Hi Dan,
I have been a volunteer firefighter for nineteen years and a piano technician for 39 years. What the others said about waiting is true. Smoke today has some really nasty things in it that does many strange things besides killing you. It is amazing what is in smoke and what it can do. I am not going to write a book on this but I will tell you one thing, the man made material that is used in just about everything, when it burns, causes strange things to happen. The smoke today is so toxic that they are now telling firefighters to use your airpacks even after the fire is out and you cannot see any more smoke because of all the dangerous particles that are still in the air. Needless to say, these particles also stay on anything that the smoke comes in contact with. When the time comes for you to work on the piano, (I would wait at least 2-3 months), I would recommend wearing a mask and using latex or similar gloves. I know that this sounds a little like overreacting, but believe me, if you knew what is in most smoke, you would be glad to do that. Also, be sure to use whatever you are going to use to clean the parts with does not react adversely with what you are cleaning. Try a little on a small space first and see what will happen. Even professionals run into problems with the cleaners acting adversely to something even when it is not supposed to. Once again, it all depends on what was in the smoke. I hope things go well for you.
God blewss
Bill Balmer,RPT
University of Findlay and Ohio Northern University
In a message dated 06/10/09 18:48:28 US Eastern Standard Time, d_rembold at yahoo.com writes:
I have been asked to clean and deodorize a small Nordiska grand with PianoDisc, which was exposed to smoke from a house fire. There is no evidence of excessive heat, and the PianoDisk system plays fine.
In my initial inspection I could find smoke residue only in a fine film at the back of the soundboard/plate, and on the keytops. Fortunately the lid was down, but the fallboard was up at the time of the fire.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Dan Rembold, former RPT
Auburn University Staff Technician
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