Monday, February 2, 2009

How to Clean your Piano Keys?

Piano keys are not made from ivory anymore. These days you will find that most piano keys are made from either plastic or a cellulose mix.

It is possible to have your piano keys recovered with ivory tops. It is a difficult and time consuming job, because the piano technician has to remove all the old piano keys and refit them with ivory. The old piano keys are stuck down with glue and the technician has to be very careful not to take off any wood along with the old key tops.

Ivory is very difficult to get hold of these days. If you employ a piano technician to recover your piano keys in ivory, they will either have to have stock of the correct size key tops, or they will have to take the ivories off an old piano. Recovering piano keys with ivory is a very expensive job.

How can you tell if your piano keys are ivory?
- Piano keys with ivory tops are made in two parts. If you look carefully you will notice a join.
- Ipiano keys is the off-white colour. Generally, as ivory ages, it turns yellow.
- Ivory has a grain. Modern pianos have plastic keys which does not have any grain. Be careful not to mistake ivory keys with cellulose keys, cellulose also has a grain, but the cellulose grain is more even than ivory.

How to clean ivory piano keys?
Cleaning ivory piano keys is a very delicate job. It is best to ask a qualified piano technician to do this kind of work.

If you are attempting it yourself, first you need to asses what condition the ivories are in. Are they a little dirty? Is the dirt really deep inside the key top? Are they yellow? Are they stained?

1) If your ivory piano keys are just a little dirty, then this is an easy job. You will need the following: Damp cloth, dry soft cloth, and washing up liquid.
Here’s how you do it: Rinse your cloth under the tap and squeeze out all the water.Put a tiny amount of washing up liquid onto your damp cloth. Press down firmly onto the key top and rub until the dirt has been removed Polish the key with a soft, dry cloth.
There are several liquid key cleaning products on the market, but in my opinion, you needn’t spend your money on them – just use ‘old fashioned’ washing up liquid, it does the job just fine. Lemon juice or vinegar also does a good job of cleaning ivory piano keys.

2) If your ivory piano keys are really dirty then you will need to buy an ivory scraper or the finest gauge 000 wire wool. Please note: the ivory scraper is the right tool for the job. Wire wool will leave very fine scratches in the ivory that may be noticeable in certain lighting.
Break off a little wire wool Rub the key top very gently all over Wipe off the excess with a dry cloth
Best results are obtained by taking the keys out of your piano and placing them on a table. If you are not sure how to take out your piano’s keys, it is best to ask a trained piano technician to clean the keys for you.

3) If your ivory piano keys are yellow or stained, then you will certainly need to buy an ivory key scraper. There is no guarantee that you will be able to completely remove the stain from the key top though.

Can you whiten yellowy ivory keys?
Over time and with repeated cleaning, the yellow in your ivory keys can be significantly reduced. Vinegar on a soft cloth is probably the best method I know of. Whitening your ivory piano keys takes along time and a great deal of patience.

How to clean plastic or cellulose piano keys?
Cleaning plastic or cellulose key tops is easy. Just follow the steps in number 1) above. To give your plastic or cellulose keys a shine, try a little T-cut.

How to clean black piano keys?
Black piano keys are made from either ebony or plastic. Modern pianos use plastic and older pianos use ebony. You can usually tell a plastic key by the shiny finish. Ebony keys are usually mat and can discolour with age. If your black key top has come off the key, take a look underneath. Plastic keys are usually hollow, wooden, ebony keys are solid.
The black keys are best cleaned with just a damp cloth and a little washing up liquid. No other materials or liquids should be used.

4 comments:

MyMusic said...

No-one should have their piano keyboard refitted with ivory. The ivory trade has led to elephants becoming an endangered species. The ivory trade has been banned in most countries. There is no reason why you should do this as the modern materials are perfectly adequate and easier to maintain.

Pooh Bear said...

MyMusic,

I turely agree with you! And so, my piano comes with plastic keys and I am happy that is it what it is. Thanks for showing the concern you have for the elephants. I always feel so cruel to see how human make use of other species to earn profits.

Unknown said...

Neither of you guys have an inkling of brains or knowledge about what you are talking about. Piano ivory if it is put on these days is reclaimed ivory from antique billiard balls or other objects or recycled from old piano keys. Ivory can be bought legally still just not imported as new stock.

Unknown said...

I also would mention that you can have ivory from other species than elephants. Fossilized ivory from mammoths is another option