It's been two years since I had my August Forster rebuilt, and the inlaid brass "August Forster" letters on the fallboard had become very tarnished. So I went through old posts here to see what was suggested, and found two suggestions:

(1) use a No.2 pencil eraser
(2) use Brasso, but be careful not to touch the lacquer (very tough)

I can vouch that erasers are frustrating and ultimately ineffective, and can also put scratches on the lacquer.


But, I found a German product called AutoSol (http://www.autosol.com/home.htm) which I'd purchased from an auto supply store, and just tried it with a Q-tip on a small area. It works wonderfully.

Apparently the way it is formulated for cars, it polishes rather than scratches (very fine grit). I found I can just spread it across the brass letters, let it sit for a minute and then wipe it off, and the brass shines, and even with rubbing there are no scratches and no lacquer seems to come off on the rag. I've overlaid this with some Japanese piano cleaner (don't know what type since I can't read the label, but Tom Lee in town suggested it) and the plaque looks new

Just thought I'd share this since I'm sure I'm not the only one who has wondered how to clean up the brass on my piano without scratching the finish

Try wiping the inlay with the juice from a fresh lemon. It works great, and is a lot cheaper.

If I can buy autosol locally, Id like to try it out.