cleaning

[David Nereson]

John Formsma wrote:

> Marshall,
>
> Carry a little package of "Handy Wipes" to clean your hands after you 
> finish. You can get them from just about anywhere.
>
> John Formsma
>
> pianotune05@comcast.net wrote:
>
>> Someone out there mentioned a vacuum.  Are you guys referring to 
>> those little Dirt Devil type?  I'd like to vacuum out a piano 
>> especially behind the knee board.  Also, is there something useful to 
>> clean pins, the plate and even the strings?  My hands are black when 
>> I'm done tuning.
>> Marshall
>> ps. I was writing up the invoice on Friday with dirty hands, not that 
>> I mind dirt, but I want to look professional.
>
>

   Not "Handy Wipes," but "Wet Ones" in the round plastic can.  They
even make anti-bacterial ones.
   The little Dirt Devil-type vacuums are too small and not powerful
enough except for a cursory cleaning on top of the keys, perhaps.  I
went to a used vaccum cleaner store and found a Hoover Shoulder Vac (has
a shoulder strap) for about $40.  I leave it in the car, along with the
brush attachment and crevice tool (thin nozzle).
     For the tuning pins, I use a 1 in. paintbrush to loosen the dirt
while vacuuming with the crevice tool, and I have another brush with the
bristles worn way down which I use on the bridge pins, hitch pins,
stringing braid, embossed details, etc.  For the strings, the brush
attachment get most of the dust and the paintbrush gets in where the
hose attachment won't fit.  For in between strings, to dust off the top
of the bridge (uprights), I use a thin glue brush with the handle
flattened.  It has masking tape wrapped around the end of the ferrule so
as not to scratch soundboards.    For the plate, I just dust it with a
rag.  If it's really dirty, I'll spray 409 or similar cleaner on a damp
rag and use that.    For rust on strings, I use Polita, the "ink
eraser"-type chunk of rubber with abrasive in it, available from Schaff,
I believe.  Steel wool's OK, too.  With either, you have to vacuum up
the rubbings.
   For the soundboard tools, I use the T-shaped squeegee-type tools
along with a soundboard steel (wrapped in shrink tube)  to push a dust
rag around under the strings.  Sometimes I'll dampen it with a dust
control spray, or even use a damp rag with 409 on it if there are
spills, stains, etc.
   After cleaning, if my hands are too dirty for just a disposable
wipe,  I'll ask the customer if I may wash my hands.  They never
refuse.  Just don't make their freshly scoured kitchen sink look like
one in a gas station.    What I would like to see is some kind of "fuzzy
snake," like wind instrument players have for cleaning trombones,
saxophones, etc., that one could push down (or up) the length of the
long bridge on uprights.  It would have to be able to slip between the
plate struts and strings somehow.  I suppose one unison could be
loosened or removed for access in extreme cases.    --David Nereson,
RPT