Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 293, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 December 1912 — KEEP PIANO IN ORDER [ARTICLE]

KEEP PIANO IN ORDER

INSTRUMENT NEEDS CARE IF TONE IS TO BE PRESERVED. Keys Must Be Kept Clean and Care Taken That the Inside of the Case Is Kept Perfectly* Free From Dust. •-

The keys of a piano should be regularly wiped off with a soft piece of silk or cheesecloth. If they are much soiled it may be necessary to wet the cloth with water or a few drops of alcohol; but they should be dried Immediately. In case the keys are of celluloid alcohol should not be used. In no case use soap or a washing powder. If ink is dropped on ivory keys it is practically impossible to remove it, and a new piece of ivory must be substituted. Celluloid keys may be polished •by adding to pumice powder either benzoline tr turpentine, or even milk. Black keys, if not of ebony, may be retouched with black spirit enamel applied with a camel’s hair brush. The interior of a piano is often a repository for dust, scraps of paper and even the nests of mice. These should be Removed with much care. ,To get at the inside of a piano it is necessary to take it apart more or less. Usually the lifting of the lid reveals the necessary wood buttons of screws. On releasing these the front will come loose, the “fall” or keyboard cover can be lifted away and the key-slip in front of the keys be unscrewed and removed. These investigations should be made by one who knows something of piano construction or by one who has a mechanical knack for putting things back where they belong. The dirt can be removed with a Btifl brush and the wires cleaned with fine emery cloth, glass paper or a piece of thick leather dipped in an equal mixture of flour emery and coarse emery in paraffin oil. The felts on the hammers can be cleaned by applying dry pipe clay and then rubbing it off with a nailbrush. Much trouble Is caused by keys sticking. This may be remedied by removing the tight keys, cleaning the pivot and key pins of rust; or, if they are too large, rubbing them down with a fine emery cloth, afterward applying a little grease, but not oil. If care is not taken, however, the keys may become too loose and rattle.