a little isoprophyl (rubbing alcohol) is fine

[flutego12]

Hi ! wow there is quite a lot of responses there - I hope you got your answer.

PREP GENERAL: Depending on how precious the flute is, some ppl brush their teeth & wash their hands (guilty!) and watch what they eat before playing the flute. Avoid acidic (sweets, soda) or oily foods. At least, wash & dry your hands, rinse out your mouth prior to playing if you can.

FINGER MARKS: However having moderately oily skin base I sometimes find murky finger markings along the flute which I can't stand either. Ppl say not to leave them too long. Wipe your flute down the minute you finish playing before putting your flute away. A light dry wipe using Jupiter blue microfibre cloth does an amazing job (see Carolyn Nussbaum's). If you use cotton polishing cloth, then you may need 1-2 drops alcohol or water to help remove them.

TARNISH: My second hand Yamaha flute came with a little tarnish build up in the usual places (along the rib construction on the body). Polish cloths were bulky and frowned upon as they contain chemical particles which threaten your pads, moist cloth didn't help either - in the end 1-2 drops of isoprophyl alcohol (from the supermarket) on a cotton bud worked like magic. The bud improves reach and just a light rubbing action sees tarnish come off like magic. No marks or residue. No stripping of plating.

LIP PLATE: On the lip plate, otoh I use a drop of water and lightly wipe off with cotton polishing or microfibre cloth. Amazing shine! For some reason, isoprophyl leaves some marks or residue on my (gold)plated lip plate - chem reaction perhaps. I then still have to use that drop of water to remove it.

Good luck.

newbie & compulsive polisher