Humidity – Part I  

When you live in a place like central Wisconsin or Northern Michigan, it gets pretty darn dry in the winter.  Here’s why:

At temperatures above freezing, each time you raise the temperature 7 degrees you double the moisture-holding capacity of the air – and cut your humidity in half.

Although it may seem like our houses are protected from outside air, there’s actually a steady turnover of air cycling through your home.  And in the winter, that means your indoor air recently came in from the cold and was rapidly heated to room temperature.  So if you have 64% humidity at 32 degrees outside, that translates to 2% humidity if your indoor air is kept at 67 degrees.  (The average humidity of the Sahara desert is 3%!)

So what does that mean for your instrument? 

If you’re a brass player, not much.  The worst you’ll get is chapped lips.

Flute, sax, and plastic-bodied instrument players can breathe easy, too.

But if your instrument is constructed largely of wood, you’ll want to pay close attention to humidity.  An overly dry atmosphere can wreak havoc on wooden instrument bodies and parts.  When wooden parts dry out, they shrink.  This can change the tuning of your instrument, lead to ill-fitting parts, and in severe cases even lead to cracks in the wood.

What You Can Do to Protect Your Instrument From Wintertime Dryness 

Ideally, you’ll want to maintain a humidity level of 30% to keep your wooden instrument in top condition. 

One way to do this is to humidify your entire home – or at least the room in which your instrument is kept.  This will benefit more than just your instrument.  It’s also much healthier for you, and will help prevent dry skin nosebleeds and respiratory ailments.

Sometimes, though, maintaining that level of humidity just isn’t possible or practical.  But that doesn’t mean your instrument has to suffer.  

Here's how to protect your woodwind from low humidity:

Woodwind instruments are typically made of extremely hard, dense tropical wood.  When they get dry, they need to be oiled.  This is generally done when the instrument is in the shop for an overhaul.  That is because the oil will ruin the pads – so we don’t recommend that players do this at home.

It’s not enough to just rub some oil on the surface.  The wooden pieces should be liberally coated, then left to soak up the oil.  This should be repeated until the wood can no longer suck up any more oil.  The entire process can take weeks, and the player should understand that he will need to rely on a backup instrument during this time. 

In between oilings, you can use a hydration device such as a Dampit to keep humidity levels in your case at an acceptable level.  (I’ll tell you more about these in the next section.)

By the way, you should never use mineral oil on a clarinet or other woodwind.  The best type of oil to use is sweet almond oil – but you can use olive oil in a pinch (if you don’t mind your clarinet smelling like an Italian salad.)