If you don't know the name, you know what it is by the description. It's a very soft and fluffy pipe cleaner, the length and shape of the bore of the instrument, usually with a plastic end on it. It's designed for woodwinds to swab out the interior of the instrument for moisture, and it's name indicates it's there to prolong the life of the pad.
Talk to a high level player or instructor, and the first thing they will tell you about it is to not use it. The way they are designed and how people are instructed to use them, they will do the opposite of their name.
Yes, they do soak up the moisture that accumulates on the bore of instrument, but then where does the moisture go? The instructions on the Pad Saver says that it is to be stored inside the instrument. That means all the moisture it soaked up is still inside the instrument, but now can't naturally evaporate away because all of the airspace in the bore is blocked up with this pipe cleaner on steroids. If anything, holding all the moisture next to the pads like that will decrease the life of the pads, and on clarinets could even cause the wood to crack from holding the moisture there
A better tool is to either buy or make a pull through swab. They are just as low cost as a pad saver, if you go that route. The moisture gets pulled off the bore of the instrument, and then the swab would ideally go into a different pocket or place in the case.
I've seen players go from needing pads replaced every few months to a year or more with this simple change, and these were not occasional players but were people that played their instrument every day for at least an hour.
Bottom line, a Pad Saver doesn't, and not using one at all would be better for your instrument than using it
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