Whether or not it would work, the piano would smell like a pickle forever...pw <table width=100%> <tr valign=top> <td width=40%>"Annie Grieshop" <annie@allthingspiano.com> Sent by: caut-bounces@ptg.org 04/05/2007 09:00 AM <table border> <tr valign=top> <td bgcolor=white> <div align=center>Please respond to annie@allthingspiano.com; Please respond to College and University Technicians <caut@ptg.org></div></table> <td width=59%> <table width=100%> <tr valign=top> <td> <div align=right>To</div> <td>"College and University Technicians" <caut@ptg.org> <tr valign=top> <td> <div align=right>cc</div> <td> <tr valign=top> <td> <div align=right>Subject</div> <td>Re: [CAUT] Experiment Success</table> <table> <tr valign=top> <td> <td></table> </table> If a wool sweater shrinks when washed, soaking it in vinegar will relax the fibers and allow it to be reshaped.  Will that work on hammers?  I don't have anything handy that would be a fair test.  Is vinegar too acidic for strings?  It could be neutralized, but that would mean another hammer treatment.   Annie Grieshop Iowa (Hi, Richard!) -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org]On Behalf Of Richard Adkins Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2007 8:34 AM To: Caut Subject: [CAUT] Experiment Success Someone asked if there might be a way to make your own fabric softener/hammer softener....you'd want to know the ingredients....I guess you'll need to be a chemist or know one to get the proportions....   You can find out ingredients by looking here:   <a href="http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/prodtree?prodcat=Home+inside&purpose=Laundry&type=fabric+softener">http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/prodtree?prodcat=Home+inside&purpose=Laundry&type=fabric+softener</a>   click on the brand type....you can click on the ingredient name once the brand page is up...some have fancy names for what they put in there....I like the one they call "hydrogenated tallow"...now that sounds like something we'd like toput in a nice set of german piano hammers, doesn't it?   Downy does not list their ingredients, so I'm not sure if what you can find will actually work like Downy does....here's some more....also found in some hair rinses....leave the hair soft and silky.....maybe you could give the piano a real silky tone with it?   (C14-C18) Dialkyldimethylammonium methyl sulfate   Di (C14-1S-alkyl) dimethyl methyl sulfate   Didn't we used to have a Chemist/Caut member, or was that over on the other PTG list?   "Science.enotes.com"  has an article you might read:   <a href="http://science.enotes.com/how-products-encyclopedia/fabric-softener">http://science.enotes.com/how-products-encyclopedia/fabric-softener</a>   cheers...   Richard Adkins Coe College