…or, how best to clean your piano!
Well do I remember the days when my kids were younger and just beginning piano lessons. We were lucky enough to inherit an heirloom piano from my family; the same one my siblings and I all practiced our lessons on. Everything from pencil marks to cue fingerings to PB&J to stickers have adorned that instrument over the years! I know many other families who are owners of older pianos that still boast real ebony and ivory keys, as well as some proud parents of talented and diligent young pianists who have invested in costly pianos with real ivory keys that are preferred by the cognoscenti, because they absorb the perspiration on your fingers better than the less expensive plastic ones.
But back to the beginning of this tip: if you have a younger piano with plastic keys, it’s super-simple to clean them, and I would recommend a simple wipe with a cloth dampened with a vinegar-water solution. Be sure the cloth is just damp, though, because underneath the plastic tops piano keys are still made of wood which is very sensitive to moisture, and they also have felt “bushings” underneath, which will be damaged by water. Baby wipes also do this job very nicely, if you happen to still have them around (and even as a mom of teenagers, I still find good uses for them and keep a supply on hand at all times).
If, however, you have a piano that has ivory keys (these days they use rhino ivory instead of elephant ivory, which is banned), you shouldn’t use vinegar, which can cause yellowing (this is also an effect of age, though, so you won’t be able to avoid it forever). To clean ivory, I rely on the tip I picked up from my “bible”, Haley’s Hints, by Graham and Rosemary Haley:
Make a paste of 4 tablespoons natural (this is important!) yogourt and 3 teaspoons lemon juice. Apply with a soft cloth, leave on for 1 minute then wipe off with a damp cloth.
To clean ebony, Haley’s Hints recommends wiping with a mixture of equal parts vinegar, turpentine and boiled linseed oil, but a good quality furniture oil will do the trick nicely. Make sure to stay away from things like Pledge and other aerosol dusting products as they contain water and silicone, which will damage ebony (I have some beautiful African ebony sculptures that I care for much more diligently than the piano). Look for an oil with a high concentration of pure lemon oil and one that also contains petroleum distillates, as these will help replenish the natural oils in the wood.