<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><div>That's astonishing! I used to clean bass strings by blasting/spraying them ( after disconnecting the hitch pin end and putting thick plastic between them and the piano) with brake part cleaner. A large amount of filth would settle in puddles in the plastic on the keybed, or in folds if a grand out on the porch, and a nearly "like new" tone and appearance ensue. (After also running them all through the "Dethubbomator", of course.) The brake part cleaner left no residue, but, problem was, occasionally an errant drop of the stuff ( mostly xylene) would leak out onto some part of the piano where not wanted, creating light spot on finish and dark mood in customer. And TOXIC!!! (Leaving one unsure of the purpose of existence itself, for several days, if gotten through or around even a top-notch carbon mask. Very, very dangerous!) After seeing those photos, I look forward to trying your method on the built-like-a-tank Mathushek grand I'm now dismantling! Much thanks! Thumpe</div></td></tr></table> <div id="_origMsg_"> <div style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif:font-size:10pt"> <div style="font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"> <hr size="1"> From: Douglas Gregg <classicpianodoc@gmail.com>; To: <pianotech@ptg.org>; Subject: [pianotech] Cleaning Very Old Plate Sent: Tue, May 22, 2012 9:33:40 PM <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" style="font:inherit;">---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Douglas Gregg <<a ymailto="mailto:classicdoc@gmail.com" href="javascript:return">classicdoc@gmail.com</a>> To: pianotech <<a ymailto="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org" href="javascript:return">pianotech@ptg.org</a>> Cc: Date: Tue, 22 May 2012 11:18:16 -0400 Subject: Cleaning Very Old Plate Subject: Cleaning Very Old Plate From: Douglas Gregg <<a ymailto="mailto:classicpianodoc@gmail.com" href="javascript:return">classicpianodoc@gmail.com</a>> To: pianotech <<a ymailto="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org" href="javascript:return">pianotech@ptg.org</a>> Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary=20cf303b41192b995c04c0a130e2 Terry, As I recommended last week and several times before, use Dow Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner in the green aerosol can. I can't tell you how well this works. You have to see it.  I had an old Chickering grand that was given to me. I did not even want to take it. Finally, they paid me to take it away. I was planning on taking it directly to the dump. It had cat vomit, mouse droppings, a layer of cat fur like felt on the soundboard. A cat had lived it it. I used to do postmortems on animals dead in the sun for a day or two. I have a high tolerance but this grossed me out, but I decided to give it a try just for scientific purposes.  I didn't know it had a soundboard decal until I cleaned it. I left the piano on the skid. I first used a parts cleaning brush from NAPA (a stiff nylon round brush) with a Metro vacuum to clean the heavy stuff out. The stiff nylon bristles go through the strings and disturb the dirt and the vacuum sucks it up. I wore a good 3M dust mask too. When I could not get any more heavy stuff out, I used a soundboard wand with a microfiber sock to get some more stuff off. I found the decal but could barely read it. I did the same treatment for the plate that also had a Chickering decal. Then I put some old towels at the bottom inside the rim to catch the run off. I sprayed the plate and soundboard with scrubbing bubbles, including the strings. After a minute or less, the rest of the dirt floated up in the bubbles. I blew the bubbles and dirt down to the towels with the Metro vac on blower mode. . For the tuning pin area, I used the brush again with the scrubbing bubbles to get the last of the dirt out. The towels were brown when I was done. The plate looked nearly new and the soundboard too. Just look at the pictures. Doug Gregg Classic Piano Doc Message: 5 Date: Tue, 22 May 2012 08:57:45 -0400 From: Terry Farrell <<a ymailto="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com" href="javascript:return">mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com</a>> To: <a ymailto="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org" href="javascript:return">pianotech@ptg.org</a> Subject: [pianotech] Cleaning Very Old Plate </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> </div> </div>