Cleaning Your Flute

After you use your flute and before you store it, you must always remember to clean or dry it. This is because when you blow into the flute, moisture forms inside which can cause the pads to deteriorate. Here are some tips on how to clean your flute properly.

• Use a clean cloth (flannel cloth or a J cloth is good as long as it's not too long or too short) to clean the inside of your flute.

• Fold the cloth lengthwise in half and thread the edge of the cloth through the slot on the cleaning rod.

• The cloth must be wrapped snugly on the edge of the rod so you'll be better able to clean the inside of your flute.

• Wrap the rest of the cloth tightly around the rod and securely hold the end of the cloth and rod with your hand to avoid bunching up and getting stuck when cleaning the inside of the flute.

• Now push the cloth-covered rod all the way inside your flute and twist it as you move in and out. Be very careful when doing this. The head joint is the part of the flute that gets the most moisture so be sure to give it a thorough drying.

• The outside of the flute may be cleaned by gently using a clean damp cloth. Microfibre cloth is a good choice.

• Another good product that will make flute cleaning easier is using a flute flag. You can find this product online on websites like the Flute Flag Homepage and Flute World.

Now you can store your flute in its case when you're not using it. This will ensure that your flute will last longer and perform well.

Here's a video showing how to clean a flute courtesy of YouTube.