[pianotech] Glass cleaner to remove cigarette tar and other piano-cleaning fun...

[Douglas Gregg]

Trumpe,
I have had the same kind of piano in my shop and it really does stink
up the place. I have had wonderful success with  Dow Scrubbing Bubbles
Bathroom Cleaner. It  has done the trick without water  rinsing. Spray
the bubbles on, watch the brown tar and nicotine float off and blow
them off or vacuum them up  with a strong shopvac (large cantainer
type to catch the foam). In some cases I have also used a McCulloch
steamer to blow the bubbles and crap with high pressure steam to a
place where it can be absorbed with paper towels. The combination of
steam and Scrubbing Bubbles  works very well. Finally blow dry with
compressed air or a Metro Vac or leaf blower. You can use it on all
hard surfaces and strip  felt. I avoid leather and hammer heads. You
have to try this. The Scrubbing bubbles comes  in a tall green colored
aerosol can. I like it better than Super Clean. Much easier to use and
works better too.

Doug Gregg
Classic Piano Doc
Southold, NY

Date: Wed, 16 May 2012 02:43:40 -0700 (PDT)
From: Euphonious Thumpe <lclgcnp at yahoo.com>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: [pianotech] Glass cleaner to remove cigarette tar and other
       piano-cleaning fun...
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       <1337161420.17649.YahooMailMobile at web114718.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
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     Got a "free" Chickering Ampico grand w/500 rolls last month. I
put that in quotes because the stench of tobacco tar on this one is
truly atrocious. ( Terribly stinking up my shop.) I was able to take
all the removable case parts (refinished maybe 30 years ago) outside
and spray them with "Purple Power" ( cheaper version of Castrol&#39;s
"Super Clean" that doesn&#39;t have the lye smell "Super Clean" now
has, that doesn&#39;t rinse out) and scrub them with a green
Scotch-Brite pad and hose off and quickly dry. After 2 such
scrubbings, the smell is only barely detectable and this remainder
will come out during refinishing, I trust.
    The main body of the piano is a "different animal", though. So far
I&#39;ve hit it with glass cleaner and wiped with paper towels --- but
how am I going to really get the smell out of the underside? (After
removing the player system, of course.) Blasting with Purple Power and
a hose sounds too potentially damaging. (Even if quickly dried, and
after the plate and strings are out.) Suggestions appreciated. I&#39;m
anticipating a lot of hand-wiping and then bagging the thing and
blasting with high-concentration ozone for a while, and I&#39;ll
report on how well that works. But any other ideas on how to clean all
the parts and get thje smell out would be appreciated.
    As far as the rolls goes: I&#39;ve been vacuuming off the boxes
and then wiping them with naptha-soaked paper towels, which seems to
be getting some of the tar off the cardboard, without disturbing the
ink on them.

Sincerely,
Thumpe