Piano Do's and Don'ts – Special Cleaning & Safety Hints for the Holiday Season!

Charles "the piano expert" from Perfectly Grand here. While I normally like to write reports on technical issues, this month I've put together some easy piano "Do’s and Don’ts" for family gatherings and holiday celebrations.

DUSTY/DIRTY PIANOS

DON'T clean or dust your piano with Pledge or any cleaning solution containing silicon. Silicon is a friction breaker which can damage your piano in two different ways: 1) If silicon gets near the tuning pins, they won’t stay tight in the pin block – and 2) if silicon penetrates the piano finish it will be very difficult to refinish the wood in the future.

DO use specifically formulated cleaning solution for either high-gloss, satin, or lacquer wood finishes - if you can't find that, then purchase a high quality furniture cleaner (with no silicon).

DON'T spray or put any type of cleaning solution or liquid of any kind near the tuning pins.

DIRTY, GREASY KEYS

DO use specifically formulated solutions for piano keys or a small amount of mild degreaser with a soft plastic scrubby. Hold the key in the front and lightly scrub always in the front to back direction, never side to side.

DON'T ever put an overly wet cloth on the keys -- they are made of pine and if a key absorbs excessive moisture it will swell and pop its keytop off.

DON'T clean your ivory keys with milk – it won't make them white, just smelly. [I run across people who try to do this every year – it’s a surprisingly common piano myth.]

DULL STRINGS, DUSTY DAMPERS & TARNISHED PEDALS

FOR ALL GRANDS
DO burnish your piano strings - if they are dull or rusty - with #0000 steel wool (available in any hardware store). Go in the direction of strings, not across - BUT be prepared to clean up the rust, dirt and particles that fall below the strings (in grands). If you don't have a soundboard duster or sweeper you might want to leave this to your piano technician.

DO clean your dusty damper heads by wiping them with a soft cloth (the cloth may be lightly misted with a non-silicon cleaner). Wipe the dampers in the direction of the strings – NEVER across.

FOR ALL PIANOS
DO use brass cleaner on your pedals - if they are tarnished - it makes them glow! Remember to protect your floor by putting newspaper under the pedals if your brass cleaner is a liquid

When people gather around the piano...

DO have plenty of coasters on hand – all it takes is a few minutes of a beverage cup or glass on your finish to ruin it.

FOR ALL GRANDS
DO consider keeping the grand piano lid down – if you keep the lid up, make sure the long prop stick is in the farthest outside position.

FOR ALL PIANOS
DO Make sure your piano is covered under your home owners insurance for replacement value.

Did you know ? . . .
In the past the Piano Industry was as powerful as the Car Industry in the 1960s? So powerful that US Presidents spoke at Piano Manufacturer Conventions.

In 1854 Jonas Chickering (Chickering Pianos) completed his factory in South Boston – it was the largest factory at that time (under “one roof”) in the world and the 2nd largest building in the world. The piano industry reached its peak in the US in 1928 prior to the great depression – that year, over 360,000 pianos were made in this country alone. In the last 100 years over 50 million pianos have been made worldwide. Considering that pianos generally live as long as human beings, imagine how many are still around.

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