I have been reading the recent posts re cleaning gunk off keys, and I can no longer resist getting into this one. If there was anything my older sister ever taught me when I was just a little boy that I remember, it was not to play the piano with dirty hands. Now, approaching 75 years of age and 60 some years of tuning, here's what I use to clean keys: A damp cloth for the naturals and sharps - damp with pure water, nothing else - just damp, NOT wet. If I can wring any water out of it, it's too damp. It does take some rubbing along with the damp cloth. For the wood below the key tops, nothing wet, I carefully scrape. CAREFULLY. I have seen too many keys butchered on the sides. The last performance Rachmaninoff ever gave was in Knoxville Tennessee in 1943. He died a few weeks later. The man who tuned the piano for that one (now deceased) once told me that Rachmaninoff chewed him out because he did not clean the keys. As many of you know, the late Artur Rubinstein did not want the keys cleaned before his performances - but if they were, a little hair spray would fix it. Sincerely, Jim Ellis
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