Chiff and Fipple Forums

breqwas wrote:Is it safe to wash your cat in a dishwasher using dishwasher soap?

It's definitely safer for you.
Unless you plan to open the
dishwasher at some point.

peeplj wrote:Dishwasher is a bad idea--I definitely agree there.

However, on the idea that wood and water just don't mix, given that:

1. wooden whistles get wet with condensation when you play them

2. One accepted way to reduce clogging in a wooden whistle or recorder is to dribble slightly soapy water down the windway and let it dry

3. we're talking about a quick dunking and rinsing, not a prolonged submersion, and careful drying afterwards...

I'm really not convinced that this would damage a wooden whistle at all; if it were so fragile that this would damage it, why wouldn't playing it damage it?

--James

Do you own a wooden whistle? If you do, what is it? It sound like you might be guessing; I am not. I own and play both wooden whistles and wooden Irish flutes Wooden whistle care follows the same routine as wooden flutes.

The moisture in your breath does condense in a wooden whistle/flute; however, it's a gradual wetting and hopefully, a gradual drying. Plus, oiling the instrument slows the wetting/drying cycle even more. The way to avoid damaging the instrument it is to control the wetting/drying cycle. This way the wood will not crack because the cycle is gradual.

Terry McGee has an excellent article on care of the wooden Irish flute here: http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/flutecare.html . The same considerations hold true for wooden whistles. Cheers, Cyril.

Do you own a wooden whistle? If you do, what is it? It sound like you are guessing; I am not. I own and play both wooden whistles and wooden Irish flutes Wooden whistle care follows the same routine as wooden flutes.

I do own wooden whistles, wooden flutes, and wooden recorders, and have for years.

I am not guessing...I have done exactly what I say.

However, just because I've done it several times with no ill effects, it doesn't mean I'm recommending it.

I know how to do many things with instruments, particularly with regards to silver flute repair, and have described quite a few of them in some detail in the flute forum. In no case has it ever been a recommendation to try it yourself.

Care for your whistles as you like.

--James

Aluminium whistles are not dishwasher friendly. They will wash your dishes but dash your wishes in the whistle department. Please do wash your aluminium whistles often with warm/hot soapy water and rinse well afterwards. Gentle use of a pipecleaner or similar is also recommended.
Cheers!

Only if it's a D whistle, perfectly in tune. Dishwashers are very sensitive, and even slightly out-of-tune notes will cause them to try to destroy the offending implement.

... and as for "is it safe to wash a cat" ... well it certainly wouldn't be safe to try taking MY fluffykins anywhere near that horrible whining machine that makes her run away!

i washed the sticker right off my clare 2 piece. i turned off the drying mechanism.

fearfaoin wrote:

breqwas wrote:Is it safe to wash your cat in a dishwasher using dishwasher soap?

It's definitely safer for you.
Unless you plan to open the
dishwasher at some point.

It's only OK to wash your cat in the dishwasher if you use rinse-aid - it really helps with the final finish.

I supose a whistle might be good company for the cat if he knows a few jigs and reels - there's nothing worse than bad music coming from your dishwasher.

Kittens tend to get stuck in the filter and can rarely hold a tune.

Make sure you lay them down though or they will not clear the headway.

Do it like this:

One of the reasons one is not supposed to put fine knives in the dishwasher is that the abrasive action of the detergent dulls them. I suppose it could dull the whistle blade as well.

Also, I would expect pitting to occur on the metal with dishwasher detergent and high pressure.

Terve, everybody!

Why would you want to wash a whistle? I have never washed any of my whistles (been whistling fo 2 years now) and no harm done. The condensation (and salivation) will dry in time itself and at least with my whistles the amount of bacteria has been on the low side, because none of thems stinks or anything. A couple of them suck, but that's a different story.

About delrin or any Polyoxymethylene I can say that they can take temperatures between -40 and +100 Celsius so from delrin point of view it is perfectly safe to use dishwasher to clean up your whistles. When constructing a low tech whistle my PEP piping was so tight that I had to use boiling water to make the piping more flexible to be able to adjust my delrin fipple block position and both the pipe and the plug survived the operation.

My biggest concern with the dishwasher scenario would be the cat hair that could get into my whistle.

Br,
Heikki Petäjistö

breqwas wrote:Is it safe to wash your cat in a dishwasher using dishwasher soap? Or microwave oven will be better idea? Opinions , experiences anyone?
Thanks

Once my aunt's cat got caught in the dryer...fortunately, her meowing alerted my aunt before she could get hurt. Apparently, she was very fluffy when my aunt pulled her out...


On a more serious note, I would not risk putting a tinwhistle in the dishwasher. Even if the dishsoap is OK, it is lible to be bounced around a lot. (Keep in mind, I play the sax, so I've been conditioned to flinch at the thought of an instrument getting soaked.)

FJohnSharp wrote:One of the reasons one is not supposed to put fine knives in the dishwasher is that the abrasive action of the detergent dulls them. I suppose it could dull the whistle blade as well.

Also, I would expect pitting to occur on the metal with dishwasher detergent and high pressure.

Righto. That was my thinking. All plastic, delrin, whatever, gets sapped of its sheen and smoothness over time, especially from UV rays, but also from washing with soap it would seem. The idea of heat and bleach just seems crazy. I still have my crackpot theory that my Burkes sounded the best when the delrin was brand new and neither slobbered on nor lightly soaped and washed repeatedly...

Don't mess with the molecules.

FJohnSharp wrote:One of the reasons one is not supposed to put fine knives in the dishwasher is that the abrasive action of the detergent dulls them. I suppose it could dull the whistle blade as well.

Also, I would expect pitting to occur on the metal with dishwasher detergent and high pressure.

Righto. That was my thinking. All plastic, delrin, whatever, gets sapped of its sheen and smoothness over time, especially from UV rays, but also from washing with soap it would seem. The idea of heat and bleach just seems crazy. I still have my crackpot theory that my Burkes sounded the best when the delrin was brand new and neither slobbered on nor lightly soaped and washed repeatedly...

Don't mess with the molecules.