Flute Maintenence- lip plate VERY tarnished

[flutegirl49]

The silver plated lip plate on my gemeinhardt 2sp is having problems..

one day after it was in its case for a day I noticed the lip plate became EXTREMELY rusted/tarnished... it was very dark from the tarnish and was a reddish/brownish color.. of course not a solid color .. it had a rusted look to it.. ( of course it wasnt rusted)

i used my polishing color that cleans silver (but is damaging to silver, but i use it anyway since its only a 2sp beginner flute) and it became fine.. but now it starting to become like this again after 2-3 weeks.. is there a specific reason to why this is happeneing?

[fluttiegurl]

There could be a number of things that are causing this. Do you wear any kind of cosmetics when you play? Even consider lotion, medication, etc. Do you leave your flute out of its case? Do you wipe your lip plate off after playing - what do you use? Be sure to use a clean, dry cloth with no chemicals on it every time you play. Tarnish is a chemical reaction that happens when the metal makes contact with the air (actually the polution in the air). Any of these mentioned factors could cause a reaction. You could have a very acidic face. I know that sounds strange, but it does happen, in which case the metal has a reaction to your skin. It is more common with acidic hands, but has the same effect on keys. Aklso remember that this flute is only silver plated. Silver polish cloths will take the finish off over time. I would suggest looking into a headjoint with a solid silver lip plate. You may also want to look into silver protector strips that are placed in the case. They do not remove existing tarnish, but they will help prevent more.