Cleaning under the Tuning Pins

[TunerJeff@aol.com]

Dear List,
     Just finished a major cleaning job on a smoke-damaged piano. It was
located two floors above the fire, received no heat or water damage... just a
fine (stinky) layer of soot. I consulted with several folks about the best
way to do the cleaning... and I have a suggestion that oughta work just dandy
for ya' (...it worked for me!)

1. Use a small brush dipped in a cleaning solution (...am using 'Soil-Solv',
but any decent cleaner oughta work) and clean one small area at a time. Hold
a vacuum nozzle with crevice tool from your Shop-Vac in one hand and the
brush in the other.

2. The wet brush is twirled under and around the tuning pins, and the vacuum
immediately sucks the 'dirty' water away from the pinblock.

3. I used distilled water to flush the area (...again with vacuum in hand)
and move to the next row of tuning pins.

     The water never has a chance to actually soak into the pinblock and
cause damage. The cleaning solution and brush do a fantastic job, but it is
tedious beyond the mere description of words. You MUST be extremely patient
and thorough, but the results were astounding.The plate gleams under there...

It works!
Jeffrey T. Hickey, RPT
Oregon Coast Piano Services
TunerJeff @ aol.com