That certainly looks like a healthy growth of mildew! Your photo doesn't show enough to demonstrate why you think the pattern suggests a spillage. But from what can be seen in the photo, it looks like a very orinary mildew growth to me, not necessarily connecte with any spillage. It is the kind of thing that can grow quickly when a set of condiions arises, even very temporarily, which permits it. When condiions change, the mildew stops growing, but it doesn't go away. "Arrested mildew", I sometimes call it. (I have sometimes come across old pioanos with old mildew: it hasn't continued to grow, but the powdery fluff has remained, and gradually discoloured with dust along with the rest of the action!). It could happen if, for example, the room is not much used, but over a few occasions it had a number of guests in it and then when they left, having breathed out moisture laden air all evening, the heating is turned off in the room, and all the moisture in the air condenses inside the piano. I would just get a bottle of some proprietory mildew/mold cleaner from a harware store, dampen a cloth with it, and clean up the hammers. Unless condions in the room favour it, the mildew will not re-grow. If condions in the room DO favour it, the mildew will propbably re-grow irrespective of any retardants, and it will probably grow in the soft furnishings too. So it is worth making an investigation of how the room has been or is being used. I have cited here before, the example of customers of mine, whose small grand piano in the front parlor suddenly got rusty strings, and a musty smell in the room.. The front parlor wasn't used every day, and wasn't kept heated. They went from having an open fireplace in there, to blocking off the fireplace and installing an electric heater. Formerly they would light the occasional coal fire in the fireplace. Since the room was the coolest in the house, it was where any moisture in the air from the kitchen, shower etc, tended to condense. When the fireplace and chimney were open, there was circulation of air and no problem, With the fireplace closed off, things quickly changed. Anyway, let us know how you get on! Best regards, David Boyce. I tuned a 1942 Knabe console for the first time today. Nice sound, pristine ivory keytops, and a healthy colony of mold growing on the hammers. The owner seemed sure the mold was not present the last time the piano was tuned 2 years ago. The pattern of the mold would suggest that something was spilled or sprayed into the piano, but again the owner denies any possibility of this. The piano was in a room that was fairly chilly but not overly humid (the piano is placed against an outside wall). I'm assuming the default would be to replace the hammers, although the instrument probably isn't worth this. But I thought I would check with the hammer-experts out there to see if any other course of action might be recommended. It's been suggested that cleaning the mold and then applying some sort of chemical mold-retardant (?) might work. Any thoughts? Thanks. Rob -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20110223/7e16b626/attachment.htm>
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