Litter box soundboard

[Elwood Doss]

Didn't they know to spread kitty litter on top the soundboard?  That
would have helped with the stain problem, provided it was changed out on
a regular basis...turn the piano upside down and dump it out is the best
way, but I don't know what they would do with the strings rusting.
WD-40 maybe?

Joy!

Elwood

 

Elwood Doss, Jr., M.M.E., RPT

Piano Technician/Technical Director

Department of Music

145 Fine Arts Building

The University of Tennessee at Martin

Martin, TN  38238

731/881-1852

FAX: 731/881-7415

HOME: 731/587-5700

________________________________

From: Joel A. Jones [mailto:jajones2 at wisc.edu] 
Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2007 9:11 AM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: Litter box soundboard

 

Jim, 

 

Dale is on the mark - #1. shoot the cat ! ! ! 

Then replace the bass strings and any treble 

strings that have been contaminated. The reason 

is the urine eats through the steel strings quickly. 

Ideal solution is to replace EVERYTHING. 

 

I am just finishing a Steinway that had the bass 

string core wire completely eaten away . The winding 

held the string in. This happened within 2 weeks while 

the owner was away and the cat sitter didn't notice 

what was happening. 

 

After removing the strings find a vet that specializes 

in cats for a product that masks the smell of the urine. 

My spray is at the shop but I think it is called 'Icky Poo'. 

Follow directions, and use it everywhere. In the action 

under the plate, test the finish for safe use, and keep 

the areas wet as the label directions describes the 

process. 

 

I am going to guess that the owner is an older, single lady. 

Recently I was involved with a situation where a 

lady had 70 cats in her house. There is a disease 

with a long name, that occurs with older, single women 

who take in cats. Both her houses were condemned and 

razed. She had moved to another town trying to escape 

the health department. 

 

We tried an experiment to save her console 

piano with the icky spray treatment. The action damage was 

repairable, as the cats did not get inside the piano. 

The case was amazingly unharmed with no loose 

veneer. Keys were naturally 'sticking'. After a very 

extensive cleaning we thought it was OK. She 

consigned the piano to a dealer, who eventually 

put it in the landfill. The piano did not smell , but 

he found that several employees were allergic to cats 

and their reaction was immediate when they came 

near the piano. 

 

A long saga, and perhaps a bit off topic, however 

the short answer stands - shoot the cat otherwise 

the same litter box situation will reoccur. 

 

Joel 

Joel Jones, RPT 

Madison, WI 

On Mar 30, 2007, at 11:39 PM, 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.
I 

 

have cleaned it using dry methods but it still looks gross.  Attached is
a 

 

photo of the problem. Any help will be greatly appreciated. You can see
the mess is you go to the following link.

 

  

http://www.pbase.com/jhjpiano/image/76413280

 

  

  

  

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