Clarification on the bleach - I only bleach when I have actual gunk visibly growing in the whistle, usually I just use soap and water. I’m not an antiseptic germo-phobe, (though maybe I should be. ) I will let most anyone play my whistles and will play offered whistles unless I know I have a cold or something, or I think the person I’m offering my whistle to has just eaten…
–NancyF
Wombat, Conn’s germicide works very well as a metal mouthpiece sterilizing agent (always had a couple of bottles in my band hall to use with my student’s horns). I don’t know if it is an effective sterilizing agent for wood though…
People are too hypochondriatic these days. Yes there are germs, and you should wash your hands after you potty and before you eat, and it’s probably a good idea to keep your paws away from your eyes, nose, and mouth as much as possible BUT you DO have an immune system. With the exception of young children, the elderly, and people with immune disorders, there’s no reason to be going into fits over wether or not your environment is 100% steril. As my mom always said, “you have to eat a pound of dirt before you can grow up.”
You wanna fight germs? Eat lots of vegetables. Take your daily multivitamin. Exercize. Laugh often. And stop worrying yourself to death!!
Blah…
(and I think the plain old soap-n-water idea is probably the best out of the whole bunch mentioned here)
I love that.
I agree with Sam. I can’t stress enough that the number one thing to do to prevent the spread of infection is wash your hands. The reason why so much infection is spread in hospitals is 1) there are a lot of sick people there but more importantly 2) Doctors and nurses are notoriously bad about washing their hands. You’d think that, being doctors and nurses and all, that they’d be careful about this clean hands business, but study after study have shown that it’s not done. So much so that CDC and other organizations are pushing the use of the rinseless antibacterial gels - not because they are better than soap and water, but because there’s a better chance that health care personnel will use them.
OK, I’m off my soapbox about handwashing 
.
Also, studies have shown that there is such a thing as being too clean - ironically, it leaves one more susceptible to infections, asthma, allergies and the like. Specifically, kids that are raised in super-clean homes have much greater rates of allergies and asthma.
That being said, it probably a good idea to wash off your whistle mouthpiece if you’re not sure where its been (or if you KNOW where its been and that worries you). Soap and water (I also agree that soap is very under-rated) should be adequate unless for some reason it’s spectacularly dirty.
Thanks Janice, I knew if I waited long enough I’d finally get an answer to that one.
BTW, I’m pretty much on the side of those who think we can be too concerned with sterility for our own good. But I am prone to respiratory infections which I would rather not pass on to others or pick up from others. I have one at the moment and would rather not reinfect myself and I have absolutely no intention of putting teh whistles aside until it clears up. Make sense? Well, it does to me.
BTW, Zub, how did you manage to give your wooden whistles athlete’s foot?
Well, isn’t it from being a real all-round athlete? 
Actually, I thought Nike was a brand of ocarina, because of the location of the lace holes. I had to check if it was chromatic, found out it was only aromatic.
Now I know better: I only buy scratch-strapped sneakers. Plain colour, with no critter glitter.
Anyone read lips? I think that’s what she’s saying.
I dunno; looks to me like, “All right…f*** you.” 
Hey all
For a summer I opened up my own icecream store and cafe. I had to get health permits etc and one of the stumbling blocks I had was that my dishwasher wasn’t hot enough to sterilize dishes. The health inspector had an easy solution.
Rinse the dishes in a solution of water and bleach, the bleach being a really small amount. (a couple of capfulls per sink I think) The trick was, we had to let the dishes AIR DRY. If you used a towel, it defeated the purpose. The bleach evaporated so there was none left on the dishes.
If this works on cutlery that goes in peoples mouths, it should work for whistles. I would wash with soap and water, then dip in the mild bleach solution then allow it to drip dry.
*Blood is different altogether. Some things in blood need heat to kill, so don’t use this method for first aid applications if you have a concern of contamination!!!
Sandy
“I’d like to ______ you.”
I can’t make out what _______ is, though. It looks like it might start with “s” or “th”. The way she says “you” is very weird. Sort of ‘you-ah’.
