Tips, Comments and Things to try

One of the features I incorporate into the whistles I make is that they can be easily taken apart and cleaned. I believe this feature is especially important because children share their toys and whistles when they play together. A whistle that is easily cleaned allows another person to try the instrument without having to try the owners germs along with the music. If you think other people are not afraid of catching something from a borrowed whistle, just pass it over and the first reaction is for that person to wipe the whistle off on their sleeve to try and clean it.

I have a lot of folks drop by and look at whistles in the shop. If a particular whistle catches their eye or they are interested in a different key it is natural that they ask to try the whistle out for a test drive (especially to play in the Acoustically Perfect Barn outback!) I keep several clean mouthpieces in a zip lock bag to hand out to individuals and when they are through playing I always give a little demonstration of how easy it is to clean the whistle and disinfect the mouthpiece from germs.

I use a water pick to blast the mouthpiece clean and then drop it into a container with Listerine. The water pick removes all the particles from the mouthpiece and is quick and efficient.

If you have whistles in your collection and would like to make them like new, you probably need to give them a good cleaning. A tiny particle, thinner than a human hair can knock the tune right out of your whistle and make it sound dull or thin in tone. Remember when that Acorn or Clark sounded great, but now you have tossed it aside and never play it because the whistle sounds funny? The water pick seldom fails to bring those old whistles back to life.

Many people clean their new whistle when they first purchase it and find particles of plastic in the mouthpiece. Generally , this is caused when static electricity in the plastic mouthpiece pulls a particle in and hides it from the inspector. If you think this is a bad thing, how much stuff do you think you blow into the end of your whistle when you play after eating a pizza? Cleaning your whistle is important if you want it to sound good when you play.

The tone body of the whistle also catches saliva and particles inside(a good combination to produce plaque, just like the stuff the dentist takes off your teeth!) that deaden the sound. A shotgun cleaning sock in your cordless drill will polish the inside of the tone body and is absolutely harmless to your whistle. You will be amazed when you buff the inside of the bore how much dust comes out of the finger holes. That dust is dried plaque which has collected on the inside of your whistle. Take those old whistles out of the drawer and make them your friends again!