Coffee in piano

[Susan Kline]

>  Some
>of the coffee must have stopped up the holes in the agraffes.  Not having
>any cleaning materials with me (It's on a cruise ship), I left it for next
>time.  Question: Is there a good chemical solvent that will easily dissolve
>this congestion without doing additional damage?

Phil, I worked on a little upright in a theater pit which had the
pressure bar area soaked with Coca Cola, and then sat there for a
few months. It sounded as if there were a bridge separation, though
the bridge was completely normal and untouched.

I used a cup of water, a toothbrush, and a towel. I didn't move the
wire, but just scrubbed what I could reach. About half the tone came back.

In your piano, I would slack off the wire, scrub with a
slightly wet toothbrush, soak up the water with a towel, possibly
finish off with a hair dryer, and then pull the pitch back up.

I trust bass string windings weren't soaked with the coffee? That
might call for new wire, since the core can rust to the winding.

Susan