cleaning

[Warren Fisher]

It's not too bad Ralph, I did a lot of this for flood damaged pianos to
remove moisture from the the wood.  I've done 3 for smoke damage. This
material is also used by garages for oil spills.  Cigarette and other
smoke is an oily residue that is deposited on surfaces and felt.  The
clay sucks up the part that bleeds into the air.

I don't move the piano unless they want it that way and are willing to
pay the costs.  Most people have garage space or a spare room that you
move the piano to to get it out of their living room.  My charge for
that is 1/3 of the local one-way moving charge!  Give them the choice
and let them decide.  It will be hard to do the soundboard on a grand
unless you are going to restring and remove the plate.  Just clean it
with mineral spirits on a rag(after you vacuum)You don't want to get the
clay behind the plate in either type of piano because of buzzes.

Time:
0. Buy materials		10 minutes
1. Setup-			45 minutes
2. Pour litter in home		10 minutes Keybed, on bottom board, and back of
piano.
3. Kotten Klenser main case	20 minutes  Apply quickly, rubbing with a
cloth, then 					    wipe with clean cloth. first coat.
			Total  1 hr. 25 min.
Setup includes:
a.Remove action and keys from piano to take to your shop.
b.Remove piano lid, fallboard, kneeboard, endblocks and anything else
that comes off the piano with the exception of the keyslip which acts as
a cofferdam for the clay you will pour in the keybed.  Take everything
to the shop to clean. 
c.If it's a grand with a vented keybed you need to put tape over them.

Inshop Time:
4. Packing keys and action in litter.			30 minutes
5. Cleaning case parts with Kotten Klenser		60 minutes
	
In the shop
d. Lay a moving blanket on the floor. Open up a couple of garbage bags,
lay them on the blanket and tape them together so the clay won't get
into the blanket. Pour a bed of litter on the plastic wide enough to lay
out all your keys with a small space between so the litter completely
surrounds.  Pour more litter on top of the keys. Fold the blanket up and
store it in a dry place.  Do the same thing with the action.  Lay the
action down with the dampers up so you won't de-regulate them.  Don't
put anything on top of it in storage.
e. Clean case parts with Kotten Klenser, 2 coats a day apart. Use 0000
steel wool.  Apply to 2-3 square feet of area then go back and wipe off
with a clean cloth.  Gloves are NOT needed and it is not harmful to
breathe. Let it dry for a day then wash with a rag and mineral spirits
or naptha.  If you are allergic, DO NOT use naptha.

After the week:
time:
6. Unpack keys and action				10 minutes
7. Vacuum or blow out keys and action.			20 minutes
8. Recondition bearing surfaces (graphite or whatever)	2 hours (if
needed)
9. Lightly shoeshine hammers, blow out again		15 minutes

Return parts to customer.
time:
10. Use Kotten Klenser again on finish, wipe clean & wash with spirits.
60 minutes
11. Re-install keys, action and case parts.				30 minutes
12. Check for correct working order					15 minutes
13. Write your bill.							05 minutes
									__________
						TOTAL 450 MINUTES or    7.5 hours

Ralph, this is the first time I have sat down and tried to separate out
the individual times. I don't think it took quite that many hours.  But
I think I'm going to bid this for the next one.

I know this is all new to you, so what I would do if I were you is to
pick up the #1 hammer which should have a good strong odor and tell the
customer you are checking out an odor removal process you heard about. 
Sniff it good then pack it for a few days then take it out and see what
you got. Then put it back for another 4-5 days. Sniff again.  By then
you should have a definate improvement.

Hope this helps,

Warren

P.s. the last time I bought fifty pounds of litter,  I think it was
about twenty bucks. I believe I got it from an auto parts house.

rmartin21@juno.com wrote:

> Seriously, Warren, how do arrive at a charge for this? Sounds like a
> great idea but also pretty time consuming. You obviously are taking the
> piano to your shop which further adds to the cost. Have you gotten
> customer resistance to the charge?
> 
> Ralph

>> what can be done to remove the smoke odor?

-- 
Home of the Humor List
Warren D. Fisher
fish@communique.net
Registered Piano Technician
Piano Technicians Guild
New Orleans Chapter 701