Key cleaning

[Horace Greeley]

At 11:24 AM 2/14/96 -0700, you wrote:
>Last week I posted a question about using 0000 steel wool to clean
>keytops, whether it would scratch certain materials or not.  I
>haven't received any replies, so I thought I'd post the question
>again.  I did search the digests with the web search page and found
>one reference to cleaning keys with 0000, and a couple of references
>to polishing sharps with 0000.
>
>If anyone has had negative experience with using 0000 to clean
>keytops, I'll appreciate hearing from you.
>
>/Allen Leigh
>South Jordan, UT
>
Allen,

I may have a minority view, but here it is anyway:

I have used 0000 steel wool to clean certain types of keys for years, mostly
ivory.  It really depends on how dirty and with what and for what purpose.

The primary use I have had for it re: keys has not been for cleaning
however.  As the world of plastic keys has unfolded, I have found myself
using a combination of 120/220/400 wet and dry and 0000 steel wool to
_marginally_ approximate the feel of ivory.  No it is not the same.

This is a "trick" which I learned from Eugene Istomin many years since. At
the time, he often traveled with his own piano; when he did not, he was
often rendered apoplectic by what he felt was his tendency to "slide around"
on the plastic keys.  He was most annoyed by this.

His solution was to (lightly) scruff up the keytops with the steel wool, and
then polish them with progessively finer paper.  When I first saw him do
this, I was apoplectic.  He offered to pay to have the keys repolished, and
I left him alone.  Several years later, pianists were still saying "You
know, ordinarily I do not like the feel of plastic keys..."

Anyway, I am sure that this does not really address your question.  Sorry,
use the parts you like, and throw the rest away.

Best,

Horace

Horace Greeley, RPT
Piano Technician & Consultant
The Colburn School of Performing Arts
Los Angeles, CA
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