Chiff and Fipple Forums

I know this topic has been talked about to death on here, but I'm still confused about it.

I'm looking for solutions to clogging, and people keep talking about the "toothpaste solution." I'm not sure I've done this correctly, but I've tried putting toothpaste both in the windway and on the fipple and it does absolutely nothing to stop clogging as far as I can tell. I also wonder why it would. Toothpaste is hydrophilic, so if anything, it would absorb moisture and make the clogging worse, wouldn't it?

I've heard about using dish detergent, but that's also hydrophilic, isn't it?

Am I applying it wrong? Am I missing someone? Does anyone know of a more hydrophobic material that actually makes the moisture slide through rather than staying on the fipple or in the windway (WD-40 come to mind, perhaps)?

I've tried everything, including sodium dodecyl sulphate / sodium lauryl sulphate, but nothing works on one of my low whistles. It has enough of an effect to make it worth using on the other low D, but it's not dramatic.

I wish there were more quality low whistles that used a mouthpiece design like John Sindt's, which means you can have a nice sharp metal blade and no clogging.

Apart from noticing that plastic mouthpieces clog less than metal ones, I haven't tried applying any chemicals of any kind.
I noticed on my Dixon high D aluminum, with the plastic mouthpiece, it being a high D with that relatively small windway,
that just warming up the mouthpiece before playing it, made it play better immediately. Tone improved.
Clogging was no issue for quite a while, and then a fast blow-out by closing the window with a finger and blowing through the mouthpiece with force,
cleared it out. Plastic mouthpieces do tend to lose that heating quickly once you stop playing them, so you have to do it
every time, but that was no problem.

Cyberknight wrote: ↑Fri Jan 19, 2024 1:54 pm I know this topic has been talked about to death on here, but I'm still confused about it.

I'm looking for solutions to clogging, and people keep talking about the "toothpaste solution." I'm not sure I've done this correctly, but I've tried putting toothpaste both in the windway and on the fipple and it does absolutely nothing to stop clogging as far as I can tell. I also wonder why it would. Toothpaste is hydrophilic, so if anything, it would absorb moisture and make the clogging worse, wouldn't it?

I've heard about using dish detergent, but that's also hydrophilic, isn't it?

Am I applying it wrong? Am I missing someone? Does anyone know of a more hydrophobic material that actually makes the moisture slide through rather than staying on the fipple or in the windway (WD-40 come to mind, perhaps)?

https://lazarsearlymusic.com/products/d ... 9221956762
I bought a bottle of this like 20+ years ago, and haven't used it all up yet. Doesn't take much, and lasts quite a while. It causes moisture to sheet away rather than beading up.

One of the ingredients in toothpaste and detergents is usually sodium lauryl sulfate/sodium dodecyl sulfate (which Mr. Gumby links above), which is a surfactant. It's also the main ingredient in the duponol above. I usually close the mouthpiece off with my finger, drip a few drops directly inside, hold a few seconds, and then remove my finger to drain away. Then let dry completely before playing.

Another product is Anticondens by Mollenhauer, which is also essentially another product based around sodium lauryl sulfate

Mr.Gumby wrote: ↑Fri Jan 19, 2024 2:28 pm Sodium dodecyl sulfate

Oh, that makes sense! Thanks for the info. So it looks like detergent might be the way to go.

[EDIT: WOW, I tried it, and the result is unbelievable; no condensation on the end of the windway like there was before!]

The question still on my mind is: is this something that needs to be applied periodically (because it only works when it's wet)? Or can I let detergent dry and it will still act as a surfactant?

Cyberknight wrote: ↑Fri Jan 19, 2024 9:54 pm
I tried it, and the result is unbelievable; no condensation on the end of the windway like there was before!

The question still on my mind is: is this something that needs to be applied periodically (because it only works when it's wet)? Or can I let detergent dry and it will still act as a surfactant?

I do the toothpaste method and it can last for months, or years, depending on how often the whistle gets played.

I cut a piece of cardboard/stock paper that fits the windway so as to apply the toothpaste fairly evenly.

pancelticpiper wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2024 8:36 am

Cyberknight wrote: ↑Fri Jan 19, 2024 9:54 pm
I tried it, and the result is unbelievable; no condensation on the end of the windway like there was before!

The question still on my mind is: is this something that needs to be applied periodically (because it only works when it's wet)? Or can I let detergent dry and it will still act as a surfactant?

I do the toothpaste method and it can last for months, or years, depending on how often the whistle gets played.

I cut a piece of cardboard/stock paper that fits the windway so as to apply the toothpaste fairly evenly.

I should try this. I kept trying toothpaste but it always caused more clogging, not less, probably because I wasn’t applying it evenly. Detergent works great, but I have to reapply it every day. It stops working when it dries

Just wanted to revive this discussion in case anyone has any insights. My current strategy to prevent clogging - well, really, to prevent beading of moisture at the end of the windway, which I discovered is the real problem - is to reapply detergent every time I play the whistle. That's the only way I can stop moisture from beading on my whistle. And it's the only way I can stop the low D from becoming practically unplayable over the course of a tune (the other day, I played a set ending with McCleod's Farewell, and I couldn't even play the first note by the time I got to it).

I even bought SLS from a recorder store. It doesn't work when it dries. The only way it seems to work is if I reapply it every single time I play. Even if a couple hours go by, it dries and stops working. Moisture beads at the end of the windway, just like always.

This is just incredibly frustrating. I don't want to have to bring a bottle of detergent to a session just to make it through. I need to find a surfactant that is extremely powerful and works even when completely dry. But I'm hesitant to try WD 40 because I've read that it might have mildly corrosive effects on aluminum.

I don't know if i have a magic saliva or not.
But i never clean my whistles and at the beginning they been clogging often (i play mostly MkPro).
But after a while they just stop...

Don't know why, but haver you ever tried with no cleaning?

Quarktäsche Deluxe wrote: ↑Sun Feb 18, 2024 1:31 pm I don't know if i have a magic saliva or not.
But i never clean my whistles and at the beginning they been clogging often (i play mostly MkPro).
But after a while they just stop...

Don't know why, but haver you ever tried with no cleaning?

It's funny that you mention it, because I've stopped cleaning my Goldie high D and it seems to clog less often lol. I think maybe I was wiping off all the dried detergent and causing it to clog.

Toothpaste... that's a new one for me.

I just use dish soap and/or waxed dental floss.

As often as this topic comes up it honestly baffles me every time.

Once I’ve got a whistle warmed up, I almost never have any issues with clogging at all. Cover the windway, couple strong breaths trough the whistle to warm it up, and then you’re away. Maybe it’s to do with my style of blowing, but it’s never something I’ve come up against at all.

Oisincooke wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 3:56 pm As often as this topic comes up it honestly baffles me every time.

Once I’ve got a whistle warmed up, I almost never have any issues with clogging at all. Cover the windway, couple strong breaths trough the whistle to warm it up, and then you’re away. Maybe it’s to do with my style of blowing, but it’s never something I’ve come up against at all.

Could be the type of whistle you're using. Some of my whistles clog, and some of them don't. Unfortunately, Goldie whistles (my favorite) seem to clog the worst.

Cyberknight wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 4:13 pm

Oisincooke wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 3:56 pm As often as this topic comes up it honestly baffles me every time.

Once I’ve got a whistle warmed up, I almost never have any issues with clogging at all. Cover the windway, couple strong breaths trough the whistle to warm it up, and then you’re away. Maybe it’s to do with my style of blowing, but it’s never something I’ve come up against at all.

Could be the type of whistle you're using. Some of my whistles clog, and some of them don't. Unfortunately, Goldie whistles (my favorite) seem to clog the worst.

I must have tried close to a hundred whistles over the years, from different makers and in different keys. Whilst there are some that clog worse when cold or might need blowing out a bit harder than some others, I still have never had a serious problem with it. These days I only play Oz high whistles, and Goldies for anything below C. I even play mostly hard or medium hard blowers, which I’ve heard people complain about more.