John S. wrote: <<It has been my understanding that Garfields is, basically, glycerin and alcohol. I have used them interchangeably in the past with identical results. Is there something I don't know about Garfields?>> It is my understanding that Garfields does have glycerine and alcohol in it, but also some brown molassas type stuff in it that I was told came from a whiskey mash residue. It is this other stuff I have a problem with. I heard that beer and other wierd products were poured into pinblocks in the depression, and some of them kind of worked, and that Garfield's was one of the "successful" treatments, and went on from there. ( remember that this was long ago and in the drepression and a lot of early 1900's pianos were failing.) HAS ANYONE ELSE HEARD OF THIS?? Perhaps one could get the "Material Safety Data Sheets" for Garfield's, and check this out, or look up the patent, if there is one. What is that other stuff? I find that pianos treated with Garfield's develop a brown ring around the pins, and on the bushings, from dried seepage of excess material. It is easily seen. To me the pins always feel "smeary" and never feel like they can be set well, don't feel anything like normal tuning pins. I would appreciate any feedback on this post. Sincerely, Bill Simon Phoenix
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC