I just received my Burke D Session Brass this morning. After playing it for about an hour or so I’m noticing that my “toxic death sweat” which corrodes mandolin and bouzouki strings in short order will also impact the finish on the brass of the whistle. So, should I:
a) invest in some brass polish and a bunch of rags
b) look at the tarnish as “battle scars” and enjoy them
c) learn to play while wearing cotton gloves
I’d imagine that I’m not the only one with an electron imbalance. What do the lot of you do?
Well, if you know you have skin that tends to be corrosive, probably one of the best things you can do, whether you use polish or not, is to keep a soft cloth handy, and after playing your whistle, use the cloth to gently remove any fingerprints from the metal.
A well-loved whistle develops a patina during normal use. This patina actually isn’t a form of corrosion, it’s actually rather just a layer of hard, oxidized metal, and it tends to serve as a barrier, helping to protect the metal underneath it from anything corrosive in the environment.
That said, there’s nothing wrong with polishing your whistle from time to time. As long as your careful not to get polish into the windway or on the blade, it shouldn’t harm the whistle.
Note that you shouldn’t routinely polish plated metal. If you should ever have a plated whistle–they do exist, I have one–I would advise against using any kind of polish or impregnated cloth on it.
Although I mostly play my own plastic whistles, I still have my orginal Generation, with the fingermarks tarnished into it. I have buffed it up a bit from time to time, but I’m proud of those fingermarks. It shows it was and is a loved instrument.
To keep my guitar/mando strings fresh longer (change every two weeks instead of weekly…) wash your hands with a drop of dish detergent or castile (bronners) soap before you play. Use a dab of hand cream works too, after you wash your hands.
My brass whistle tarnishes too. I personally like the look of a well worn instrument, so I don’t mess with it. Brass polish technically scratches the metal on a microscopic level. Tarn-x chemically removes the tarnish instantly. Problem is, you’ll need to wipe the whistle down with something like sewing machine oil or it will begin oxidizing again instantly.
Brass instruments like trumpets are lacquered. Lots of pros remove that from the bell.
Hey, Thomaston…
I know it’s a long drive from Auburn, but if you’re ever in the Huntsville area on a Thurs night, you have an open invitation to join our session at Finnegan’s Pub. We have some excellent players and always have a good time. Good crowd. Free drinks (including Guinness) and snacks for the musicians. Starts around 7pm and we quit around 10:30 or so.
In fact, the invitation is open to all here. If you’re in the area, please stop in and bring your instruments.
Geeeeez, I just leave my brass Burke Low D just the way it is, frankly I like the look of the tarnish or what ever it’s called. I just don’t like the idea of chemicals on the instrument; just a personal thing I guess. I do clean the inside of the whistle as Mike suggests, using one or two drops of dish soap in 2 or 3 ounces of water and turning the whistle upside down and letting some of the water run through the wind way. Also use alcohol to clean the bottom part of the whistle, being careful not to get any into the deron. Don.
Your “Toxic Death Sweat” is High-Salt Acid. I suggest a complete heavy polish job, followed by a couple coats of hard paste wax. The wax will wear off in time, but this will slow the process dramatically (unless you like Green Fingers?).
Expensive method: Apply “Gold Leaf” over the brass. Burnish to a high shine and spray on a polymer clear coat. This will last at leat a year with no maintenance.
If you change you strings every 2 weeks, what are you doing with that brass bead at the end of the string? I’ve made necklaces with those beads. Right now, I have more than enough colored D’Addario beads to make a rosary with each decade being a different color but I’m waiting for a bass player to change his stings. The bigger beads could be the our Father beads.
I never polish mine. My old scabby, blue-moldy and yet strangely expensive whistles are much less likely to walk off on their own when left unattended at a session, as compared to some highly polished bit of eye candy. I just want to keep the tuning slide clean and lubed, and the windway clean.
I vaguely remember reading that there’s a color you’re supposed to polish out due to being toxic. Blue, red, green? I can’t recall what that color was. Seems like only certain alloys would get it.
Now that’s interesting…I must have thrown away about a million of those ball-ends over the last 40 years. My daughters could have been making cool jewelry out of them…guess I’ll start cutting them off! Thanks!
By the way…another easy tarnish repellent for brass/silver is a light wipedown with a WD-40 impregnated cloth, after playing. Silicone is even better but WD-40 is cheap and works just peachy. (after playing my whistles, I generally toss them up on the desk like an old ball point pen… )
hhm i’m wondering if unpainted whistles tarnish? i have an unpainted natural tin finish original clarke whistle, i rather have it remain nice and shiny so i wonder if i need to spray with some kind of varnish (?) before it starts getting that used look? would that work though…?
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