[pianotech] Glass cleaner to remove cigarette tar, how to bag a piano, and other piano-cleaning fun...

[Piano Boutique]

If you are going to consider a glass cleaner, you might try glass plus.   Unlike Windex, it has no ammonia and will not damage the finish.

William



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Euphonious Thumpe 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org ; pianotech at ptg.org 
  Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 6:48 PM
  Subject: Re: [pianotech] Glass cleaner to remove cigarette tar,how to bag a piano, and other piano-cleaning fun...


        Thanks. I truly appreciate the suggestion, and indeed did go to the store to check out "Scrubbing Bubbles" on my way to "slay this dragon". But all the varieties at the Publix here had some sort of scent, so I held off and just got more glass cleaner. ( Publix brand has a milder, less headache-inducing odor than, say, Windex, that also goes away faster.) I had a very bad experience with Febreze years ago ( left a weird smell in a piano that made me quite ill) so I'm wary. But I do intend to get some "Scrubbing Bubbles" tonight, which I'll try on a junk piano part to see if the perfume goes away enough for me.
        Related news: I went to the office of the nice, climate-controlled storage facility where this Chickering Ampico now "lives", and noticed several sizes of mattress bags for sale. I bought the king-sized ( for $4) and found that it fit very nicely over this on-its-side, 5'8" grand, "quarantining" it until I can get it all cleaned. (Yay!!!) And just now realized that such a bag (a fresh one) will also be PERFECT for pumping ozone into (from my $800-- small version-- ozone generator) once all accessible, overt contamination has been removed. I know the ozone will damage all the rubber stuff, but all the bellows cloth and tubing need replacement, anyhow.

        Peace,
        Thumpe 




------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  From: Douglas Gregg <classicpianodoc at gmail.com>; 
  To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org>; 
  Subject: [pianotech] Glass cleaner to remove cigarette tar and other piano-cleaning fun... 
  Sent: Wed, May 16, 2012 3:15:47 PM 

        Trumpe,
        I have had the same kind of piano in my shop and it really does stink
        up the place. I have had wonderful success with  Dow Scrubbing Bubbles
        Bathroom Cleaner. It  has done the trick without water  rinsing. Spray
        the bubbles on, watch the brown tar and nicotine float off and blow
        them off or vacuum them up  with a strong shopvac (large cantainer
        type to catch the foam). In some cases I have also used a McCulloch
        steamer to blow the bubbles and crap with high pressure steam to a
        place where it can be absorbed with paper towels. The combination of
        steam and Scrubbing Bubbles  works very well. Finally blow dry with
        compressed air or a Metro Vac or leaf blower. You can use it on all
        hard surfaces and strip  felt. I avoid leather and hammer heads. You
        have to try this. The Scrubbing bubbles comes  in a tall green colored
        aerosol can. I like it better than Super Clean. Much easier to use and
        works better too.

        Doug Gregg
        Classic Piano Doc
        Southold, NY

        Date: Wed, 16 May 2012 02:43:40 -0700 (PDT)
        From: Euphonious Thumpe <lclgcnp at yahoo.com>
        To: pianotech at ptg.org
        Subject: [pianotech] Glass cleaner to remove cigarette tar and other
              piano-cleaning fun...
        Message-ID:
              <1337161420.17649.YahooMailMobile at web114718.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
        Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

            Got a "free" Chickering Ampico grand w/500 rolls last month. I
        put that in quotes because the stench of tobacco tar on this one is
        truly atrocious. ( Terribly stinking up my shop.) I was able to take
        all the removable case parts (refinished maybe 30 years ago) outside
        and spray them with "Purple Power" ( cheaper version of Castrol's
        "Super Clean" that doesn't have the lye smell "Super Clean" now
        has, that doesn't rinse out) and scrub them with a green
        Scotch-Brite pad and hose off and quickly dry. After 2 such
        scrubbings, the smell is only barely detectable and this remainder
        will come out during refinishing, I trust.
            The main body of the piano is a "different animal", though. So far
        I've hit it with glass cleaner and wiped with paper towels --- but
        how am I going to really get the smell out of the underside? (After
        removing the player system, of course.) Blasting with Purple Power and
        a hose sounds too potentially damaging. (Even if quickly dried, and
        after the plate and strings are out.) Suggestions appreciated. I'm
        anticipating a lot of hand-wiping and then bagging the thing and
        blasting with high-concentration ozone for a while, and I'll
        report on how well that works. But any other ideas on how to clean all
        the parts and get thje smell out would be appreciated.
            As far as the rolls goes: I've been vacuuming off the boxes
        and then wiping them with naptha-soaked paper towels, which seems to
        be getting some of the tar off the cardboard, without disturbing the
        ink on them.

        Sincerely,
        Thumpe
       
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