I'm disappointed in you folks. Israel Stein asked an honest question, and in return some of you gave him a bunch of wisecracks - a mountain lion, and stuff like that. I don't know about the San Francisco Bay area, but 60 years ago in the southern Appalachian foothills, it was common for moths to eat piano felts. This was particularly bad in country churches. They would go after the front and balance rail punchings first, then the backrail cloth, then various action felts. They would eat the key bushings after they had chewed up everything else. If one found the problem soon enough, replacing punchings and backrail cloth would be all that was necessary. Key leveling and regulation would be required. I carried an assortment of punchings and back-rail cloth with me all the time. After all the old punchings were stripped off, and the key bed cleaned with a vacuun cleaner, some of the oldtime technicians would brush turpentine on the rails, being very careful not to get the stuff on the upper parts of the pins. It does leave a thin gum on metal surfaces, but it did soak into the wood and repel moths. Yes, for a little while, one could smell it. Whenever I would find moth-critter damage to punchings, I would strip the keybed clean - puncings, key cloth, and all, clean the whole piano thoroughly, looking for any evidence of moth eggs. If I found them, the job would become more extensive. After that, there would usually be no problem, provided the piano was cleaned once in a while. Tuners Supply Company used to have a moth proofing liquid called X-Hale. Fumes from that stuff were so strong they would make your eyes burn. There was no water in it. One would soak the insides of the piano with it, close it up, and cover it for 24 hours. No live critters or eggs would be left after that, and the funes would soon dissipate after opening the piano back up. That was 60 years ago. I don't have that problem now. Israel, do you find the damage in several pianos? If so, there is a common source of these critters, and perhaps you should get the pest control people involved. Clean the pianos out, and replace anything that shows any sign of critter gnawing. You don't want to leave any critter eggs in there. Good Luck, Jim Ellis
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