Kawai Satin Finish

[Brian L Jane]

Dear List -

I had something come up yesterday during a tuning on a Kawai 550 grand
that freaked me out a bit. The piano had a black satin finish - it was a
1970's vintage [SN# 404185]. The customer was not interested in taking
the things off the lid of the piano because he did not want to move them.
He had a computer with a midi hooked to it and some other things and I
pressed him because I wanted to inspect the sound board, bridges and
tighten the plate bolts. He moved the stuff and understood why it was
important. When he began to move these things, there was a good deal of
dust on the piano lid, and trying to be helpful, I broke out my Cory
Satin Sheen cleaner and polishing cloth and proceeded to do hime a
service - I thought - in cleaning the piano lid for him. I was a bit
shocked at what happened to the finish on this basically flawless piano.
I sprayed some of the Cory on it, and wiped - and my polishing cloth came
up black! I wiped again and as the surface of the piano was drying - the
finish was now cloudy! Yeikes!!! The guy was not all that upset at me
about this - to my surpirse. He worked as a piano dealer near LA for some
time, and he being about 20 years my elder, quickly chocked it up to my
zeal to be of assistance. He broke out a bottle of this stuff called
"Freeman's Furniture Cream" that reversed what I had done. What happened
there? When I suggested that perhaps he had been using a polish on the
piano that was not the right stuff for satin and that was the possible
reason for the advers effect of the right stuff - he quickly corrected me
and informed me that I had the wrong stuff - I ate some crow and told him
that was probabley right. I told him, however, that I had never had this
kind of result with a Cory product before and I have used the Satin Sheen
on other [new or newer] pianos and it has worked quite nicely.

Any thoughts?

Thanks -
Brian, PTG Assoc.
San Diego County Chapter