While I was at a lady's house, she asked how to clean dust off the top of the soundboard. I told her techs use a soundboard steel to push a cloth under the strings. (I saw a picture of this in Reblitz' book.) She asked where she could get one. I didn't know. Should I encourage her to get one? If so, where?

Can I piggyback on this thread to ask how often the soundboard should be cleaned? I don't want to do it myself, but I don't know if this is something I should be asking my tech to do at each tuning? Once a year? Once every 5 years?

I would not use a soundboard steel. It is far too easy to scratch the soundboard with on. There are other dusters available with plastic handles which are safer.

I recommend using a new paint brush through the strings to loosen the dust, and a vacuum cleaner to get it once it is loose. You need a new brush, because once the bristles have flagged, they will no longer make it through the strings.

The only recommendation I make about cleaning the soundboard is that it should be done whenever the piano is restrung. Everything else is a matter of taste.

Monica,

Instead of cleaning I prefer the use of a string cover. It pretty much eliminates the need for regular cleaning while keeping the bass strings shiny and the soundboard dust free. It also keeps dirt out of the action cavity.

They can be made cheaply or bought commercially made and have little effect on the sound. They also allow keeping the lid on the prop stick because you're not worried about dust. This has the benefit of discouraging the placement of the entire collection of knick knacks and family portraits or the occasional glass of whatever liquid could be spilled into the piano. I don't mind removing objects from the top of a piano before tuning, unless they are extremely fragile or expensive, but anything on top of the piano will eventually damage the finish or make noise.

Having a string cover also makes it much more likely the lid will be left up and don't most pianos sound better with the lid up?

BTW, don't forget to have the action and action cavity cleaned. Bugs love action cloth and felt. The occasional cleaning will prevent small issues from developing into large ones.

I find the best way to clean a soundboard (of non-sticking residue) is to use Bill Spurlock's soundboard cleaners

http://www.spurlocktools.com/id32.htm

I use a paint brush and a Schaff soundboard steel on grands. I thread a Swiffer through the slot on the steel and fold it so the steel never contacts the board. The Swiffer lays flat enough so string contact in minimal. I usually thoroughly clean pianos at no charge as part of my first tuning.

I use the Spurlock system as well. I use all three sizes of the tool - each has an advantage in different areas of the piano. I then use my vaccuum to pull the dust out. It works great!

Monica, I suggest asking your technician to clean it yearly. It's amazing how fast dust will gather in even the best environments. I clean the sound board an all grands I sell as part of the final prep. They look good on display but a Swiffer grabs everything that shouldn't be there. It only takes a few minutes.

When I was in school I saw an old soundboard steel which had its tip dipped in some sort of rubber. I wrap duct tape around the ends of mine and have never had a problem.

In between my cleanings I encourage customers to used canned air to blow the dust out every few months - especially around the bridges, hitch-pins, and tuning pins - places that are notoriously hard to clean once they get dirty. Also, they can gently blow dust to the far left side of the soundboard where it is easy to wipe up with a damp rag. This is especially easy on newer pianos.

Thanks all... guess I'll be asking my tech to dust the soundboard at the next visit.

I almost bought some of that canned air once, but I have a vague memory of somebody saying something in a thread once about the chemicals in the propellant possibly being bad for the piano... is that a valid concern?

Doesn't the dust blow up in the air and then just settle again?

Any housewife sees this as she dusts and vacuums.

(oh that sounded so bad written!)

Hopefully the dust will settle on something easier to clean the your piano's soundboard. I remember one poster mentioning that he uses a leaf blower to blow the dust out. Maybe the outie end of a vacuum cleaner would work as well

K-Mart sells a small brush with dustpan for $1.99 - the brush has long synthetic bristles that can easily reach to the soundboard from above the strings. It can also help dislodge dirt from around the tuning pins. Combined with vacuum it is usually enough.
If the dirt is really stuck on the board I like the Spurlock tool as it can be a bit more agressive. The duster with plastic handle is good for pianos that have relatively clean boards.
Many clients have purchased my Spurlock tool or duster and took over the work after I showed them how to do it.

Pianotek now sells a rubberized soundboard steel. Only techs are supposed to be able to purchase from them though.

With the Spurlock system, is there a problem with the overstrung section?

Jeff

Jeff;
The Spurlock system has three different lengths of handles. The overstrung section isn't a problem if you insert the longest rod from somewhere else and work the dust to the edge.

I made a "steel" from 1/4" acetate about 4' long & 1.5" wide, punched a 1/4" hole in the end and push a swifter thru the hole and tie a knot in it to keep it secured. We use acetate, just thick plastic in 1/8" and 1/4", for making fixture templates when fabricating sheet metal.

This along with compressed air seems to work for me...even got the X'mas bulb pieces out when the puppy pulled the tree donw last year

Here's a Grand Piano Soundboard Duster/Cleaner

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...47668%26fvi%3D1

I havn't tried it but it looks like it will work well

I just dusted a CFIIIS soundboard with a steel and Swiffer at a leisurely pace, 4 minutes. For anything other than dusting I'd recommend a Spurlock type of approach though.

Piano owners should never be encouraged to mess around inside their pianos. Tuning, regulating, trouble shooting, voicing, and cleaning should be left to experienced professionals.

A soundboard steel, used with care and experience, can do a great job in cleaning under the plate and strings.

Cooking oils in the home environment settle on the soundboards and cause dust to adhear to the wood's finish. Often blowing out the interior with the exhaust of a vaccum will not get this gooy layer.

Canned air can be goofy to use sometimes. If you tilt the can wrong you can get a blast of propellant/coolant that will freeze whatever it hits. This could destabilize the tuning on those strings, or even check/crack the finish on the SB. Careful with this stuff.

A string cover is definitely the way to go. It keeps things in much better condition overall- notably the strings. However, I'm not too sure about Mr. Fox's comment about how cheaply they should be done. Of course it is possible to make one that is simply a cover out of a cheap fabric, but the proper string covers are 100% wool, because wool has anti-moisture properties whereas other fabrics do not. However 100% wool felt is pretty expensive.

Now perhaps in some climate locales, it doesn't make much difference whether it's wool or not. But I've seen wool time-tested in some of the most humid climates in the U.S., and my approach is to be better safe than sorry and always go with 100% wool rather than take chances on a cheap fabric that may not have as good a result as wool after 20 years.

For general cleaning of soundbaords, plates, tuning pins etc I encourage my clients to do this work after I demonstrate. I have no problem with this.
This approach helps with promotion of prevention, such as keeping the lid closed and the use of covers.
It also relives me of the cleaning task as this is my least favorite by far.
I have proven many times over that a professional is not required for this task, just a bit of professional instruction or coaching.

Brick,

Perhaps my piano friendly climate is to blame for my perception that wool isn't necessary. Northern California's central valley is known for it's mild climate in terms of humidity.

My first experience with a customer who had a string cover (home made out of bright yellow acrylic felt from the fabric store and cheap hardware store dowels) convinced me that I should consider recommending covers. He had a 1966 Yamaha G5 that was spotless under the felt. No dust, no bugs, no corrosion, bright shiny copper windings. My experience since then has led me to lean toward the notion that 100% wool isn't really necessary, just prefered. I've also made covers for many pianos leaving my shop after complete rebuilds. Making them myself allows for making of matching music desk covers to keep the finish from being destroyed out of the same material. Edwards String Covers doesn't make anything for the music desk.

I also don't believe 100% wool is necessary. Synthetics do not absorb water. If some natural fabrics absorb some amount of water, i.e., they're hygroscopic, that doesn't necessarily imply that the humidity is higher in their vicinity.

In general, I wouldn't expect any fabric to materially affect the humidity in its vicinity. I believe, but don't know for sure, that the supposed superiority of wool covers is more hype than fact.

It may be that many wool covers are of rather thick, heavy fabric, and if so, may offer some thermal insulation value. If there's a Dampp Chaser in the piano, that may allow the warmer rods to more effectively control the humidity of the piano.

There is available in Britain a sort of thin, elongated flannel paddle called a "Flatmate" which is evidently very handy for soundboard dusting. I have not so far found a US/Canadian distributor.

Tom

I use an hairphone (switched on cold !!) and the Spurlock's tools as well on a regular basis (every 2 weeks) to clean the plate, strings and soundboard in my grand.
I always keep surgery gloves on my hands during this cleaning session to avoid touching the (bass) strings with my hands nacked.
Luigi

I bring a Vac/blower to every tuning. Takes 5 min to either vac the piano out (Upright) or blow the dust out (grand). Blowing the dust gets it out of the tuning pin area and under the plate too. If the SB has a heavy layer of dust, or sticky dust on it, cleaning with a soundboard cleaner is needed. In the workshop, compressed air does the job nicely.

I can second the advice for a string cover. I bought the Edwards String Cover...it is somewhat more expensive, but worth it.......very well made, and she was able to put the words Mason & Hamlin Ampico in gold letters on the cover.

http://www.edwardsstringcovers.com/

grandpianoman, how does the string cover affect the sound of your Mason? One reason I've been hesitating to get one myself is that I just love how beautifully the treble sings and the bass growls on my piano, and I don't want to lose that. My tech told me that the covers he's worked with do have a tendency to muffle the treble notes especially.

Monica, that I can't answer as of yet, as I don't have my piano...yet! ....when I received the string cover, upon examination, I was impressed with the quality of workmanship, the materials etc. From what I have read, a string cover does dampen the high frequencies somewhat. The nice thing about the Edwards cover, is the fact that it has wooden battens sewn in, so removal of the cover is very easy when you want to play it. A string cover definitely keeps the soundboard much cleaner and the bass strings stay shiny and new looking. As I understand it, in fairly humid climates, a string cover helps with controlling humidity. Another benefit is if you live near the ocean, the salt water is very detrimental to just about everything, including piano strings. With a string cover in place, the salt water corrision problems are ameliorated to a large degree.

Maybe some other PW folks who do have the Edwards, can comment on the sound w/with out the cover in place.

Where can I get a string cover for a M&H BB ? I'd like to leave the lid up all the time but cooking oils in the air and dust (countryside) are a concern.