At 10:57 AM 8/9/2003 -0500, Alan wrote: >For a short time now, I've been using up a container of Wet Ones - >Antibacterial Moist Towelettes <snip> My concern is that they seem to have a lot of perfume in them. For some people this is a plus, but it drives others around the bend. >I really like using Cory's "Key Brite" too and have found it to remove the >"gunk" in short order. What I like best about it, though, is the pristine >feel the keys have afterward. I think the Wet Ones leave a slightly >different feel (probably the Aloe, etc.) but its such a minor difference I >don't worry about that on non-concert instruments at all. I haven't tried Cory's Key Brite, but I think I will. I like their cleaner for satin finishes for practically new pianos -- the kind where the cat walked around, the kind which have an immaculate finish except for some hand prints, etc. In cleaning keys on concert pianos, I'm always concerned that they may end up too slippery. What I tend to do is to take the BARELY damp rag (even dryer than usual) and rub out only the visible dirt. This is usually only the edges of a few keys. It's easiest to get this level of dampness by wetting only a small corner of the towel, and then squeezing it with the rest. Then I test with my bare finger to make sure that the surface has just a little tack to it, instead of slipping. I carry a beeswax candle in my kit, just in case. A small mark with the candle, which can then be rubbed hard across the whole surface of the key, seems to give a surface with just the right amount of traction. I tried ordinary candles, and the wax was too brittle. I did have an artist who found the real ivory keys near the ocean were too gummy instead of too slippery. I carried a clean washcloth and wiped them down for him just before he played. Susan
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