My flute leaves a black mark under my chin. I tried cleaning it but that didn't help. :-(?

Question

My flute leaves a black mark under my chin. I tried cleaning it but that didn't help. :-(?

Answer 1

Hello Brittany,

No matter what you do,  cleaning the lip plate is not going to prevent that black mark from appearing  under your lip after playing your flute.... because the flute is not the only culprit.   Your own skin's ph will react to the composition of the metal and cause the discoloration of your skin.  There are flutes with gold plated lips plates that claim to prevent that from happening, but it is not true... does not matter if it is silver plated, silver, gold plated or real gold.....  if your skin has a high ph level,  you will experience the same effect.

My daughter has the same problem as do many flute players.  While wiping the lip plate will do nothing to help,  there is something she does that works for her.   She cuts lengths of scotch tape to fit and cover the lip plate where it touches her skin.   Voila!!!!   No more black skin!!   Try that...  but don't worry,  it will not harm anything... and it just identifies who in the band are flute players :))

Thanks for reading   -    Hope it was helpful to you.

Answer 2

This happens because the metal or paint that covers it is tarnishing. When you hold it up to your chin, your chin tends to sweat. The metal is reacting with your skin acid and will leave a black mark there. Try putting a bandaid or a piece of cotton over the spot where your chin sits.