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My piano has a polished ebony finish.

What is the best way to clean it, polish it, and keep it shiny?

Thanks,
FRQ

Windex.

This Thread has suggestions.

http://corycare.com/ is recommended

Another person recomends a California Car Duster (I have one).

No wax, though!

Don't touch it...

Cover it...

:p

Be careful with the Windex. It has ammonia in it, which over time, can cloud the finish.

For dusting, the California Duster looks nice.

For fingerprints on polish polyester, I haven't been able to find much of anything that a high-quality microfiber cloth and a little bit of moisture won't take care of.

Can you point me to a source?

Rich,

I wasn't aware of that, thanks. I've used Windex for many years on all kinds of furniture etc. (my wife thinks I'm nuts, we have so much Windex around the house). Never noticed any problems. Is it likely to cause clouding if it is wiped on and off relatively fast, as is usually done?

Thanks for any help on this.

Mark

I also use the california car duster... the large one. The point of using one of these is that as long as you use a light touch, you won't get any scratches.

If you use a rag and wipe in circles, you'll have nice swirlies after a while. Don't do that. If you do have to wipe it down someday because it develops a film, wipe each piece back and forth (after it is dusted). Also, don't use paper towel... it's wood.

You aren't Greek by chance?

Damp chamoix w/ a tiny drop of dish soap to de-grease fingerprints....that's it!

Microfibre cloth gets the vote from me. Just wipe and make sure there isn't any tiny particles

The dealer I bought my piano from said Windex without ammonia, with a very smooth cloth.

Microfibre cloth, wet. No soap, detergent or wax. Use a second dry cloth to wipe dry. Keep them clean.
Simple and quick. Works like a charm.

From the smell, we know right away that Windex has amonia. It will ruin your piano.

This is what I use with excellent results--but it's only safe on polyester finishes:

Eagle One Wax-As-U-Dry (liquid)
Meguiar's Deep Crystal Polish (semi-liquid)

Now, before somebody faints, or launches a severe diatribe in my direction, let me explain...

To remove a polyester finish, you heat it with a torch and then chip away at it with a hammer and chisel. Stripper doesn't work. Lacquer thinner won't do a thing. Acetone has no effect.

The polyester resin used on modern pianos is a catalyst-hardened, styrene based finish that's similar to fiberglass only tougher and more brittle. We use Brasso metal polish on it to remove fine scratches, and then take the haze out with the Meguiar's. For dusting and detailing, we use the Eagle One; but I'm sure you could use Turtle Wax or any other automotive product with equally good results.

BTW, since your piano is black, you can deepen the shine even more with the black-tinted Turtle Wax that's available at some auto parts stores.

FRQ asked about keeping the piano polished and shined, as well as cleaned, which is why I mentioned all this. For folks who don't want a deep, mirror shine on their polyester finish, I'd just recommend Windex.

Always use something soft to apply wax or Windex (the blue Shop Towels from Home Depot work well), and NEVER apply any of these products to anything besides polyester...and of course, avoid getting any kind of wax, liquid, etc. in contact with internal parts (strings, soundboard, dampers, etc.).

Someone wrote that Windex might chemically affect the finish.

This brings up the point of what your finish is.

If it is a polyurethane, it is like a liquid plastic and is practically inert to chemicals.

We use Pledge on ours. We apply it to a cloth and rub with it. Do NOT spray it directly on the piano, and keep it away from the pinblock.

We had a build-up of a wax that originated with a brand of polish recommended by the piano store at the time we bought the piano in 1988. Over the decades it layered up and clouded. I tried without success to get this oxidized wax off of the piano. Pledge is the only thing that worked for us.

Of course, we did not try the Windex.

My dealer recommends Brillianize which hasn't come up yet in this thread. In fact there are only a couple of mentions of this product in these forums ever. Has anyone used this product?

I use a slightly dampend dust-free/lint-free cloth to remove any fingerprints, and a microfiber cloth to remove the dust.

John

Thanks all who have given a heads up on Windex. Why risk it?

There have been numerous threads on this subject, and Meguiars products appear frequently. Upon the recommendations in the PTG site, I have used the swirl remover (#9) and clear coat scratch remover/polish (#17) with great satisfaction. Not that I've had any big damage, just a couple of cat skids. Successful removal of the small stuff assures that cat's survival.

Now that Frank's online store here at Piano World is carrying some of the Fender line (which is a Meguiars brand) guesswork about which auto products are appropriate for a piano is removed. But Frank (if you're listening in): I see some of the products have vanished. Is there a technical reason?

For anything that requires rubbing, e.g. fingerprint removal, I WILL NOT use a microfiber cloth . Microfiber is made of polyester and therefore has a hardness potentially similar to, or the same as, the piano finish which translates to cutting swirls into your finish. Use a real (not simulated) chamois. Like Captain Obvious said above, paper towels are wood, and guess what, so is cotton terry for all practical purposes. Nothing feels as good as skin, I guess. Whoops, different thread...

For dusting only, LIGHT use of a microfiber cloth, or the California Car Dusters which I swear by. But use the latter lightly because part of their effectiveness is owed to being impregnated with wax. You want to remove dust without applying wax .

I recommend the Brillianize spray/ microfiber cloth combo. Fantastic product and specifically made for high gloss poly finishes. Have used it and it works. I recommend it because it's safe, it's anti-static (a big thing here in our dry climate) and because it's inexpensive. Price is approx $12.95 plus shipping for a large spray bottle and special dust cloths. Product should easily last for about
6 months to a year with regular cleaning.