Care and Maintenance

Flutes

The Abell Flute Co. recommends that you have your Abell flute serviced at least once a year for the standard Clean, Oil and Adjust (COA) service. This service includes disassembling the flute mechanism, cleaning and oiling the wood body and footjoint, cleaning and oiling the mechanism, and making any necessary adjustments to the pads and/or mechanism connections. Recommended daily care instructions:

  1. Before beginning each playing session, open the case for a few minutes and let the flute acclimatize to the room before assembling the instrument. Once the playing session is finished, swab any excess moisture from the instrument and let the disassembled flute sit in its open case for a few minutes before closing the case.
  2. Swab out any excess moisture from the instrument after each playing session.
  3. Wipe the keywork and body with a clean cotton or micro-fiber cloth as needed.
  4. Do not oil the wood on the main body or footjoint; we will do any necessary oiling during the annual COA service.
  5. Do not oil the keywork; we will do this also during the annual COA service.
  6. Please do not keep any humidifiers inside the case with the flute.

Whistles

The Abell Whistle will give many years of reliable and enjoyable service by following these maintenance recommendations: swabbing or shaking the excess moisture from the whistle after each playing session, occasional oiling the wooden body and mouthpiece both inside and out using almond oil, occasional swabbing of the windway, and occasional cleaning of the silver bands.

An occasional light coating of almond oil on the outside of the whistle will keep it looking nice; however it is important to keep the metal slide pieces joining the mouthpiece to the body clean and dry. No oil or lubricant should be used on the slide pieces as these substances will collect dust and grit that might cause the slide to become sticky and bind.

It is also recommended that the windway be swabbed out periodically with a soft cotton pipe-cleaner (cleaning with a little warm, soapy water and drying out the windway with a dry pipe-cleaner will be effective on particularly dirty windways). The Sterling silver bands on the outside of the whistle can be kept clean by wiping them gently with a clean cotton or micro-fiber cloth.