ChibiRamen13
Have you tried boiling the head joint?
OMG. I physically flinched when I read that. Please, please DON'T. Seriously. You'll screw up you're head cork and if you mess that up, you won't be playing your flute until it goes in for repair because that is the part that keeps your instrument close enough to in tune to play on the western scale. Assuming you all are playing metal flutes, the temperature shouldn't be a problem but really, please spare your repair shop and don't give your fellow woodwind players any ideas. No woodwinds in the soup pot, or the dishwasher, or anything else in your kitchen. (My only consolation is that a flute head joint isn't irreparably damaged by such things, unlike key pads or clarinet and oboe bodies)
OK. To non-destructive remedies. 1) Go buy a bottle of mouthwash and some cotton balls and wipe the lip plate clean with cotton soaked in mouthwash. 2) Buy a spray bottle of mouthpiece sanitizer from your local music supply store and spray the lip plate every few times you play. 3) Trash your old silver/nickel polish cloth. If you are one of the polish-obsessed musicians, try a Jupiter cloth. It's plain textured silk and works so much better than polish cloths without the oily residue or the lint in your case. Use a polish cloth sparingly and avoid the lip plate.
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