Whitening Ivory

[Larry Fisher]

Hi all,

If indeed it's true ivory, 100%, then go fer the HOH at 30%

Since some email readers like to eat those percent signs, I'll explain.

I've been using Hydrogen Peroxide at a 30 percent strength for years on
yellow ivories.  I've never had one come loose, or be affected adversly
after applying the solution on hundreds of ivorys.

I wear them green throw away painter's gloves, and apply the solution with a
Q-tip or cotton swab.  With the key placed under direct sunlight, it's a
matter of an hour or two with 10 to 15 minute re-applications to achieve
razzle dazzle white so bright!!  When confronted with uneven yellowing, I
simply wipe only the yellowist of areas with the stuff until the sun
bleaches it white enough to match.

The effect is long lasting (forever so far) and makes you look like you're
right up there with Einstein, Sir Isaac, Spurlock, and the rest.

NOT SOLD IN STORES, NOT AVAILABLE IN ALL AREAS, NO SALESMAN WILL CALL, GET
YOURS TODAY!!!

I found mine at a scientific supply house.  They sell microscopes, chemical
compounds in the raw, and a host of other strange goodies usually found in
high school chem labs and such.  30 percent was far cheaper that 35 percent
for the same quantity.  When this stuff hits your skin you don't feel it
since it doesn't evaporate like alcohol or water leaving you with that
cooling sensation.  Instead, it turns your skin white a few minutes later,
and then after a few more minutes you start to notice you can count the
number of nerve endings it manages to reach.  This process continues for the
next few hours until the affected area dilutes it's effects.  You body
regenerates the skin in a matter of a few days to weeks depending on the
size of the affected area.  DUH LIKE WEAR GLOVES MAN!!

When you soak ivories you've removed from keys (like when you put on plastic
keytops for someone) in this stuff, straight no chaser, it removes epoxy,
paint, super glue, contact cement, magic marker, finger nail polish, dried
snot, prehistoric peanut butter and jelly, and other nasties that attach
themselves to ivory.  I soaked a batch for a week (oooops I fergitted about
them) and lost about 10 percent of the ivory to excessiveness.  The HOH has
a tendency, when exposed to the ivory for that length of time, is to eat the
soft fleshy parts betwixt the hard growth rings.  The resulting effect was
similar to driftwood.  I've never had any bad effects when applied with a
cotton swab.

I might add that the HOH available in drug stores is 3 percent and 6
percent.  Hair salon supply houses sell up to 12 percent.  At that
percentage, the whitening effect is minimal, and the loosening effect is
maximized.

I've posted something similar to this previously.  You could search the
Pianotech archives available through the ptg.org website to obtain addtional
discussion if you so desire.

Lar

                                    Larry Fisher RPT
   specialist in players, retrofits, and other complicated stuff
      phone 360-256-2999 or email larryf@pacifier.com
         http://www.pacifier.com/~larryf/ (revised 10/96)
           Beau Dahnker pianos work best under water