Litter box soundboard

[David Skolnik]

Tom Driscoll is probably right.  Best bet would probably be to use 
Phil Bondi, and I don't even know him. He's just not me and he sounds 
like a good product.

Jim, you seem pretty reasonable, especially based upon the second 
part of your second quote.  It would seem these people bought the 
piano without your advice.  Is that correct?  If so, what are they 
prepared to spend now?  Excluding Gregor's advice, which seems less 
informed (sorry, nothing personal), most of the suggestions sound 
labor intensive, time consuming and expensive.  Are you going to do 
this in your shop?  Do you have an area in your shop where you would 
feel comfortable using the product John Delacour describes - Oxalic 
Acid?  The way he describes its use, if you don't have the piano in 
your shop, you'd have to make numerous visits to the piano, just to 
reapply the stuff.  What's the piano worth?  What's the condition of 
the rest of it, before you (they) invest in this repair?

Good luck to you AND Phil Bondi -

David Skolnik

>At 9:39 pm -0700 30/3/07, Jim Johnson wrote:
>>  I have a customer with a Kawai grand which has apparently been used as a
>>litter box.  I'm looking for suggestions for removing stains from the
>>soundboard without further damaging the strings with cleaning liquids.

At  08:27:09 -0700 Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2007, Jim Johnson wrote:
>Dale,
>They bought the piano in it's present condition.  Unfortunately the 
>cat is no longer available for extermination.


John -
First, what, besides cat urine, have you used the product for?
Second, were the cat still on the scene, I'm not sure that your last 
word of caution would apply.  (Just kitt'n).

David Skolnik

At 03:14 AM 4/1/2007, John Delacour wrote:
>As others have said, you will need to replace the bass strings at 
>least.  While you have the strings off, first slowly remove the 
>superficial dirt with cotton rags damped with just plain water.  It 
>is pointless using arbitrary cleaning products, and any detergent is 
>likely to drive the staining deeper into the wood, since the urine 
>has almost certainly passed through the lacquer.
>
>The most likely product to remove the stain is oxalic acid.  Buy the 
>crystals and not some product that simply contains the acid.  You'll 
>find a supplier here <http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=oxalic+crystals>.
>
>Make a saturated solution by mixing some crystals into hot water but 
>use the solution cold in the first place to test the result.  Work 
>on a test patch and be very patient -- the action of the acid is 
>subtle and effective but not immediate.  Wet your patch with the 
>solution, leave it to work, then wipe off and apply more and so 
>on.  The hotter the solution the faster the action, but don't overdo 
>it, and again _be_patient_!  Provided it works it will work well and 
>there is no danger of bleaching the wood of its natural color.
>
>It's best to wear latex gloves when working with oxalic acid, since 
>it will make your hands itch or worse otherwise.  Regard it as a 
>deadly poison (which it is in sufficient quantities) and don't let 
>the cat drink it.
>
>JD