Cleaning your piano
There is cleaning, and there is CLEANING!
We are so used to getting a duster and running some furniture polish over the outside cabinet - lovely!
However, when it comes to getting your piano tuned, this is a different story.
The above piano is dated pre 1910, an old Victorian auction piano with an over-damped mechanism.
When the front panel & fallboard was removed, it revealed a whole host of cobwebs, dead spiders, and (not to mention), the inside mechanism, it could not be tuned right away. All parts of the moving mechanism were filthy dirty, and areas of the insides were over one inch thick in black dust, human/ dog hairs and a lot of debris.
This piano had never been cleaned internally for over 100 years.
Inside the lower panel (pedal mechanism areas), was even worse, finding mouse dropping and an old mouse nest.
Inside this piano was also an old "dampp chaser" heater with a round bakerlite plug attached to chewed flex (one of the pins snapped off). Not to mention thick & hardened dust, mould, and a "dead" smell of previous existing vermin, insects and arachnids.
Would you touch this piano?
Absolutely NOT!
If you own a very old piano like this one, then some cleaning would be required first......forget the tuning!
We are so used to getting a duster and running some furniture polish over the outside cabinet - lovely!
However, when it comes to getting your piano tuned, this is a different story.
The above piano is dated pre 1910, an old Victorian auction piano with an over-damped mechanism.
When the front panel & fallboard was removed, it revealed a whole host of cobwebs, dead spiders, and (not to mention), the inside mechanism, it could not be tuned right away. All parts of the moving mechanism were filthy dirty, and areas of the insides were over one inch thick in black dust, human/ dog hairs and a lot of debris.
This piano had never been cleaned internally for over 100 years.
Inside the lower panel (pedal mechanism areas), was even worse, finding mouse dropping and an old mouse nest.
Inside this piano was also an old "dampp chaser" heater with a round bakerlite plug attached to chewed flex (one of the pins snapped off). Not to mention thick & hardened dust, mould, and a "dead" smell of previous existing vermin, insects and arachnids.
Would you touch this piano?
Absolutely NOT!
If you own a very old piano like this one, then some cleaning would be required first......forget the tuning!
Now take a look at the piano above..... the inside of a Bechstein Model 10, dated 1912. Wonderful!
This piano has been regularly tuned, serviced, and well maintained inside.
At X , piano strings cleaned throughout to maintain a good tone. Tuning pins also cleaned.
At Y , Piano hammers & surrounding areas kept clean (sometimes bellows are used for internal parts), to ensure the tuning from hammer to string contact remains uniform, producing a good tone and successful tuning.
At Z , Lower mechanism parts / rear keyboard parts kept clean and free from dust.
At A , Ivory keys kept in good condition, cleaned & polished.
Keeping your piano clean inside also prevents premature contamination of mechanism parts & materials.
Keeping your piano clean inside also prevents the tuner from breathing in (or handling) harmful substances, such as, coal dust, mouldy parts and thick dust.
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This piano has been regularly tuned, serviced, and well maintained inside.
At X , piano strings cleaned throughout to maintain a good tone. Tuning pins also cleaned.
At Y , Piano hammers & surrounding areas kept clean (sometimes bellows are used for internal parts), to ensure the tuning from hammer to string contact remains uniform, producing a good tone and successful tuning.
At Z , Lower mechanism parts / rear keyboard parts kept clean and free from dust.
At A , Ivory keys kept in good condition, cleaned & polished.
Keeping your piano clean inside also prevents premature contamination of mechanism parts & materials.
Keeping your piano clean inside also prevents the tuner from breathing in (or handling) harmful substances, such as, coal dust, mouldy parts and thick dust.
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