Greetings List, I serviced a mid '70's Steinway 1098 Vertical today. Everything went well and as I was about to walk out the door the customer asked about finish care. Her Steinway manual states to "use nothing except a lightly dampened cloth to clean the finish." She was wondering about the thin cracks that were appearing. I told her it was due to many years of prolonged sunlight hitting the surface. (the piano sat near a window with direct sunlight during the afternoon hours.) I showed her the other side of the piano that doesn't get the sun, and of course there were no cracks in the finish. I brought a few finish products in from the car and showed them to her - one being Cory All Brite. I told her that I use this and other piano finish care products on pianos that could use it, but that her piano would probably need a complete refinish job to remove the cracks. Out of curiosity I applied the All-Brite to a small area on the sun-beaten area of the piano. To my horror the finish turned from a walnut gloss (laquer, I think), to a walnut satin. I tried restoring the gloss with McGuire's #3 and then #9, but with no luck. Then I asked her to get a clean, damp cloth like Steinway says in the brochure. I asked her to wipe a different area affected by the sun and not touched by me - same thing happened. Now that Cory All-Brite is not at fault here, I'm trying to think of a way to restore the shiny, gloss look so the customer will not have to wipe the entire piano to a satin look. (After the damp rag was wiped on the finish, it left the color of the stain on the rag). This happened with both the All-Brite and the damp rag. She claims she has never used anything on the piano except a "lightly damp cloth." The cloth today was not drenched with water either. I'm thinking right now that maybe the sun did this finish in to a point of melting the properties of the laquer, thus wiping it would cause it to "smear" thus bending the light rays in however they bend with the satin look. Any thoughts or suggestions? Jay Mercier Associate member, Twin Cities Chapter PTG Glenwood, MN _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
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