How to clear a sweet flute of plastic or wood?

A sweet plastic flute can be washed: clear it up, wash it with warm water (non-hot) and some soft soap, rinse it, remove and let it dry out. A wood can never get submerged: it dries inside with stick and cloth after touching and seizes from time to time without touching the block.

That's a simple instrument, but the part that produces the sound, the channel and the bezel of his head, is quite precise. That's why many "damaged flutes" were actually biting, washed with boiling water or scattered from inside.

To sum up

Plastic: washing with warm water and soft soap once a week if used daily and never boiling water or dishwasher.
A wood: never submerges and dries inside with a stick and cloth and seizes as indicated by the manufacturer.
Don't put anything hard into the channel or touch the bezel's edge: that's where the sound's born.
If it sounds with air, it's usually condensation water: cover the window with a finger and blow strongly, or heat your head before touching.
At school, every child with his or her flute marked and if we have to share his or her head washed between a student and another.

Plastic or wood flute: care changes completely

Beware of sweet flute according to its material
Aspecto	Plastic	Madera
Lavado	Yeah, with warm water and soft soap	Never, only dried with stick and cloth
After I play	Shag and stick with cloth	Always dry inside each part
Aceite	He doesn't have them.	That's right, at the inner tube, sometimes and without touching the block.
Harsh joints	A little tipstick for corks	The product as indicated by the manufacturer
Main risk	To be broken with heat, and to be bitten.	Fears for temperature changes or for touching them too much when new

Most of the flutes that they demand at schools are plastic and for starters it's best choice: it sounds good, holds the suit and can be washed. If you are choosing one, it's useful how to choose a sweet flute.

How to Wash A Sweet Plastic Flute

Unarm them by turning them carefully, without throwing them straight.
Fill a bowl with warm water, that you can touch with your hand and add a few drops of soft soap for loza.
Keep the pieces in the water for a few minutes. A soft bottle brush or stick with a cloth can be passed through the body and foot.
The head does not brush from inside the channel: it let water run through the channel and through the tube with nothing to put in.
rinse well with clear water.
Take out every piece and let them dry up and dry them up and put them up and put them up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and and up and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and
Just burn it up once it's completely dry.

With a flute that's been used about daily, a wash a week is enough. Never use boiling water, dishwasher, chlorine, alcohol or abrasive sponges: the plastic gets worse or gets worse and the channel's shape's lost. Don't put them in the sun to get them to dry up faster.

How to care for a sweet wood flute

After touching, clear and pass the stick with a dry cloth through the body and foot. On the head, dry the tube without touching the block and the channel.
Let her air a while before she's closed up in her case.
When new, touch them with little time a day during the first few weeks. The wood needs to get used to the moisture of the breath and to play straight hours from the start can sour them.
It tightens the inside of the tube from time to time with the oil that the manufacturer recommends and removes the excess. It never oils the channel and block: the block absorbs and swells.
Keep her far from windows, heaters and the sun.

If a crack appears, even if it's a minimum, don't touch it: get her to a wind instrument technician or a luthier.

The channel, the block and the bezel: the sensitive area

The head of the sweet flute has a channel through which the air passes, formed by a block (an internal stopper) and finished by a bevell, by the window. The sound is born as the air of the channel pits against that edge. A rayon, a notch or an inflamed block change the sound forever.

Don't put chopsticks, clips, wires and the end of the stick into the channel.
Do not touch or cleanse the bezel's edge with fingernails or objects.
Do not bite the nozzle: the entrance of the channel gets distorted. If your child does so, it's usually a sign of tension that's worth commenting with his teacher.
Do not blow with force so that it "sounds more": the sound will open and crumble and it's not the fault of the flute.

If it sounds with air or stops ringing

It's almost always condensation: drops of water inside the channel. Cover the window with a finger and blow strongly through the nozzle to push the water. To prevent it, heat his head between his hands or under his arm before playing, especially in the cold mornings of Bogotá or in an air-conditioned living room. If the problem remains with the dry flute, there can be some dirt in the channel or a bezel blow.

Hygiene while sharing the flute at school

The sweet flute is touched with his mouth, so the ideal thing is to avoid sharing. Some guidelines for dads and teachers:

Each child with his or her own flute, marked with his or her name on his or her cover and body, and not at his or her nozzle.
A single cover for each flute: No saving several joints in the same bag.
If you have to share a high school flute, wash your head with warm water and soap between a student and another and let them dry.
A weekly washing at home as a fixed routine, for instance every Friday.
If a child's cold, let him or her get his or her flute and wash at the end of the week.

The antibacterial gels and alcohol swabs can resect and leave a taste and tibia and soft soap are good for care every day. If your child's at the stage at which his or her school wants a flute, you can be interested with [6 to 8 year old music classes for children]](/blog/clases-de-musica-para-ninos-de-6-a-8-anos).

Common mistakes while saving them

Keep her moist at the cover, inside the morale, all day.
Put it into a fringes and put them next to a paper that tightens them up: the joints and nozzle are cracked.
To leave her in the car or by a window in the sun.
To arm and disarm them by throwing them in a straight line, and that end up cutting them up.
Put some suede or kitchen oil onto hard joints, instead of some fat for wind instrument corks.

If your child's learning, [sweet flute] teacher](/clases/flauta-dulce) He will teach her how to care for her as part of the class. At home, a short practice routine helps more than a long one and we give you ideas at [how to practice music at home]](/blog/como-practicar-musica-en-casa).

Frequently asked questions

Can you wash the sweet flute with hot water?

With warm water yes, hot or boiling, no. Plastic deforms with heat and the channel loses its shape, changing the sound permanently.

Why does my sweet flute sound with air?

The most common thing is condensation water in the channel. Cover the window with a finger and blow strongly. If you continue, wash it if it's plastic and check that the bezel has no pounding and no pounding.

How often does the sweet flute wash?

If it's made of plastic and used almost daily once a week and if it's shared by several people, between one use and another. If it's made of wood, it doesn't wash: it's dry after each use.

Do the wood flute sound better than that of plastic?

That sounds different, warmer for many ears but requires more care. To start and for school, a good plastic flute sounds good, it's resilient and can be washed.