<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=us-ascii"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV>I recently 'steam-cleaned' a set on a vertical action Wim. The main = objective was to remove the impaction from bass-string windings so they would seat = well on new strings. Worked just fine!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Mark Cramer,</DIV> <DIV>Brandon University </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left>-----Original Message----- From: = caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org]On Behalf Of Wimblees@aol.com Sent: Sunday, July 20, 2003 10:14 AM To: caut@ptg.org Subject: amazing, but true </DIV>I have been led to believe, as I am sure = you are too, that damper felts will harden when they get wet. I just = restrung a 30 year old B, and was going to replace the damper felts. I took the = dampers home and gave them a shower. (I soak them in the shower with hot = water. It loosens the glue so the felts drop off easily). The next = morning I got sidelined, and it wasn't until later in the next I had time to take = the felts off. By this time, however, the glue had hardened again, and I had to = cut the felts off with a knife. I soon realized that I forgot that I had = replaced these dampers about a year and half ago. So they were virtually brand = new. But when I touched the felt, they all seemed very soft. I had only removed = the felt off the last 6 dampers, so I thought, what the hell, lets try = putting them on the piano, and see how they work. I did, and they are = fine. None of them are hard. So my conclusion is that new felts can get wet, = and still work. You learn something new every day. Amazing, but true. Wim </BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>