Safety of cleaning dirty pianos

[gordon stelter]

The best thing to vacuum with would be a Rainbow,
which catches everything in a water bath in the
bottom. Not cheap. Regular filter bags are like the
Lincoln Tunnel to pathogens --- they go right through!
     I do not advocate spritzing up rodent infested
pianos. All you are doing is adding attachement for
the family to a biohazard, which they will then force
their kids to take lessons on! I don't need the money
that bad. Better the piano be burned!
    If they are really sentimentally attached, give
them the price for a full rebuild, including new keys.
If that's too much, suggest they gut the piano,
refinish the case and put in an electric keyboard.
That's more ethical than exposing them to danger. Much
is made of Hantavirus, but rodents carry other
diseases which can hospitalize you, if not perhaps
kill you, too!
    I had a bakery truck in which I would dismantle
stuff, way out in the backyard. It had a long ramp to
run out the back onto a platform, which allowed me to
roll the piano in and out for several days during the
dismantling/stripping process. Everything that was
brought into the shop was thereby very clean and ready
for felting/reassembly. And then I just drove the
filthy bread truck to the car wash and blasted it out!
    These old aluminum bread trucks are cheap. Better
than releasing all that dirt into your house or shop.
     Thump

--- Don <pianotuna@accesscomm.ca> wrote:
> Hi Tom,
> 
> Maken that an ounce of protection is worth a pound
> of *DEAD* and I'll sign on!
> 
> At 01:02 AM 2/24/2003 +0000, you wrote:
> >Hi, Don,
> >
> >   I live in the southern part of Saskatchewan.  I
> see lots of older pianos 
> >from farm homes, etc.
> >
> >   When we clean these, we use gloves and masks. 
> As well, we try to exhaust 
> >our vacuum to the outside, rather than have stuff
> blowing around in the 
> >house.  (That's when we can't take certain parts
> outside.)
> >
> >   This Hanta stuff is scary, and I like the idea
> that an ounce of 
> >prevention is worth a pound of cure.
> >
> >   Probably your students should have some
> information about what to look 
> >for and how to handle it.
> >
> >2 cents
> >from
> >Tom
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >>From: "Don Mitchell" <dsmitch@pacifier.com>
> >>Reply-To: Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org>
> >>To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> >>Subject: Safety of cleaning dirty pianos
> >>Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2003 15:06:42 -0800
> >>
> >>Recently I have received inquiries from piano
> tuning students as to the
> >>safety of cleaning pianos.  There have been
> concerns about the use of DDT
> >>insecticide to protect pianos from insect larva
> damage. Also some concerns
> >>about molds and fungi that might be present in
> pianos that have been
> >>neglected for long periods of time.
> >>
> >>How concerned should we as technicians be about
> such things? Should we take
> >>special precautions when cleaning pianos? How big
> a threat is the Honta
> >>Virus found in mouse droppings to the health of
> piano technicians?
> >>
> >>Don Mitchell, Emil Fries School
> >>
> >>
> >>_______________________________________________
> >>pianotech list info:
> https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
> >
> >
>
>_________________________________________________________________
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> >_______________________________________________
> >pianotech list info:
> https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
> >
> >
> 
> Regards,
> Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.M.T., R.P.T.
> 
> mailto:pianotuna@accesscomm.ca
> http://us.geocities.com/drpt1948/
> 
> 3004 Grant Rd.
> REGINA, SK
> S4S 5G7
> 306-352-3620 or 1-888-29t-uner
> _______________________________________________
> pianotech list info:
https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives


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