Is it safe to wash your whistles in a Dishwasher?

kintailpipes · Post by **kintailpipes** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 6:48 am

Is it safe to wash your brass whistles in a dishwasher using dishwasher soap? Opinions , experiences anyone?
Thanks

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:24 am

If it has a plastic block, the heat might melt it.
I don't really see the point of doing so, anyway. The dishwasher
can't get in the windway very well, unless you have it pressed up
against the waterjet. A soapy pipe cleaner would do a better job.

tegea · Post by **tegea** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:30 am

I personnally woudn't give it a try.
There are often some delrin or wooden parts in the fipple area than could suffer from the soap and heat. And maybe the brass could also be damaged by some chemical products used in the dishwasher.

I clean mine by hand with products designed to polish brass and some clear water.

CranberryDog · Post by **CranberryDog** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:32 am

Yes, perfectly safe to hand wash. Never tried it in a dish washer. Obviously you won't use boiling water. For my brass whistles, I first polish them with Flitz, a non toxic metal cleaner. Then they go into warm soapy water. I then run warm clean water through the whistle. I close all the sound holes with my fingers and direct the stream down through the bore. It does a nice job of cleaning the wind way. Also, a slight soapy residue can reduce clogging. Cheers, Cyril.

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:32 am

I agree with fearfaoin.

When I feel the need to wash a whistle, I usually run a sink full of warm, lightly soapy water, submerse the whistle, and swish it back and forth for a bit, then drain the sink and rinse with warm water.

Works for me.

If it's a wooden whistle, be sure to carefully dry it afterwards.

--James

CranberryDog · Post by **CranberryDog** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:36 am

peeplj wrote:I agree with fearfaoin.

When I feel the need to wash a whistle, I usually run a sink full of warm, lightly soapy water, submerse the whistle, and swish it back and forth for a bit, then drain the sink and rinse with warm water.

Works for me.

If it's a wooden whistle, be sure to carefully dry it afterwards.

--James

NEVER clean a wooden whistle in water! For wooden whistles you should use almond oil that has vitamin E added. Use a wooden dowel and swab it out. Best, Cyril

CranberryDog · Post by **CranberryDog** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:39 am

tegea wrote:

I personnally woudn't give it a try.
There are often some delrin or wooden parts in the fipple area than could suffer from the soap and heat. And maybe the brass could also be damaged by some chemical products used in the dishwasher.

I clean mine by hand with products designed to polish brass and some clear water.

Wood and water don't mix. Delrin is not affected by Flitz; however, Brasso could could harm it if you cleaned it every day for say a decade. Soapy water has absolutely NO affect on brass. Cyril

Innocent Bystander · Post by **Innocent Bystander** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 7:56 am

Considering the amount of plastic we put in the dishwasher, I wouldn't fear too much for the plastic endpiece.

But we regularly put one of our aluminium pots in (the kid's chip-pan) and over the years it has scoured away measurable bits of the outside.

Definitely don't put a wooden whistle in a dishwasher, and I wouldn't put a metal one in either.

straycat82 · Post by **straycat82** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 8:40 am

With the powerful jets that are in dishwashers I'd be more worried about my whistle getting little nicks and dings in it from being moved around by the water and bumping against other dishes or the carriages that the dishes are sitting on. I don't know how many times I've opened the dishwasher after a run and had a bowl or a glass flipped upside-down. If the jets can do that then it can certainly move a small whistle around.
If tupperware can survive a dishwasher I don't think I'd be too worried about delrin melting but the surface of the whistle may get scuffed a bit for reasons stated above.

breqwas · Post by **breqwas** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:31 am

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

bigpow5 · Post by **bigpow5** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:38 am

I checked Wikipedia Dishwasher and found no mention of anything about cleaning a whistle.

You're out of luck. Guess you'll have to do it the manual way.

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:50 am

No,no,no. Don't compromise any of the materials with the bleach soap and high heat of a dishwasher. Maybe just the metal tube, but I wouldn't put any kind of plastic or delrin through that. You don't want to roughen those smooth surfaces....

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:54 am

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

Tucson Whistler · Post by **Tucson Whistler** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 10:23 am

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

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 10:28 am

Innocent Bystander wrote:Considering the amount of plastic we put in the dishwasher, I wouldn't fear too much for the plastic endpiece.

Just because some plastic is dishwasher safe, doesn't mean all
plastic is dishwasher safe... And even most dishwasher-safe
plasticware says "top rack only". Since Feadog and Generation
and Clarke don't expect people to put whistles in a dishwasher,
they're probably not going to bother with verifying their plastic
is dishwasher (or microwave) safe...