Spring Cleaning and Your Piano

Ah yes, springtime. Warmer temperatures, longer days, yard work and spring cleaning.

So how does this affect your piano? Opening your windows for an extended period of time to air out the living room may increase the humidity in the room, but as long as you are having your piano tuned every six months, your piano will be fine. Yes, a change in humidity can knock your piano out of tune a little bit, but chances are it's almost time to have your instrument tuned again soon, so it's not a problem.

Renovating the house for a new look, but the piano is in the way? Here's were things can go terribly wrong.

DO NOT move your piano to the garage area. Mice, birds, insects and other critters love to make little nests inside pianos. I have pulled many, many rodent nests out of pianos that were put out in the garage, in the barn or even on the farmer's porch while the home was being renovated. It only takes a few hours for one mouse to make a huge mess or even ruin the inner workings of your piano. This can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to fix or even total your piano for good.

THE BEST SOLUTION is to have professional piano movers or even your piano tuner move your piano into the corner of another room inside the house. If the renovation project is going to create dust all over the place, you can go to your local hardware store and pick up some cheap plastic drop cloths and some duct tape. This will usually cost under $10.

Move the piano to its new location, drape the plastic drop cloth over the instrument and wrap it fairly tightly with duct tape. Next, drape an old bed sheet over the piano and your piano will be protected for the most part.

After the project is completed, unwrap the plastic and move the piano back to its original location.

Flip the lid open and inspect the inside of the instrument with a flashlight. In most cases, the inside of the piano will look just like it did before the project.

In the event that you see a fine coating of dust on the tuning pins and one the hammers, call your piano technician and ask about an internal cleaning and tuning.

Following these simple steps will help to insure that your piano is O.K. and you'll be ready to enjoy practicing in your newly decorated room.
 

Decorate AROUND your piano, not on top of it...

Ah yes, 'tis the season. Why not decorate your piano too? Well, be careful. Pine garland, candles, glass Christmas balls and figurines can put micro scratches in your piano's finish. Christmas cookies and candy won't make your piano play any better. In fact, mice love little crunchy bits of the gingerbread man. Don't let this happen! (If "Tom and Jerry" manage to get inside your instrument, that old cartoon is not going to be very funny anymore because the damage they can cause could cost hundreds of dollars to fix.)

Little crumbs, if nothing else, can create a pricey repair job because the action will probably need to be removed to clear these pieces.

If you have a high gloss, ebony piano, I highly recommend that you decorate everything in the room, but the piano! Glass Christmas balls can break and the fragments can fall into the internal parts of the piano. Candles, candles, candles. Cool it with the candles! Yes, recreating the candlelit room that Mozart practiced in is exhilarating, but you may be playing with fire. Your piano may not love you back when candle wax oozes down into the tuning pin area. This can take hours or even days to have removed by a professional. Use the candles, but keep them off of the instrument. Runners and tablecloths can be creative, but this invites company to use your Steinway as a buffet table.

If you have a vertical, give it a good cleaning and shine up the finish. If you have grand, clean it and prop the lid up. Now decorate the room, but put nothing on the piano. If you're not sure how to clean your piano, call your piano tuner, have your piano tuned for the holidays and get an estimate on a piano cleaning. (If the tuner is already on-site, it should cost under $50 in most cases.)

Now simply place holiday classic sheet music on the music desk.

A word of advice...
"Deck the Halls" (not the piano).

Happy Holidays!

Keeping Liquids Away From Your Piano

Spilling liquids into your piano can result in costly repairs. In most cases, when water from a vase or hot wax from a candle makes contact with your piano cabinet, it will discolor or breakdown the finish. If the spill ends up inside your piano, it can cause multiple problems. It can end up on or under the keys causing them to become sluggish. If liquid makes contact with the action, many parts may need to be removed and cleaned or even replaced by a piano technician. This can easily cost hundreds of dollars. If the spill reaches the sound board, it can cause serious damage or even totally ruin your piano.

If you accidently spill something in your piano, call a qualified piano technician and get an estimate on an internal cleaning. In most cases, the problem can be resolved.

Birthday cake under the keyboard from 2 1/2 years ago, Hershey's kisses from yesteryear wedged in the piano action and green tea flowing down your soundboard will not improve your technique or give you "stunning staccato."

So keep all liquids, food and candles away from your piano because it's not a salad bar; it's probably the most expensive instrument in your home.

How to Get Rid Musty Odors in Older Pianos

When you buy a used piano, you may be faced with the task of getting rid of its musty odor. Cigarette smoke, bug and rodent infestations and mold cause most of the piano odors. Pianos that give off a musty smell may have mold or mildew growing inside them. Remember, many pianos are over 30 years old and just because you found them in someone's living room, doesn't mean that they were never stored in a damp basement or dirty garage for a short period of time or even for years in some cases.

You can try removing the bottom panel located under the keyboard and vacuuming the dust out of the lower compartment. You may then place a new, opened box of baking soda in the lower right-hand side of the compartment. If you find that this helps, but doesn't completely solve the problem, call your local Piano Tuner-Technician and ask them to schedule a service call to perform an internal cleaning.

The tuner will come out to your home, take the piano apart and take all the keys out, exposing dust and mildew that has been trapped inside your piano since its first year. (I highly recommend that you DO NOT attempt to remove the keys yourself. You can severely damage your piano and it could end up costing hundreds of dollars to fix.)

The technician will then thoroughly vacuum and clean the internal cabinet of your piano the proper way. Cleaning solvents may be used in this procedure. They may also used a compressed air hose to get way inside the action and behind the strings. An opened box of baking soda should then be placed in the compartment. You may want to schedule a piano tuning also. Pianos should be tuned every six months. This procedure can cost anywhere from $125 to $250 depending on your tuner's rates and how dirty the inside of the piano is.

Your piano should be "ship-shape" after this procedure. In tune and without that musty odor, allowing the piano player to stay in "practice mode" for a longer period of time without breathing that unhealthy odor.