How to Care for Your Polymer Flute

Playing and Storing

The polymer used for our flutes is the same as that used in your home plumbing. So, there is no need to keep an M and E polymer flute dry, or wet, or oiled, or any of the other things you need to do with wooden flutes. Also, your flute can stand temperatures hotter and colder than you can, so just don't store it anywhere that you wouldn't want to be stored and the flute will be just fine.

Cleaning

You can wash you flute as often (or as little) as you want. Just use luke-warm water and mild soap. You don't even have to dry your flute after washing, but drying with a soft cloth or paper towel can eliminate water spots.

Greasing

Occasionally, you should grease the tuning slide of your flute. A common petroleum jelly like Vaseline will work just fine. You can put on as much as you want, but too much gets a bit messy. You should check the bore of the flute after greasing to make sure globs of grease don't collect inside the flute at the joints. You can also put this grease on the cork in the flute head if it gets loose (Important! See: Tuning Your Flute if this happens.)

Loose Joints

M and E polymer flutes don't need corks on the joints to keep the joints solid and air-tight. However, it occasionally happens that a joint can get a bit wobbly. If this happens, do one of the following:

1. Send it back, and we will steady up the joint, free of charge, of course.

2. Go to the hardware store and buy some plumber's Teflon pipe tape. Wrap a few turns of the tape around the joint and reassemble the flute. If the joint is still wobbly, add a few more turns.

3. If you are real handy, go to the hardware store and get some PVC pipe cleaner and glue (two different liquids). Use the cleaner to clean the joint thoroughly. Then, using an artist's paintbrush, apply a thin layer of glue to the joint and let it set for 24 hours (or you'll end up with a one piece flute). This adds a bit of thickness to the joint. You can also use fingernail polish and polish remover instead of the PVC pipe stuff (but the PVC stuff generally works better). Be careful, these fluids will mar the surface finish if you slop it around. If this happens, go to Step #1.

That's about it for M and E polymer flute care. Pretty simple, huh?

Wood Flute Care

Michael Cronnolly also makes wood flutes. Care and maintenance of wood flutes is an art and science unto itself. Please contact Michael directly or an experienced wood flute player for information on this subject.