Which germs\bacteria\viruses like alcohol? Names please?

CDC link

scroll down to Take these everyday steps to protect your health:


or Wiki ... link

I originally heard about this (and seen it since in a journal article in '09 - will try to find article) from this interview on Science Friday with two specialists in infectious diseases. According to one of them, the rhinovirus seems to thrive in alcohol (so, colds, not flus).

http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/200901023

This however seems to contract the more recent study mentioned in the above Wikipedia article, done in '10 by Mr Turner. I'm in no position to adjudicate between these sources.

Hmmm... if NIH says alcohol at 65% mixture kills 99.9% of disease-causing organisms, if used properly... I guess I believe it. They also say washing the hands frequently with soap and warm water is preferable, but my doc told me you have to do it long enough for it to work--- long enough to sing "Happy Birthday To You." And try to keep the hands away from the mouth, nose, and eyes to cut the chances down of transferring germs

As for the Kawai instructions on what to use to clean the Neotex keytops. I saw it on their website after I first got my piano a few years ago; you might have to dig a bit to turn it up. A soft cotton cloth, very lightly moistened and well wrung-out, with a squirt of Windex (a common glass cleaner) if needed. If the moisture doesn't evaporate from the keys right away, it's too wet. So, it's pretty minimal and I have had no trouble with doing it every three or four weeks. As far as I know, you're not supposed to let the keys get really wet with anything--- that is asking for trouble with just about any keyset... and I don't know about scrubbing them multiple times a day. That is what the piano teachers were talking about. It seems like a lot to me.

I'm telling all of you RD-700GXF users...I've had mine for a year now, and my keys show no signs of wear with around 3 hours a day on them. Just a plain white cloth, dampened with water. It cleans perfectly well, with no risk of damage.

Cheers,

I'm skeptical about viruses thriving in alcohol, but I know washing hands has been empirically proven (cited by the CDC) to be more effective in killing germs than alcohol-based hand sanitizers. One school of thought is when you wash your hands with soap and water you more vigorously rub them, which creates friction, which in combination with soap may be helpful in killing germs. The thought is friction may be lacking somewhat when using hand sanitizers.

I just tried this. Doesn't budge the black marks on the keys.

If the plain white dampen cloth doesn't effectively clean the RD-700GX keys, then I'm wondering what's on your hands. It has worked remarkably well for me for a year now, and I don't always wash my hands before I play. It's been a safe and very effective way to keep my keys clean. If you find some other way, please let me know. I'm genuinely curious as why the way I'm cleaning mine isn't working for you...hmmmm

I think I can say that if there is anyone out there who will be taking very good care of their DP, it is Lawrence. The keys are designed to be porous to wick sweat away and provide a texture that makes the keys more satisfying to play...but perhaps some staining is a consequence for some...but there should be no suggestion that he is not looking after his keys appropriately.

Problems with synthetic ivory do seem to be reported more often with Roland...maybe their lack of acoustic piano heritage is the reason?

Steve

I need to contact Roland about this, while it is still under warranty. Something is definitely not right.

Lawrence

PS - and yes, nominations for President of my fan club are now closed!

It's astonishing that the others who make acoustic pianos aren't way ahead of Roland in action and/or sound. Yamaha and Kawai ought to be much further ahead IMHO. In fact, I was never a Roland fan because I assumed Yamaha and Kawai could build a better DP since they know how to build real acoustic pianos.



I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with your keys. That's no good. I'm curious to find out why a simple dampen cloth isn't effective.

After one year of heavy use, my RD700GX is finally showing some key wear. Unfortunately, I'm fairly certain it's a "fixed" or "revised" version too: the board's production run date is at least a few months after Roland reported that they had "revised" the keytop.

Other than a ton of use (in terms of hours/notes played), I've tried to be a model owner too: I've kept it covered at all times and I don't even touch it without first washing my hands.

I've spoken with a few others about the wear issue and we've come up with an alternate theory: (finger)nails. As a pianist, I keep mine cut to near nonexistence, but that doesn't stop the occasional contact with the keytops. The keys that had heavy nail contact---e.g. C3 and the side of the left thumbnail when practicing Chopin's Revolutionary Etude---were the first to wear.

On the bright side, the wear does seem to have leveled off. And it's actually easier to feel (barely) than it is to see: you have to shine a bright light on the keys at an angle to really see it. To be clear: it doesn't bother me at all and hasn't affected my playing; it's still quite a bit less rough/uneven than any acoustic with real ivories I've played. I would still prefer this surface to the "shiny plastic" I had on my last board.

My advice to current owners who wish to avoid (or postpone, as it seems inevitable) this wear: keep your hands clean and your nails short.


More on topic: the SN board is amazing. Of the main stock patches (Expressive, Superior, and Ultimate), only the former lacked extremely gross velocity switching and was playable. With the SN kit, all the pianos are now infinitely playable: it's like I have an entirely new keyboard.

Interesting contribution, thanks. I absolutely agree with your endorsement of the SN sound engine.

It is my understanding that even with the earliest Ivory Feel key surfaces the wear stabilised after a period of time and I'm not aware of any reports that it has compromised the tactile playing experience.

However, if it becomes unsightly, this would be an issue for me. As it seems this is a problem specific to Roland products I can only assume their plastic formulation needs some work!

I believe Roland will replace key assemblies if they are found to have deteriorated...if true their support of the product is a credit to them but a poor substitute for a long-lasting, reliable key surface.

It really is odd that there seems to be some polarisation here...some users report slight but tangible surface deterioration and some report none at all, despite heavy use. I have two Rolands with Ivory Feel, neither of which have any problems...so far.

Steve

I have recently discovered the "Pure Grand" as a nice alternative to Expressive Grand in the stock 700GX sounds. Expressive Grand is sometimes a little... well "Expressive" with the pop/rock stuff that I play.

Sprout

Possibly they should say from which material the keys are made.
Plastics like ABS are very resistive against alcohol.
On the other side, Polyacryl is very sensitive against alcohol.
I have repaired printers that have parts made from polyacryl and which are held under constant tension with a spring. If I cleaned those with alcohol - Plop! - they where broken immidiately. (Now, afterwards I read the service manual and it said: dont use alcohol for this part! ;-) Also shiny polyacryl surfaces ("Plexiglass") becomes matte when using alcohol.
It should also been considered that some window cleaners contain alcohol.