Jim et Ed, Alcohol is a potential problem for celluloid tops (remember them?) and sharps that have been French polished with shellac. Try an inconspicuous spot and you will know for sure. The only problem with ivory is potentially loosening the glue bond is applied too heavily or staining if the sharps are finished with shellac.In most colleges you won't run into this problem but there are a few older pianos in our care that we have seen the problem others have described. It's a beautiful day in N. Texas, Dale Probst, RPT Registered Piano Technician Midwestern State University -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Ed Sutton Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2009 2:52 PM To: Jim Busby; College and University Technicians Subject: Re: [CAUT] New flu info Jim- This is why, in a previous post, I suggested that you go around once (the first time) and clean the keys yourself. If there is a problem with shellac finish on any pianos, you will see it. If, as has been suggested, alcohol causes cracks in old pyrelin keytops, then they need replacing anyway! Ed ----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Busby <mailto:jim_busby at byu.edu> To: Ed Sutton <mailto:ed440 at mindspring.com> ; caut at ptg.org Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2009 3:09 PM Subject: RE: [CAUT] New flu info Ed, If we can verify this then "case closed! Use alcohol wipes if you feel a student has defiled your keyboard with some dreaded microbe". Sure would be a good thing. Jim From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Ed Sutton Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2009 7:21 AM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] New flu info Yes, me too. Put it in a spray bottle from the craft shop nor beauty counter in the drug store. In rare cases of shellac based sharp dye (Kranich and Bach 1920? or such) you will see the color on the cloth and know to stop. Chances of schools having old pianos with shellac are slim. A piano technician can identify them by testing. es ----- Original Message ----- From: Porritt, <mailto:dporritt at mail.smu.edu> David To: caut at ptg.org Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2009 6:45 AM Subject: Re: [CAUT] New flu info I have used isopropyl alcohol for many years and have never seen any damage on the keys. It's a good solvent and evaporates quickly and kills germs quickly. dp David M. Porritt, RPT dporritt at smu.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20090924/a019c5e3/attachment-0001.htm>
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