The recorder or the head joint should be warmed before playing by carrying it close to your body or holding it under your arm. If you warm your recorder, it can absorb the condensation water more easily and will help prevent clogging
Daily care
Before playing: how to warm your recorder
While playing: how to blow out excess water
Water will accumulate in the windway and cause the recorder to clog. To clear excess moisture, close the lower end of the head joint with your hand and blow hard through the window. The water will trickle down the windway. While playing, it is easiest to suck out the water. Be careful never to touch the labium as it will easily warp when moist. This will cause irreparable damage to your instrument.
After playing: how to dry your recorder (see illustrations)
It is best using soft cotton fabric, for instance an old T-shirt, dish cloth or anything similar. Take care that these fabrics do not leave any fluff in the bore. Cut a piece of fabric and pull it through the cleaning rod (picture 1-3). Introduce the cleaning rod in the bore and gently wipe it clean (picture 4-6). For hygienic reasons, we recommend to change the cleaning cloth frequently. The cloth enclosed when purchasing the recorder is also suitable for drying your instrument. It has been treated with starch, so please wash it in hot water with a little detergent before use.
Some players maintain that drying the instrument after playing is superfluous since the bore is soaked and it is useless to try wiping off the water. Nevertheless, there is no harm in wiping out the bore of the head joint, but keep in mind that most of the moisture will collect in the windway, and this area is inaccessible with a cloth. However, if you keep the instrument in a well aired place, for instance on a book shelf, the moisture will evaporate by itself.
Storing your recorder
Cases and covers are only designed for transport and as a storage for your instrument when it is completely dry. After playing, the recorder will remain moist for quite a while and should not be kept in the case or cover but in a dry place, on the cover or in an open case. Prevent exposing the instrument to any direct sunlight or other heat sources, moisture or cold draughts. If the recorder is not stored properly and cannot dry, the wood will absorb too much moisture and encourage mould. Your recorder is best kept in a safe place with stable temperature and humidity, for instance placed on a book shelf in its open case.
Care of the cork round the tenon
The pressure must be taken off the cork for it to fulfil its function as "buffer" between the two parts of the recorder. Your recorder must be dismantled after playing to allow the cork to dry out and to regain its shape. Many players think they are doing the cork good by greasing it regularly. This is not so! The cork itself needs no further care other than already described. The grease issued with your recorder is only to make it easier to put your recorder together when the connection becomes too stiff. Wood is a changeable material and sometimes becomes slightly warped, which you notice when you cannot assemble or dismantle your recorder so easily. In this case, you can grease the cork round the connection (but only very sparingly) to make assembly smoother. Greasing too frequently and too much leads to the glue between the connection and the cork dissolving and the cork then has to be replaced.
Thread winding is the historical way of producing the plug connection. It is more flexible to work with than cork, as it is more adaptable and can be easily unwound, if the connection is too tight or rewound, if the connection is too loose. The reason why most of the less expensive recorders have cork is that the thread winding is a more complicated process in production. Grease is also used in the thread winding process to impregnate the thread and prevent it from becoming saturated with water.