[pianotech] Strange Green Powder

[Porritt, David]

My suspicion would be arsenic so don't taste it.  It used to be used to kill rodents and bugs so the tuner could find the dead bodies when he/she came to tune.

dp 


David M. Porritt, RPT
dporritt at smu.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of David Skolnik
Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2009 10:44 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: [pianotech] Strange Green Powder

My dear Southern Brothers -

Would anyone from Florida or Louisiana (or other) have any idea of 
the origin of an unusual lime-ish green powder that seems to have 
been distributed over the hammers and dampers of a Baldwin Acrosonic 
that I looked at yesterday?  The piano lived, previously in the those 
states.  It does not seem to relate to any copper oxidation (the 
strings are fine), nor to any abraided felts (there is nothing else 
of that color).  Could it have been some bug or mildew 
treatment?  I'd like to know, before I try tasting it.  Thanks

David Skolnik
Hastings on Hudson, NY