Stupid Question time. My whistle has been making ugly sounds, the notes are really breathy and unsteady. The only thing I can figure is that the whistle is dirty. Do simple brass whistles need to be cleaned? With what???
Thanks folks.
Hi On THe Moor
Think everyone else is in religious fervour/political fervour/ drunk. There’s just you and me.
Get yourself a wee flashlight. Shine it down the noisehole and look down the blowhole. Crud will be in sharp relief and yes it’s the curse of sweet music. With the softest, thinnest, wettest arrangement of slivers of wood or plastic or steel dressed in slightly detergent-soaked tissue or cloth, clean that stuff out and flush it away under the faucet.
DONT damage the blade of the noisehole ( the thing you see down the far end of the blowhole ) or you’ll want to start acquiring more whistles, and then you’ll be on this goddamned website for years.
Still, there’s probably worse fates.
“A clean blowhole is next to godliness”. Discuss.
Good luck,
DR.
mild soap and warm water. If the head is removeable, you can use a recorder or flute swab to run through the tube.
Thanks guys, appreciate it, I’ll get right on it.
I’d suggest also cutting a narrow strip of business card (or similar), fold it in half (lengthwise), dip in some soapy water and then run the folded card through the windway, being sure to get the whole thing cleaned - front to back and side to side. You’d be surprised how much crap builds up in there, and the change in sound it may cause can be surprising.
Loren
Pray two Our Fathers and go watch the new Mel Gibson movie.
or you could shower your teeth http://web.dbtech.net/~suncastl/simon.htm
(i use waterpick http://www.cash-us.com/products/waterpik.htm 
)
In this particular situation, garlic is unlikely to help. 
Sometimes the block comes loose on whistles and will shift position and change the sound.
Give it a good cleaning first and see if that will work. If that doesn’t work, check the block out.
Sometimes a soft pipe-cleaner will do the trick
on the head. But not the kind with spikes
or bristles. Also the soft
wooden sticks Starbucks has to stir coffee. Best
Starbucks is the fascist coffee shop. Avoid it at all costs.