Care & Maintenance of your Flute

With good care and occasional maintenance, your flute should last a lifetime.

Good care entails cleaning the flute after every session, with your cleaning rod and a small cotton cloth. This will prevent the inevitable build-up of moisture from soaking into the bore of the flute. Leave the flute out of the box or bag for a bit after cleaning to allow it to dry out.

Don't leave your flute anywhere it will get too hot or cold - try to store it in a consistent state of temperature and humidity.

Occasionally, treat the bore with a bore seal, or with pure Tung Oil - perhaps every week for the first couple of months, and a couple of times a year after that. Bore seal is available in musical instrument stores that carry woodwind instruments and pure Tung Oil is available from Lee Valley. Five or six drops in each end of the body of the flute, spread with a very small cloth in your cleaning rod will do the job. The same amount inserted through the embouchure hole will take care of the head joint.

The outside finish can be renewed as often as you wish. Rub some pure raw linseed oil on to the flute with a soft cloth. Wipe off the excess after about ten minutes, and buff with a clean soft cloth to restore the instrument to its original lustre. Raw linseed oil penetrates fairly deep into the wood, which preserves it as well as providing a very nice finish - the more often it is applied, the better the finish becomes. Don't do this just before a session, as it takes several days to dry fully.