<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><div>Sir, I henceforth relinquish all real and imagined claims of being the world's #1 piano fixing maniac. ( This one will be hard to beat.) What a relief!!! 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 <pianotech@ptg.org>; Subject: [pianotech] Cleaning Very Old Plate (now string cleaning) Sent: Thu, May 24, 2012 2:08:17 AM <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" style="font:inherit;">Thumpe, All I can say is you are a brave man. I use Brake cleaner as a solvent for cleaning brake parts and sometimes carburetors and metal parts that are really greasy. It is an incredibly strong mixture of solvents. It is probably the strongest solvent mixture that you can buy. It will take off paint, lacquer, and most other finishes except polyester. I don't doubt that a slight drip would remove some finish. The fumes are horrendous too. I only use it outside in the driveway with a breeze blowing. However, your thinking is good. Removing grease, tar, and nicotine from strings makes them sing again. Another Method for string cleaning: Try this method that I discovered following a small experiment with CA glue. In my home piano (a very old Horace Waters with an ornate case) I had a buzzing bass string that would not respond to any of the usual treatments. So I figured I would have to replace the string but first I would experiment a little. After all the patient is terminal- right. I put a drop of CA glue on the end of the string where I thought the wrappings might not be tight. Well, it totally killed the string. Then I thought, what would dissolve the CA glue. Well, not much. I tried a variety of strong solvents. No dice. Then I figured, what is dry CA glue but polymerized acrylic plastic. Plastic will burn. So I took out my handy propane torch and sure enough it lit up like a candle. Then the string sounded better than when I started- no buzz and brighter. So I torched a little more or the string and it got brighter, and then the whole string. It eventually sounded like a new string. Then the rest of the strings were very tubby in comparison. So I torched all of them carefully . They all sound good now. I did not replace any of them. What I think happens is that all the contamination burns and smokes off. Now I have done this in at least a dozen pianos, both uprights and grands. First I use a wire wheel in a drill to clean the strings and shine them up. The reason for this is to be able to gauge the color of the heated copper windings when torching them. Wire brushing does help the brightness of the sound a little but not much.  I torch the largest strings first. Move the torch up and down the string to heat it evenly. Watch the color of the string. It will first change from bright to an old gold color. This is the time to stop heating. You don't want to heat it to a blue color. That can kill the string. Don't ask me how I know. The color change is slightly delayed too, so stop as soon as the old gold color appears. The small strings are easy to overheat. I protect the soundboard with a piece of aluminum flashing behind the strings- the biggest piece that will fit. Mine is about 1 x 2 feet. I don't bother taking the tension off the strings. They will go flat and will need to be tuned again but they will be much brighter. Method 2 I have been working on this for about 6 years off and on. For this, you have to take all the strings out and straighten the coils. Bundle them like a new set. Put the coil in an enamel or stainless straight sided pot/bucket about 14 inches in diameter. Otherwise, you can't force the bundle down to the bottom. I then add a 1:1 mixture of Limeaway(phosphoric acid) and vinegar and two table spoons of trisodium phosphate detergent or Calgon dishwasher powder in a pinch. Completely cover the strings with liquid. I then take it OUTSIDE and put the enamel pot in an electric fry pan and add some water to the fry pan to make a double boiler. I heat it to boiling for 1 hour. The strings will look like new. I then let it cool to room temperature and pour off the acid and save it for next time. Rinse 3 or 4 times in water in the enamel pot, then add several tablespoons of baking soda to the last rinse. Let sit for 10 minutes while preheating an oven to 250 F. AFTER the oven is preheated, turn it off, and  put the strings in the oven to heat and dry. If you don't preheat the oven, the heating is intense around the edges and will overheat some strings. Yes,I know. Now it is ready to eat-or rather to restring. The acid is neutralized by the water rinses and the baking soda and will not start rusting again. They will look like new strings- even the blackest ones you ever saw. Now you know my darkest secret formula. Doug Gregg Classic Piano Doc Southold, NY Message: 12 Date: Tue, 22 May 2012 19:12:00 -0700 (PDT) From: Euphonious Thumpe <<a ymailto="mailto:lclgcnp@yahoo.com" href="javascript:return">lclgcnp@yahoo.com</a>> To: <a ymailto="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org" href="javascript:return">pianotech@ptg.org</a> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Cleaning Very Old Plate Message-ID:       <<a ymailto="mailto:1337739120.69108.YahooMailMobile@web114719.mail.gq1.yahoo.com" href="javascript:return">1337739120.69108.YahooMailMobile@web114719.mail.gq1.yahoo.com</a>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" 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 </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> </div> </div>