<html> Hi  Tony, Thanks for the clarification.  The conditions you describe are very similar to Florida and other southern US areas, even down to people enjoying the breeze and open air in their homes.  Kawai has sold many pianos in these climates (and worse!) with great success and very few complaints of sluggish action centers.  In my direct personal experience, Kawai has had many fewer action center problems than some other piano makers have had in humid climates.  That is why I was so surprised at your earlier comments - it was diametrically opposed to my own experience, and to our experiences in the Kawai America tech support department. The white center in bushing cloth has an interesting story.  It originated with the very dense cloths made in Europe during the 1800s.  At that time the red dye used to color bushing cloth was based on ground-up insect shells.  The dye did not penetrate all that well, so with dense cloth the center remained white, and this was an indication of the density of the cloth weave and surface felting. Since the mid-20th century (or thereabouts) wool cloth has been died with modern materials which penetrate the dense fibers very easily.   If colored by dipping or a similar way  the cloth would end up red throughout, but piano companies complained to the felt makers that this made it look like they were using cheap cloth.  So some felted cloth makers started spraying the surface of the cloth in order to color the surface without penetrating the center.  This information was taught in the Charles W. House seminars at PTG conventions in the 80s and 90s. What this means is that the cloth color itself does not indicate the density of the cloth any longer.  There is low-density cloth available with the white center, and some high density cloth is red throughout.  Kawai's action bushing cloth is extremely dense (I have handled it in sheets), but there is only a hint of white fibers at the center. In any piano where the bushings tighten up, as long as the bushing has not been contaminated it is best to ream / burnish and repin.  If the cloth seems spongy and soft it is wise to shrink-fit it before burnishing.  If the goal is eliminating sluggish centers, the only reason it should be necessary to rebush the flanges would be if the cloth had been contaminated somehow.  It seems likely in your acquaintance's experience that the cloth had been contaminated, so repinning it alone would not be permanent,  It is common for people to try to lubricate tight centers with oil, and this will permanently gum up the works, which would have caused the parts to go sluggish again. Tony wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>I have not made a proper study of this and it may have changed since but its easy to check it out. take out a flange and look at the felt. </blockquote> In the vein of constructive criticism and as a positive suggestion, perhaps in the future you might consider including this type of qualifying statement to soften any strong proclamations of condemnation.  That might help readers to understand your point of view a little better. Thanks! Don Mannino RPT</html>