How to Care for Your Instrument
DO:
Keep your instrument dry. This means wiping any moisture from the inside with a thin, clean cloth like a large handkerchief.
Wipe finger marks off with a non treated cloth. You’ll need to do this usually within half an hour of using the instrument, otherwise tarnish will start to occur. Most manufacturers now supply these cloths with instruments.
When it comes to cleaning parts of the instrument that you cannot reach and are not absolutely certain you can clean without damaging it, leave it to a competent repairer.
Wash your hands before playing.
Clean your teeth before playing so you don’t get bits of food in the instrument or onto the pads. Your breath speed is at least 100 kilometres per hour when playing, so anything left over after lunch will soon end up in the instrument!
Develop your finger technique so that you use light finger action.
Assemble and dismantle the instrument properly by holding it without squeezing the keys.
Clean the moisture out of a wooden instrument as moisture will quickly swell the wood and cause it to split.
When traveling in a car, place your instrument on the floor or in a secure bag in case of a collision or having to stop in a hurry. Your instrument can become a projectile which can injure the occupants of the car or damage the instrument.
Have your instrument serviced by a competent repairer every twelve to eighteen months. Make the booking well in advance as good repair technicians are in high demand. Flutes & Flutists and Notus Winds have a service division that are renowned worldwide and trusted by professionals all around Australia and overseas. We provide complete guarantee for our work and your satisfaction, or your money back, so you can have absolute peace of mind.
DON’T:
Put the damp cloth back inside the case as it will just leave moisture with the instrument.
Subject your instruments to sudden temperature changes, especially leaving them in a parked car when it might get very hot.
Use chemically impregnated silver cloths on the instrument, as the fine chemicals in the cloth can be abrasive and will also damage the pad surfaces.
Ever leave the instrument on a couch or bed. Sooner or later, someone is sure to sit on it and it’s very difficult and expensive to then fix. In some cases, it may not be repairable at all.
Use vaseline on the joints. It attracts dust and causes the metal surfaces to grip.
Use cigarette papers to clear moisture from the pads. They usually have an ingredient that slows down burning but this also damages and could get stuck to the padskin and tear it off. Use the cloth you use for swabbing the moisture out of the instrument (such as the large handkerchief) but don’t press hard, only enough to soak up the moisture, and don’t pull it across the pad, only use dabbing motions.
Lean on your instrument. A common cause of instruments and mechanisms becoming slightly bent is when young students are at band or orchestra practice and they lean forward to talk with their friends. Without realising, they put pressure on the instrument and this bends it slightly but enough to cause significant issues to its playability.
Slap the keys (if not required from the music). Hitting the keys does not get any more sound from the instrument and causes early loss of adjustment.
Oil your instrument’s mechanism. If you have it serviced regularly, it should not need oiling until the next service. However, if you absolutely must oil it yourself, use Mobil One oil. To apply the oil use only what you can pick up on the eye of a needle and touch the joint where the rods move. The oil should soak into the crack. Remove any excess with a tissue or cloth as you do not want any oil to contact the pads or run onto the rest of the instruments and collect unnecessary dust.