Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Leave the fallboard open or closed?

My piano dealer recommends leaving the fallboard open all the time, so that air can circulate around the keys. Does this make any sense? Why do I need air circulating around my keys? I would prefer to keep the fallboard closed, so that airborne dust can find its way to the soundboard, where it belongs. I understand that ivory keys are whitened by UV light; that's why they used to put them out in the sun. I know that the little UV light in my music room can't make it to the keys if the soundboard is closed, but this doesn't sound productive either. Any opinions?

You're right, dust belongs on the soundboard... :-)

The only benefit besides UV whitening to leave it open is if you clean the keys with a slightly damp cloth. Real ivory absorbs moisture, and needs to dry out afterwards.

Assuming moss isn't growing anywhere in the same room, go ahead and close the fallboard... and ask the dealer what he or she was thinking of. (Maybe so that wood doesn't get sunbleached, so 20 years from now you can remember what the finish looked like?!?)

--Cy--

Paul, Here are some thoughts: I do not agree that sunlight whitens ivory. I have tuned many older pianos with no fallboard- they are always yellow and deteriorated looking. I have tuned many 70-100 year old pianos with fallboards that have been kept down, and the keys are white or near white. How do I know the fall board has been kept down? Look at the ebonies; look at the wood all around the keys. They will tell.
Sunlight will turn some things white with the addition of bleach or peroxide; The general rule for sunlight on nearly anything however, is to deteriorate, not renew. So, I guess my vote would be to keep it down--would the manufacturers have put it there for any other reason?
Wayne Gregory - Angier,NC

I think putting the keys out in the sun was old-day practice before there was dehumidifier.

Ivory is a hard, smooth, yellowish-white substance composed primarily of dentin that forms the tusks of the elephant.

Sunlight whitens/bleaches ivory. It's chemistry.

Does that mean they will just continue to whiten forever? No, of course not, but it will help to get them as white as they can be.

Lextune is right. In fact, in ivory keytop restorations, they work the keys over with a bleaching solution and then hook up bright UV lights and place them over the keys to whiten them.