John, I too have considered the germ-carrying characteristics of keys. All right, to be honest, I can't play (or tune) a piano with keys containing enough dirt to grow potatoes, and don't understand how others do it! At other times, when keys are not obviously dirty, I carry a small bottle of anti-bacterial soap and wash my hands between pianos. Whether the soap is worthwhile or hype, I don't know, but the idea is similar in intent to what dentists do between patients. Last week, while doing practice room pianos at the university, I forgot to clean keys on one piano. Of all times and places to forget! As I type this, I have my first and only cold of the season. Coincidence? Fortunately, I'm not quite as paranoid as Howard Hughes. I don't show up to calls wearing boxes of Kleenex for shoes! I've tried several agents for key cleaning, other than milk and vodka (alcohol and ivory don't mix -- no joke intended), and have had varying results. Since I'm interested in cleaning, not cosmetics, I'm curious as what you use to clean *and* disinfectant. Aside: I've discovered that a package of 100% cotton rags as used for auto detailing/polishing to be a worthwhile consideration to the cleaning kit. This is not to be confused with the useless "Bag 'O Rags", or with the orange mechanics variety. A final note: If you're dropping all that garlic, no one gets close enough to you to pass anything your way, eh? <grin> Jim Harvey RPT ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ I now carry a small spray bottle of a key cleaner/disinfectant in my tools along with clean old face cloths. Since children (and adults!) are infamous for not washing their hands before they play, and since hands are the main means of transferring germs, I've learned to clean the keys BEFORE I touch them even if they look clean. I tell the customer it's "part of the service".
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