Okay. I recently aquired an amazing whistle from Paul Busman. It is made from pink ivory, the color of which is on the darker side of the scale. It looks, plays and sounds absolutly heavenly to me! The craftmanship on this thing is one of those things I think a person would have to see to fully appreciate. Should Paul start making whistles in other keys, I am so there… though I promise to choose a better to work with wood the next time, like tulipwood or something. Needless to say I love this whistle and don’t want anything bad to happen to it! So I’ve been trying to learn all I can about caring for wooden whistles.
There have been several helpful threads within the last while:
Oiling was covered pretty good. But I have had a tricky time finding anything much that referred to cases for them. At the end of the latter thread there is brief mention of using a rubbermaid container with a cigar humidifier inside to store wood whistles in. Then in a really recent thread, Review](http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=11629%22%3EReview): Hard case for one soprano whistle, made by Bryan Poe concern was raised about cases being too air tight, mildew occuring from too much moisture, even perhaps wood warping.
But aren’t rubbermaid and similar containers air tight? I live in a fairly dry area and want to keep my whistle safe when I am not playing it (well, safe when I am playing it to, but anyhow…). I saw a nice plastic container that looked solid, the right size, and was thinking with some soft padding to keep the whistle from bouncing around inside it might work for a quick solution as I really need to figure out something here soon. But it was pretty airtight. I don’t want mildew on my whistle or the padding inside. But then it was said that they need to keep some moisture with it to keep it from drying out. But then you don’t want too much (or too much change in the moisture conditions) as that’s why you oil the whistle before playing and not immediatly after to not seal that moisture in??? My brain is starting to get a cramp here. Help?!
So what do other folks use to store their wooden whistles in when they are not being played? Details?
Right now I’m just keeping my Busman in the little fleece carrying case it came with (to keep it from scratches), but dry summer is just around the corner, so I’m trying to think of something too. I would think that dry air would be a bigger problem than moist air, but that’s just guessing.
If whistle wood reacts anything like guitar wood, dry air is definitely the enemy. Perhaps keeping it stored in a humidor device (such as those for cigars)?
Paul probably has the best answer, though.
Caution with airtight humidors! They build up mildew.
A good humidor should be made of unvarnished cuban mahoganny, because it breathes. Even with this, cigars have to be inspected about once a month, which takes care of ventilating them. Now I guess wooden whistles would be less prone to mildew.
For D whistles, I use a leather case made for one looong havana cigar (double corona).
It’s designed like two half-tubes, one slightly larger in bore to overlap over the other. This way, the length is “telescopic”, adapted to the whistle inside (soprano C being about the max. size). The inside diameter is ideally adapted to wooden whistles, if a bit loose for my metal instruments.
It looks beautiful, it won’t scratch wood and it’s rigid enough. It’s fine leather, so it “breathes” and isn’t designed totally airtight anyway.
It looks so good I’m trying to track down the manufacturer: my favourite wood whistle maker would like to order them in quantities to make it the standard cases for his high D’s.
Of course, for extra security in hazardous transport, one could use it as the liner for a plumbing PVC tubular crate…
Now there are similar cases made for two to four cigars.
The interesting point is the same makers will supply “dummy” cigars, which are in fact moisture cartridge, turning the case in a portable humidor.
I probably wrote the post you referred to. I’ve kept my whistles in a rubbermaid with a cigar humidifier for over a year, no signs of mildew. The humidifier is pretty good about keeping the box around 60-70% (except when I stupidly put non-distilled water in it), which I don’t think is high enough to cause mildew to grow. Also, I suspect regular oiling keeps it from growing. I do most of mine once a month inside and out; less often for blackwood, and I don’t take keyed flutes apart to oil the outsides very often.
I do keep meaning to make a wood-and-glass case for them, but it’s never reached the top of my projects list, plus our collection isn’t complete yet.
I’ve been told that rapid swings in humidity are worse than just plain dryness. For example, if it’s been cool and it suddenly starts pouring outside, I’ve measured the indoor humidity going from 40% to 80% in a few hours. If it keeps raining, the indoor RH might stay at 70% for a few days, which can wreak havoc on a wooden whistle. I suspect if it rains and then gets cold, the same thing would happen in reverse, which would probably be worse for a wooden whistle with a tuning slide. That’s the primary reason I keep them in a controlled atmosphere.
Edited to add: I guess the conventional wisdom, which Zoob alludes to, has that the sealed box isn’t really a problem, or not nearly as much of a problem, if it’s opened frequently. Much of the time, I’m opening my box daily. At the worst, when I’m on vacation, it might go a week or two without fresh air.
Also: Zoob, great avatar – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a triskelion running before!
I hadn’t thought about it, but I generally keep my wooden whistle in the same box that I keep my others in. If I know I’m not going to play it I put it in a rec*rder slip case thing. It doesn’t get any special kind of controlled humidity box or container and hasn’t cracked.
I do oil it more than I probably have to, but that doesn’t hurt.
Sunny, it’s a climate thing. Sorry, but it’s never going to be happy in Utah. It needs cool, damp weather – like in the Pacific NortWest. If you ship it out to me I’ll gladly store it in a more hospitable environment, free of charge.
FWIW-- I keep my own whistles out in the open on a rack in the shop. I like looking at them, and hate to store them out of sight. I really don’t think that a well ooiled whistle absorbs or loses huge amounts of moisture due to changes in humidity. I DO definitely recommend drying excess moisture out of the whistle after playing, especially long sessions. For carrying whistles to sessions or traveling, I use a very early prototype Tuffbaggs case ( it may actually be the first whistle case they ever made, for a Copeland I had without a case). Sometimes if I am only carrying one whistle, I take it apart and carry the pieces wrapped in a bandana.
Someone mentioned humidifiers like those used for guitars, but a wooden guitar is a whole different situation. The wood inside is unfinished, and so it absorbs and loses a LOT more moisture.
Thanks for chiming in, Paul, this whole discussion was giving me the willies! But it makes sense that finished, oiled wood could be stored fine in the open. After all, people don’t keep antique furniture in a humidor. So, I’m off to get some bore oil and a swab!
Thanks everyone for your input! As much as I like looking at this whistle, storing it out in the open isn’t going to be a good option for now. I live in a home with small curious children and a cat who likes to bat at things and knock them over. Unless I had a really nice case that hung on the wall or something, which isn’t going to be able to be right now unfortunatly.
I think I’m going to get this tupperware thing… nice one at Target, really solid, and doesn’t have some brand name plastered all over the lid. Add some padding from my sewing stash and poof! An inexpensive, quick solution. Maybe I will get something nicer later. Glad to hear that I really won’t have to worry about mildew, as I play this enough it will get the needed fresh air. As for a humidifier, I saw some on ebay, but the person was charging way too much I thought… especially on the shipping. But if I run into one around here locally… well, we’ll just have to see. As it was pointed out, perhaps just a good regular oiling will do the trick. Speaking of which… (goes off to oil whistle).
From the voice of experience: Airtight “RubberMaid” type containers used with a humidifier are fine AS LONG AS YOU OPEN THE CONTAINER REGULARLY, which means every week at least. I stored my wooden whistles and flutes this way for three years (at approx 60%RH according to my hygrometer) with zero cracks, warps, mold or mildew. However, over the last few weeks I haven’t played a note, have been traveling, and therefor didn’t open my trusty instrument storage box until today, and guess what? Mold/Mildew O’rama! Take from this what you will.
Now, if anyone happens to know the best way to clean that crap off wood and sterilize my instruments, please let me know
Wipe with a cloth soaked in Dakin’s antiseptic solution ( http://www.whonamedit.com/synd.cfm/426.html ) available from any drugstore. It’s the mildest antiseptic I know of, works well on mildew. Wipe dry after 5 minutes.
To prevent reappearance of mildew:
Radical way: the container may be permanently cured by spraying a sulphur-based powder, obtained from gardening supplies. Excess powder may be brushed off. I used this once and for all in a infected cigar humidor.
An alternative way is smoking the box (and whistles), like a kipper i.e. keeping it for an hour in the smoke of moist wood or sawdust. A BBQ can be used as makedo smoking apparatus, in a mildly windy day. Remember that the antifungal property of smoke is kept even if you keep the items to be cured at safe distance from heat.
Choose the wood according to your taste… hickory OK but this sends us back to the ole beef jerky thread.
“storing it out in the open isn’t going to be a good option for now. I live in a home with small curious children and a cat who likes to bat at things and knock them over. Unless I had a really nice case that hung on the wall or something,”
I bought a couple of wooden racks at WalMart in the sewing department. They are sold as thread holders__ a wooden rack with a series of pegs to hold spools of thread. These have wooden legs to allow them to sit on a table, but I drilled holes at the top of the racks and mounted them on the wall. They don’t actually look that bad, and hold quite a few whistles or parts thereof. They can be mounted as high up as you want to keep them out of reach of all critters, feline or human…
Nice try. 
Take from this what you will.
i.e. keeping it for an hour in the smoke of moist wood or sawdust. A BBQ can be used as makedo smoking apparatus, in a mildly windy day. Remember that the antifungal property of smoke is kept even if you keep the items to be cured at safe distance from heat.