ivory bleaching

[Larry Fisher]

Hi Paul.  I've not read the text in the journal yet but I've used a
method to whiten ivory many times with never a failure.

I found some 35% hydrogen peroxide at a scientific supply house.  Your
27% would be a close facsimile I would imagine.  WEAR GLOVES!!  This
stuff is real nasty on nerve endings.  The damage doesn't seem to occur
until after you've forgotten about coming in contact with it.  By then
the affected area of skin is white, and the nerve endings, one at a time,
will talk to you.
     There is no real substitute for a sunny day.  During the winter it
rains here a lot so a sunny day in February is hard to come by, but I did
manage to find some sun for about three hours one day and whitened the
entire set in that amount of time.  I used a cotton swab (Q-tip by brand
name) to librally apply the solution on the yellow areas.  I don't dilute
the 35%, just straight out of the bottle.  To keep the original supply
uncontaminated, I pour a small amount in a small paper cup.  The keys are
exposed directly to the sun, and at as much of a right angle as possible
in the middle most part of the day so the strongest possible rays are
doing their thing.  Every 15 minutes or so, or however long it takes for
the solution to dissipate, I reapply where needed.  All this is best done
after I've cleaned the keys with window cleaner to get all the hand
cream, peanut butter, body oils, gear lube, and alligator salve that just
might be on the keytops.  After they get to the point where it's
difficult to tell where the yellow spots used to be, I apply solution to
all the keys one last time.  After this application is dry and I'm
pleased with the results, I hand finish each key with either buffing or a
very fine abbrasive depending on which finish the customer wants.  The
buffing leaves a nice shiney finish for those who own old small grands
and just want a nice white set of ivories, where the fine abbrasive
leaves a satin finish for the finer grands.

	Regarding the use of a black light, a grow light will accomplish
the same and can be found at most garden centers.  It's been my
experience that the time it takes for these devices is very lengthy,
when compared to the sun.

	I really like hearing the customer's responses when they see
their same keytops, sparkling white, so white you need sunglasses to
protect your eyes from the glare!!

--- Larry Fisher RPT, Portland Metro's Authority on PianoDisc Systems
        For more information call (360) 256-2999 in Vancouver, Wa.
                      or email larryf@pacifier.com