Anyone else have this problem?

aphily8ed · Post by **aphily8ed** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 9:34 pm

I have a couple of aluminum whistles which will turn my lips blue after playing only a short time. Does anyone else experience this? I assume it is some chemical reaction with aluminum and skin or saliva. My wife was ready to call 911 when she saw me

....thought I must be having a stroke or something. Is there something I could coat the mouthpiece with to eliminate this problem, or will it lessen as the aluminum ages?

psychodonald · Post by **psychodonald** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 9:53 pm

I've never experienced such a problem. I suppose that is because with all of my whistles (most all of my whistles, that I value, are Michael Burke Whistles) my lips only come in contact with the plastic (Delron). About the only thing I could think of would be a thin coating of clear finger nail polish.

I have had a reaction to the "nickle silver" (what ever that stuff is) on the embouchure plate of one of my "silver flutes" and I used the clear finger nail polish to cover where I would place my lips and it has worked very well. I think that before I did anything I would try and contact the maker of the whistle, especially if it is an expensive or prized whistle and ask for the makers suggestion as to what to do. Good luck. Don.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 6:45 am

First, try cleaning the aluminum really well with rubbing alcohol. Oil is used in extruding aluminum tubes, and some finely divided aluminum mixed in with this oil might give the blue color you're describing.

If that' doesn't do the trick, you could coat the metal with clear nail polish or polyurethane. You might have to clean it off and re-apply it once in a while.

Thomas-Hastay · Post by **Thomas-Hastay** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 8:00 am

I remember this problem from childhood. My Swanson's Chicken TV dinners always had "Blue Chicken!"

I believe ZZ Top has a song called "TV Dinners" on this subject.

Sanitized aluminum is usually "Anodized" (an electroplate process), but Krylon has a rainbow of non-toxic colors to paint your instrument. It was designed specifically for aluminum and it even comes in clearcoat. They also have the only non-toxic spray paint that sticks to PVC that I know of.

Cheap alternative: polish to a high shine (to reduce corrosion) and apply a heavy coat of Bee's Wax.

Ballyshannon · Post by **Ballyshannon** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:57 am

Just out of curiosity, what whistles are they? Are they new or used?

I've purchased used aluminum whistles that after first playing, left my hands and fingers black. My guess is the previous owners used a metal polish to clean them and never rinsed it off.

Brewerpaul's suggestion of using rubbing alcohol is a good one. You can also soak the whistles in Dawn dish washing liquid & water then rinse good, which is what I do. As mentioned, this will remove any oils from manufacturing.

Come to think of it, several years ago I bought a new Kerry Songbird D and it not only left my lips slightly blue but also tasted awful....very bitter. The taste stayed in my mouth for a while after playing. I did exactly what Brewerpaul suggested, cleaned it with rubbing alcohol, then soaked it in Dawn for an hour and fixed the problem.

Good luck.

aphily8ed · Post by **aphily8ed** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 3:29 pm

They are both used (recently aquired) Chieftains about 5-6 years old so I would think any oil residue whould be long gone although I have never attempted to clean them. I'll clean them as described and see if that works, or coat them if necessary. If it was only one I'd say it was the whistle, but because both do this I'm inclined to think it's me. I've been waiting for someone to suggest applying a liberal amount of lipstick before playing, but I'm afraid it would clash with my mustache

Kansas · Post by **Kansas** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:10 am

aphily8ed wrote:They are both used (recently aquired) Chieftains about 5-6 years old so I would think any oil residue whould be long gone although I have never attempted to clean them. I'll clean them as described and see if that works, or coat them if necessary. If it was only one I'd say it was the whistle, but because both do this I'm inclined to think it's me. I've been waiting for someone to suggest applying a liberal amount of lipstick before playing, but I'm afraid it would clash with my mustache

When I had a G Chieftain briefly I used SoftSoap (the liquid one available all over the US) to clean the whistle as it was purchased used. I was amazed how well it cleaned the whistle, including the black tarnish.

I also let it soak for a while in a pan with the Soft Soap and warm/ hot water to clean the inside. After that a weekly or so light soap and rinse does the trick. I'm wondering if some of the residue you are getting is more like the tranish I had - although is was blackish.

You might try this before going to any of the more exotic treatments. Just make sure to get all the soap reside rinsed out - it does NOT taste good.
The bonus - it is antibacterial in nature.

ctilbury · Post by **ctilbury** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:36 pm

Using liquid dish soap (the non abrasive kind) and an old tooth brush has always worked well for me. That kind of problem is why makers anodize.... <<grin>>

Kansas · Post by **Kansas** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:16 am

ctilbury wrote:Using liquid dish soap (the non abrasive kind) and an old tooth brush has always worked well for me. That kind of problem is why makers anodize.... <<grin>>

Hi Chuck
Still have that C/D set of yours in early brass.

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