The idea wood should be oiled on a wind instrument might seem unusual at first but it is rooted in the understanding that wood changes size depending on many forces. Temperature, and moisture are the two most pronounced ways wood changes in size. Moisture offers the threat of cracking wooden wind instruments far more then temperature does (and the opposite is true for string instruments). The idea of oiling wood then comes down to the ability to block moisture from absorbing into that wood and keeping the wood in a permanently swollen state which aids in preventing cracks or stresses in the wood while being stored and played.

This is where things become increasingly confusing, as oiling wood is not equal with all oils

Almond oil-

Peanut oil-

Sweet Canola oil- ¹⁾

MCT (Coconut Oil)-

Walnut oil-

Olive oil-

Mink Oil-

Tung oil-

Linseed oil- Some instruments, especially replicas of historic instruments and recorders are soaked in linseed oil when manufactured. This is to allow the internal walls to have a protective polymerized layer. Though instruments with this treatment are less vulnerable to moisture many manufacturers still recommend oiling the instruments bore to maintain the best acoustic and moisture repelling properties. ²⁾. When using linseed oil (or any other polymerizing oil) on an instrument, with the intentions of sealing the instrument there are a number of precautions that should be taken into account, specifically about altering the internal geometry of the instrument. If too thick of a later of the oil is applied and allowed to thicken, it will alter the internal geometry. Oils of this sort should be thoroughly thinned with a solvent and applied in layers to allow the oil to soak into the walls of the instrument and then any remainder in the bore or tone holes should thoroughly be removed. Using additional solvent and swabs is also a good idea to ensure no oil remains outside of the wood itself. After the first treatment the oil can be allowed to fully polymerize, taking between a week to a month and then additional layers of treatment can be applied. Once the bore hes become smooth, without additional oil altering the geometry of the instrument, the treatment is complete and should offer a great deal of resistance to moisture, comparable to paraffin wax impregnation.

Poppy oil-

Safflower oil-

Bore oil- Is a synthetic oil typically made of various mixes of mineral oils that have a favorable consistency for being absorbed into the pores of wood. Various manufacturers have different recipes that vary widely, and that also have different effective amounts of time that it protects the instruments.

Paraffin Wax- Unique to recorders many instruments are soaked in hot paraffin wax, often in pressure pots in order to facilitate impregnating wax into the wood and removing any air that remains ³⁾. Recorders are most commonly made of maple wood, which has many large and open pores as compared to tropical hardwoods and the maple readily takes in this kind of wax impregnation. This is known to be a highly effective way to stabilize the wood and produce an instrument that will never need to be oiled at any time in its usable life.

Dalbergia melanoxylon- Commonly called Grenadilla or African Blackwood is the main wood used to make orchestral woodwinds. This wood has naturally occurring oils which slowly leach out of the wood over time. The major oils found in the wood and seeds are linoleic acid (60.03%), oleic acid (17.48%) and palmitic acid (16.72%) ⁴⁾

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