Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Lance · 2008-12-12 00:18:18

Hey Perry, and others... I think I read it correctly recently about soaking a flute in water to clean it... such as an old/antique flute. Is that right? We can safely soak our bamboo flutes??????

Thanks for advice on this.

Jeff Cairns · 2008-12-12 07:21:25

Hi Lance,
I'm not sure that 'soaking' would be the right word, however it's unlikely that exposure to water will do damage, UNLESS the shakuhachi in question has rattan bindings and they're old. Rattan will soak up the water and the bindings can go very much out of shape...especially if the outer surface has been at all worn away. In that event, I would be very judicious about exposing the whole flute to water. I have know some players here to run water through the bore for whatever reason (I never asked). If you want to remove excess dirt and built up grim, and the flute isn't a jiari, a few shots of glass cleaner and a soft brush will do wonders. I've been using that method as has others I know, without problems and with great results. At any rate, do everything with small steps to avoid big worries.

lowonthetotem · 2008-12-12 08:18:36

I have an old flute that has some small cracks near the foot. At one time, I became a little over anxious about these cracks and decided to expose the flute to very humid conditiions by setting the foot on a damp cloth. The cracks closed up initially, but as the flute inevitably dried out, the cracks just got bigger. So, I think that "soaking" the flute would be a bad idea since, as it moves from one extreme to another, smaller imperfections are likely to become more prominent.

Yungflutes · 2008-12-12 10:33:08

Hi Lance,

Lance wrote:
Hey Perry, and others... I think I read it correctly recently about soaking a flute in water to clean it... such as an old/antique flute. Is that right? We can safely soak our bamboo flutes??????

Thanks for advice on this.

I sometimes immerse a flute into a tub of water for two reason - if the bore has caked-in dirt or if I can not find a leak (immersing it for a few seconds will seal any leak). It's really only in tub for a brief moment either way. As Jeff pointed out, if there are old bindings or if it's Jiari, I would not do this since bamboo swells and shrinks according to dampness.

The best way to add humidity is to put it into some kind of humid box, such as this one:

A bowl of water in it will usually do the job (70% humidity). If not, add a few wet rags. Some of the flutes in the box above were stubborn so I place a damp cloth directly on top. When doing this, you have to be careful as the crack will grab the cloth. Then, you'll have lint in your bamboo!

After a day or two, the cracks usually close up well.

If you think your flute is drying out, store it like this overnight once a week. It may greatly reduce the chance of cracking.

Namaste, Perry

Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

#1 2008-12-12 00:18:18

Soaking a bamboo flute

#2 2008-12-12 07:21:25

Re: Soaking a bamboo flute

#3 2008-12-12 08:18:36

Re: Soaking a bamboo flute

#4 2008-12-12 10:33:08

Re: Soaking a bamboo flute

Lance wrote:

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