flute, that might be why itās more prominent. Both of my headjoints are bare wood.
When the discoloration around the embouchure hole starts to annoy me, I just rub a very small amount of cork grease over that area and the rest of the headjoint. This immediately makes the patch disappear and look dark and shiny, like the rest of the flute. That wonāt work on a shellac finish, but if itās just dried-out wood in that area, then it might work better than oil. Cork grease is a slightly more persistent barrier than oil.
Never thought of cork grease.
I got that idea from the flute care instructions for my Windward keyless D flute. It recommends using āwinding waxā for care of the exterior, to wit:
Windings wax also helps protect the exterior finish. Rub it on the external surfaces around the embouchure and toneholes and wherever perspiration and skin contact might wear at the finish. Friction softens the wax, so after rubbing it in vigorously, remove what is left by polishing the flute with a soft cotton cloth, until the flute shines.
I donāt have their proprietary windings wax (didnāt come with the flute), but Iām assuming itās similar to beeswax and mineral oil, or beeswax and vaseline, any of those DIY thread waxes. Cork grease is not dissimilar, at least what I use ā a cheap lipstick-type container branded from a local music chain. So Iāve used cork grease to hold thread when wrapping or removing thread on a tenon, and to lubricate the tenons. It also works nicely as a cleaning/shining material around the embouchure hole and the outside of the flute in general.
I know some makers like toilet bowl seal wax for tenon thread, but thatās a little too stiff to use as a touch-up wax for the exterior of the flute. And then thereās the idea of using toilet bowl sealing wax against my chin and lower lipā¦ I know, itās irrational, but stillā¦
Finally, I have an ulterior motive in keeping the headjoint shiny with a wax finish applied frequently, and not just to polish up that dry area that develops around the embouchure hole. I have a fully-lined headjoint. Together with normal control of temp and humidity, I think it canāt hurt to keep the outside of the headjoint ever-so-slightly moistened with wax to keep it from drying on the outside and cracking. Probably just a placebo, but at least it looks nice and shiny.
If whatever it is is water soluble I wonder if oil would just seal it in.
I am inclined to defer to otherās experience here.
However, my practice is to give the flute a quick wipe over with a wet kitchen towel and dry it off, then put rather a lot of almond oil on before wiping that off and rubbing to a polish. My idea is that some things (sweat, dribble, beer etc) have water soluble components and others (oil from the skin, fingers, french fries etc) are more likely to be removed by oil. If I could see something that neither of those removed I might carefully try alcohol (one maker says he uses that on flutes that come in for service) but be prepared to have to give it a good oiling or waxing afterwards.
Caveat - my flute is mopane which tends to darken with age and goes dark again in a few days if condensation coming through the holes lightens it.
Thanks so much for all tour advises!
I knew that petrol-based material are not allowed, since they can affect the wood.
Wax is a good suggestion. I have another natural thing: karitĆØ butter. 
Iāll try it and let you know 
Thx again
Ciao from Italy
P.S.: It will often occur that Iāll maybe ask silly questions, but we have here less opportunity to ask someone about irish flute 
Rod Cameron sends (or at least used to send) about a 1 cm3 piece of carnuba wax out with his flutes. He suggested rubbing it where your lower lip goes in order to prevent this happening. Iāve used it on a couple of flutes and it can reverse the effect at least to some extent.
On the advice of Geoffrey Ellis, who made my Basketmaker flute, I use Claphamās Beeswax Polish.