[pianotech] mouse contamination from the dark side

[Susan Kline]

Well done, Gregg. No more willies over mouse remnants. It's a job.
It needs to be done. I make sure customers are not standing around
while I do it, and I take all the stuff out of their house before
they come back, and air the room.

I remember scrubbing the first upright I bought after settling in
California. There was so much mouse nest in it the keys wouldn't go
down. (I was poor -- I bought what I could afford.) I got rid of
the nest and four skeletons, scrubbed the keybed and keyframe
with Mr. Clean, scrubbed off all sides of the keys, replaced
the keytops, replaced the key pins, punchings and cloth of course,
replaced the hammers and dampers. Wiped down the whole interior
of the case. The smell kept getting a little better, but there
was always some left. When I tilted the piano to restring it,
and I took off the old wire and wiped down the plate, that
got rid of the last smell.

One was a glutton for punishment back then ... the piano turned out
fine, and I sold it to a woman who bought it for her office.

Susan Kline

Douglas Gregg wrote:
> Please, lets lay this issue to rest. Viruses don't jump or fly or live
> very long outside of a cell. I know, I worked with exotic animal
> viruses for 30 year and was even in the Biologic Safety Officer at
> Plum Island Animal Disease Center for a year of that career. Please
> read the following from the CDC. This should be sufficient.
>
> 	How long can hantavirus remain infectious in the environment?
> 	The length of time hantaviruses can remain infectious in the
> environment is variable and depends on environmental conditions, such
> as temperature and humidity, whether the virus is indoors or outdoors
> or exposed to the sun, and even on the rodent’s diet (which would
> affect the chemistry of its urine). Viability for 2 or 3 days has been
> shown at normal room temperature. Exposure to sunlight will decrease
> the time of viability, and freezing temperatures will actually
> increase the time that the virus remains viable. Since the survival of
> infectious virus is measured in terms of hours or days, only active
> infestations of infected rodents result in conditions that are likely
> to lead to human hantavirus infection.
>
>
> Information Courtesy of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
>
> If no mice were recently present, forget the HAZMAT suits.  For my
> use, I clean dirty pianos with or without mouse droppings with
> Scrubbing Bubbles Bathroom cleaner. It is a reasonably good
> disinfectant and more important is a good wetting agent that prevents
> dust from being stirred up in the air and breathed in. Once wet, the
> dirt and debris can be safely mopped up with rags or paper towels.
> Rubber gloves are recommended. The Scrubbing Bubbles clean very well
> and do not leave a strong odor like some cleaner. It is safe for all
> surfaces on pianos except leather and hammers. I even use it on string
> felt with no problem. It will clean ALL hard surfaces. I have not had
> any remaining mouse odor after using this product.
>
>  If you do have a really strong odor, use Ultra Odor Gone and it takes
> odors away permanently. It comes as a gel in a cottage cheese-like
> container. Just put it in the bottom of an upright piano and the odors
> will be gone in a few days. That includes smoke odors after a fire.
>
>
>
> Douglas Gregg DVM. PhD
> Veterinary Pathologist
> Classic Piano Doc
> Southold, NY
>
>
>   
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