<HTML>In a message dated 10/9/02 6:21:01 PM Central Daylight Time, drjazzca@yahoo.ca writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Lots of pop shows in this hall, lots of smoke machine. Windex takes it off. The strings/pins appear to be building deposits. Smoke machines I am told "use an oil base"  Any advice on string cleaning, avoiding damage?  Anyone devised a cover to seal just the tuning pin area to reduce pin & pinblock exposure? Any related stories to tell?                          Cheers                          Dave Renaud                          </BLOCKQUOTE> Dave One thing to remember, if you see oil and crud on the strings, then that same stuff is in between the winding on the pins, in the felt under the strings, in the agraffs, where the strings meet the bridge pins, and around the hitch pins. There is no way the stuff can be removed from those area. And those are the places that cause the most problems, if not with string breakage, then with buzzes, and noises. Cleaning the speaking length of the strings only make the strings look good. It does nothing to make it sound good. Unless the piano can be hermetically sealed during the show, there is no way to keep the "smoke" off the strings. Sounds like a complete restringing job to me. Wim </HTML>