Dear Piano Technicians, I seem to have caused a great controvery over my little tech tip on smoke removal by putting dryer sheets in the piano. It has worked wonderfully everytime I have done it (including a fire damaged car) but truthfully I don't know why it works. In cases of minor smoke damage (like being in the home of a smoker) it has always worked fine for me. Simply put a few dryer sheets inside the cabinet for about 3 weeks. This is fine under most cases however if a piano were seriously damaged by smoke such as in a house fire, I would be surprised if it did work at all. Now I must interject that I live in a small town and yes, I am on the local volunteer fire department. It should be noted, that in cases of house fires vs tobacco smoke, there are 2 real culprits, not one: Toxic vapors and heat. In cases like this, a professional company specializing in smoke removal should be used to remove the smell. My next question is what about the strings and plate? Depending upon the extent of the fire, the heat could have damaged the strings or heaven forbid, the plate. If so, even if it were restrung, once brought up to tension, it could break. May I submit, that any technician who takes on a job of a fire damaged piano, should worry as much about the heat damage to the plate as they do the smoke and odor damage to the cabinet. As for myself, I would do my homework before I ever took on a job like that and I would not be afraid to turn down a job like that. Due to the amount of E-mail flying through cyberspace over my seeminly innocent little remark, I'll leave my remark about dryer sheets as it stands and no, I am not an authority on the subject of smoke removal. By way of note, in April, I attended a fire training school. To help us understand what happens in a house fire... they gave us a paper describing in great detail what actually happens in a house fire, starting with a burning cigarette and going through each stage until the house is totally involved. While this subject is totally off course from the intent of BYU's pianotech, for those technicians who are dealing with fire damaged pianos (and there seems to be a lot), you'll find this article most helpful and facsinating since you'll know first hand what the piano is actually exposed to. With that in mind, you'll be better off as you search for a solution. If anyone is interested they can write me. Anyone wanting me to quiet down and stick to the subject of pianos can write me too. Sincerely, Ron Shiflet, RPT Phoenix Chapter Ron_and_Lorene@Juno.com
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC