[CAUT] Cleaning old mold

[Susan Kline]

>Isn't there another way to kill mold on piano parts without challenging
>conventional wisdom about bleach and piano finishes?

I think most of the trouble is when the piano stays in a damp climate.
Our old family Steinway A came from Connecticut covered with mildew.
It got a partial rebuild (no block, and the bridges and soundboard
were still fine -- nothing like those old Steinway boards.) So the
punchings, action cloth, hammers, knuckles, etc. were all replaced,
and I scrubbed out the rest, and just cleaned and polished the case,
including the parts usually neglected, like the underside of the
lid. (Murphy's oil soap, and a good wax.) Glued back down the
veneer on the top of the rim.

Bob and Marcia Davis helped me by gilding the plate, and
revarnishing the soundboard, so there were two large areas
newly free of mold. Bob really nailed that plate color -
a rich true Steinway gold.

It went to my sister in Colorado, and it's been fine, no more
mildew. I had to repin the wippens for mild verdigris after
a few years, but they seem fine since. Nothing like getting
the piano out of the damp New England summers.

It seems to me (though we don't have the problem too bad
here in Oregon) that the mold spores are everywhere, just the
concentration of them varies. If humidity is not controlled
in the summer, surely all pianos will get full of mold, won't
they?

Susan Kline