Recorder Forum Home Page › Forum › Recorder Makes, Models and Maintenance › Can I use petroleum jelly ( vasselin) › Reply To: Can I use petroleum jelly ( vasselin)
I recommend not for instruments with cork. Why? Because over time, vaseline will move through that cork and destroy the adhesive underneath, allowing the cork to start to lift. The only way to fix it is to send the instrument in. Best to use a white grease in the chapstick-type tubes, as it is not reactive. They’re cheap, and available just about anywhere.
This was advice given to me from the owner of a woodwind repair shop in 1971, and reiterated by him in 1995. He was trained in woodwind repair with the U.S. Air Force.
Mainly French & English baroque repertoire on an A403 Bressan, and an A415 DeBey. Recorder enthusiast since 1971. Early Music program at York University, French baroque instruction at Royal Conservatory in Toronto.