The new ones all say "Do Not Eat", so they might be beneficial as a rodentcide.<g> <div>On 11/12/07, Phil Ryan <<a href="mailto:pryan2@the-beach.net"> pryan2@the-beach.net</a>> wrote:<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Opened a ten year old Belarus upright piano and found three cloth bags of silica gel hanging from the lid hinges resting on the felt silencer bar against the tuning pins.  Later found three more "pillows" in the bottom of the piano.  They had been there since the piano was new.  When I mentioned to the owner of the uselessness of these old bags, she stressed that the last two tuners of the piano told her they were still beneficial and had been keeping it in tune all these years.  I dutifully replaced them in their original places after the tuning and left.  Am I nuts? (Be nice)  We used to throw these away at the dealer at prep time.  Have times changed?  Are ten year old silica gel sacks still viable?  Can they harm a piano, other than falling into the action? Phil Ryan Miami Beach </blockquote></div>