[pianotech] Cleaning Very Old Plate (now string cleaning)

[Douglas Gregg]

John,
I recently shared Method 2 with you in a personal e-mail for the first
time. Now the whole world knows. And yes, the strings sound like new
strings. It is better even than torching the strings by a little bit.
Torching is easier as you don't have to remove them but you do have to
wire wheel them and that takes some time. A caution on using a wire
wheel on bass strings, the copper oxide dust is toxic to your lungs.
You should wear a dust mask when doing that. It results in an asthma
like condition that lasts for a day or two. DAMHIK. Likewise, don't
breath the acid fumes from the boiling pot of vinegar and phosphoric
acid. I think that would be obvious.

Speaking of toxic products, chlorine in the form of a hypochorite in
bleach is not only extremely corrosive to metal, but toxic to your
lungs in confined spaces. It is used to accelerate rusting of art
pieces. Never use it around steel that you don't want to see rust
right away. The chlorine molecule in quaternary ammonium disinfectants
is strongly bound to the aluminum and benzyl rings and is not
corrosive.

Instead of bleach, to remove odors from inside a piano, just put a tub
of gel called Ultra Odor Gone inside the piano. It has no smell and is
non-corrosive and permanently sucks odors out and they don't come
back. It is used in museums after a fire and they don't even have to
close down the museum.  I have used it with great success in a fire
and smoke damaged S&S M player piano that I would not bring into my
shop because of the awful smoke smell. I bagged the piano in a plastic
tarp and put a tub of Ultra Odor Gone inside and the smell was gone in
a few days and never came back. It is in a cottage cheese type
container. You can pop it in the bottom of an upright and leave it. It
eventually dries out into a hockey puck like block. It should work
just as well for mouse odor too. Caution, it kills mouse urine odor
but not  Hanta virus. So use caution when cleaning one out. A
respirator is a necessity particularly is the mice have been there
recently. All viruses die out with time and after a month or two, most
will be non-infectious. But you rarely know how old the dirt is. A
quaternary ammonium disinfectant is safer to use in the bottom of a
piano that has recently had a mouse habitation. There are many
available over the counter, including Scrubbing bubbles.

If you are worried about anything causing rust in a piano, like salt
air near the ocean or sulfuric acid odor near pulp mills, etc., put a
capsule of z-rust in the piano and it will prevent any future rust as
long as the space is not open. Works great in uprights, good in grands
that are kept closed most of the time. Not good in grands that will be
left open all the time. No odor at all either. I buy them by the dozen
and recommend them to any customer near the salt water. The slightly
larger one lasts for 2 years. They are half the size of a deck of
cards.  Amazon is now carrying them. Put one in your fishing tackle
box too or your piano string storage drawer/cabinet.

Doug Gregg
Classic Piano Doc

Message: 9
Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 05:35:05 -0700
From: <johnparham at piano88.com>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Cleaning Very Old Plate (now string cleaning)
Message-ID:
       <20120524053505.f1fd8b108a58a93f763c4cd7f53850a9.f5c262ea34.wbe at email03.secureserver.net>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Doug,

You've shared method #2 with us before, but I have not tried it yet. You
say they look like new strings, but how do they sound? Like new strings
as well?

-John Parham

> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [pianotech] Cleaning Very Old Plate (now string cleaning)
> From: Douglas Gregg <classicpianodoc at gmail.com>
> Date: Wed, May 23, 2012 10:08 pm
> To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org>
>
>
> Thumpe,
>
> All I can say is you are a brave man. I use Brake cleaner as a solvent
> for cleaning brake parts and sometimes carburetors and metal parts
> that are really greasy. It is an incredibly strong mixture of
> solvents. It is probably the strongest solvent mixture that you can
> buy. It will take off paint, lacquer, and most other finishes except
> polyester. I don't doubt that a slight drip would remove some finish.
> The fumes are horrendous too. I only use it outside in the driveway
> with a breeze blowing.
>
> However, your thinking is good. Removing grease, tar, and nicotine
> from strings makes them sing again.
>
> Another Method for string cleaning:
>
> Try this method that I discovered following a small experiment with CA
> glue. In my home piano (a very old Horace Waters with an ornate case)
> I had a buzzing bass string that would not respond to any of the usual
> treatments. So I figured I would have to replace the string but first
> I would experiment a little. After all the patient is terminal- right.
> I put a drop of CA glue on the end of the string where I thought the
> wrappings might not be tight. Well, it totally killed the string. Then
> I thought, what would dissolve the CA glue. Well, not much. I tried a
> variety of strong solvents. No dice. Then I figured, what is dry CA
> glue but polymerized acrylic plastic. Plastic will burn. So I took out
> my handy propane torch and sure enough it lit up like a candle. Then
> the string sounded better than when I started- no buzz and brighter.
> So I torched a little more or the string and it got brighter, and then
> the whole string. It eventually sounded like a new string. Then the
> rest of the strings were very tubby in comparison. So I torched all of
> them carefully . They all sound good now. I did not replace any of
> them.
>
> What I think happens is that all the contamination burns and smokes
> off. Now I have done this in at least a dozen pianos, both uprights
> and grands. First I use a wire wheel in a drill to clean the strings
> and shine them up. The reason for this is to be able to gauge the
> color of the heated copper windings when torching them. Wire brushing
> does help the brightness of the sound a little but not much.  I torch
> the largest strings first. Move the torch up and down the string to
> heat it evenly. Watch the color of the string. It will first change
> from bright to an old gold color. This is the time to stop heating.
> You don't want to heat it to a blue color. That can kill the string.
> Don't ask me how I know. The color change is slightly delayed too, so
> stop as soon as the old gold color appears. The small strings are easy
> to overheat. I protect the soundboard with a piece of aluminum
> flashing behind the strings- the biggest piece that will fit. Mine is
> about 1 x 2 feet. I don't bother taking the tension off the strings.
> They will go flat and will need to be tuned again but they will be
> much brighter.
>
> Method 2
>
> I have been working on this for about 6 years off and on. For this,
> you have to take all the strings out and straighten the coils. Bundle
> them like a new set. Put the coil in an enamel or stainless straight
> sided pot/bucket about 14 inches in diameter. Otherwise, you can't
> force the bundle down to the bottom. I then add a 1:1 mixture of
> Limeaway(phosphoric acid) and vinegar and two table spoons of
> trisodium phosphate detergent or Calgon dishwasher powder in a pinch.
> Completely cover the strings with liquid. I then take it OUTSIDE and
> put the enamel pot in an electric fry pan and add some water to the
> fry pan to make a double boiler. I heat it to boiling for 1 hour. The
> strings will look like new. I then let it cool to room temperature and
> pour off the acid and save it for next time. Rinse 3 or 4 times in
> water in the enamel pot, then add several tablespoons of baking soda
> to the last rinse. Let sit for 10 minutes while preheating an oven to
> 250 F. AFTER the oven is preheated, turn it off, and  put the strings
> in the oven to heat and dry. If you don't preheat the oven, the
> heating is intense around the edges and will overheat some strings.
> Yes,I know. Now it is ready to eat-or rather to restring. The acid is
> neutralized by the water rinses and the baking soda and will not start
> rusting again. They will look like new strings- even the blackest ones
> you ever saw.
>
> Now you know my darkest secret formula.
>
> Doug Gregg
> Classic Piano Doc
> Southold, NY
>