Cleaning under the strings of a grand piano
M. Petri
Howdy-
Does anybody have a good method for cleaning out the dust that accumulates
under the strings of a grand piano? It's such a pretty instrument, and it
would be nice if the insides were are clean as the outside.
Neil Rosenberg
The best way is to blow it out with a dry air compressor. You really can't
do any harm, and it will clean things you can't reach.
The second way is with a "sound board steel" and a damp rag. Any
tuner/tech will probably have a steel they can sell/give you (they're
cheap).
Neil
M. Petri <pet...@faatcrl.faa.gov> wrote in article
<5d7ht5$s...@faatcrl.faa.gov>...
Blair Jones
M. Petri wrote:
>
> Howdy-
>
> Does anybody have a good method for cleaning out the dust that accumulates
> under the strings of a grand piano? It's such a pretty instrument, and it
> would be nice if the insides were are clean as the outside.
You can have your tuner/technician clean it next time he tunes it, just
warn him in advance so he brings his "soundboard steel". This device is
a flimsy strip of metal with a slot on one end for attaching a rag.
I clean the inside of my own piano with the following methods:
1. Blow the large loose dust from the soundboard areas from the key end
to the tail with an electric leaf blower, DO NOT blow the dust into the
action. While the leaf blower is kind of weird, I have found it to work
excellently for getting the loose dust out even in the poorly accessible
areas of the soundboard. Remove the tubes on the end of the blower to
make it easier to handle and, of course, BE CAREFUL not to bang the
piano with it.
2. Vacuum out the accessible areas with a long bristled soft brush
attachment. This gets the felt, agraffes, and tuning pin areas quite
well. Use a clean dry paintbrush to loosen difficult dust. I DO NOT
use liquids on the felt or tuning pins.
3. Use water or dilute murphy's wood soap solution with well wrung out
cloth on metal harp, and dry immediately afterwards. Use toothpicks
inside cloths to clean around letters and designs.
4. Get a "polita" (abrasive rubber bar) to clean rust off steel (not
wound) strings. Your technician can provide, or piano repair shops or
piano supply.
5. Use soundboard steel with well wrung slightly damp rag to clean
sound board. Work the steel and cloth carefully between the strings and
wash the soundboard. This process is a little difficlt to describe, but
basically the soundboard steel allows fairly easy insertion of the cloth
between the strings, and its retrieval. You can also wrap the cloth
around the end of the steel and use it like a handle to get to smaller
dificult areas. Rinse and wring the cloth frequently as it gets quite
dirty until major dust is removed. You can get soundboard steels and
polita from Piano Supply, http://www.pianosupply.com/ips/.
It is amazing how a really dirty piano can be made to look almost new
with a good cleaning. The main thing is to take it easy, be careful,
use only water and weak soap, no oils or harsh cleaners, and avoid
getting things too wet.
Gary Coombs
>
> Does anybody have a good method for cleaning out the dust that accumulates
> under the strings of a grand piano? It's such a pretty instrument, and it
> would be nice if the insides were are clean as the outside.
>
My tuner/tech is one of the best in the business and when I bought my 7' 5"
Kawai Grand 10 years ago he told me to start right from the beginning blowing
out the dust with an electric leaf blower before every tuning. (I have it
tuned 4 times a year.) As a result I have a 10 year old Kawai GS-70 Grand that
looks like a new instrument on the showroom floor. I have a friend that bought
a grand 6 months after I bought mine and the interior of his looks old, dusty,
dirty and dingy. Mine looks like a brand new instrument.
--
Gary....@MindSpring.com
http://www.mindspring.com/~coombs
Chris Marino
Can one also use a vacuum cleaner with the hose attached to blow rather
than vacuum? My piano was just delivered, and will be tuned in a few
weeks for the first time in our home.
Chris Marino
Owner of a brand new Baldwin SF - 10 7 foot piano.
Gary Coombs
Chris Marino <chris....@hydro.on.ca> wrote in article
<32F8E5...@hydro.on.ca>...
Well, I guess so. You might not have enough air movement to remove the
dust though. Guess you might ask yourself if your vac has enough exhaust
to blow leaves like a leaf blower. My leaf blower is a Toro electric and
has enough blowing power to blow pictures off the walls and nicknacks off
shelves if I were to aim in that direction. I have to aim it carefully and
then turn it on. And After I am done, then my wife has to dust because all
the dust that was in the piano is now covering her furniture. <smile> The
cost of my Toro Electric blower was somewhere around $50 (10 years ago).
Small price for piano maintenance even if that is all you used it for.
---
Gary....@MindSpring.Com
http://www.mindspring.com/~coombs
Jon Page
Ask your tuner to clean next time or place a dust cloth on the
sound board next to the bass strings and push it under with
something thin and flexable. Be careful not to scratch the
board.
Jon Page
Harwich Port,Cape Cod,Mass.<jp...@capecod.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
midid...@gmail.com
> Howdy-
>
> Does anybody have a good method for cleaning out the dust that accumulates
> under the strings of a grand piano? It's such a pretty instrument, and it
> would be nice if the insides were are clean as the outside.