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Joined: Apr 2017
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Does dust collection ruin a piano's sound? I ask because I was wondering if I can keep the lid of the piano up rather than down as it looks nice.
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If you leave your top up all the time you will end up with a very warped top that eventually may not close properly anymore.
It is strongly suggested that you only open the lid when playing, then put it down.
Pwg
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Does dust collection ruin a piano's sound? I ask because I was wondering if I can keep the lid of the piano up rather than down as it looks nice. No.
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My lid is open since ten years and I can still close it (tested). If the lid wraps it is probably more because of the sun shining on it or different air humidity.
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Isn't more dust getting into a piano by being left open all the time? If so, dust and dirt getting into the bass string windings and action can't be ideal. I think a fully open grand piano that's filthy on the inside is a worse look than a grand piano that stays covered when not in use.
Although I hate doing it, I clean out the inside of my grand piano annually using some soundboard cleaning tools, a vacuum, and a paintbrush.
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Does dust collection ruin a piano's sound? I ask because I was wondering if I can keep the lid of the piano up rather than down as it looks nice. A piano might look nice with the lid up, but to me, a piano with thick dust inside looks revolting.
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A piano might look nice with the lid up, but to me, a piano with thick dust inside looks revolting.
I totally agree. There are plenty of hundred-year-old grands in my area that have never had any soundboard cleaning. From the days of coal fired and smoky chimneys, many have a black grime encrusted on, and they look so much better once cleaned. The Spurlock soundboard cleaners are a great boon of course. I have a page about soundboard cleaning on my website, with some before and after pics.
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John,
What EXACTLY do you mean by dust collection?
Pwg
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The lid on my 55 year old Yamaha has lived with the lid up most of that time. No trace of warping, it closes as flat now as it did when new.
I clean the sound board occasionally with spurlock tools and a small leaf blower. Looks fine to me I'm the only one who matters).
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I always tell customers that dust probably doesn't hurt but I sure can't say it helps. If you have any kind of allergy, less dust in the house is a good thing.
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Whatever you call it that collects on the bass strings windings will certainly cause problems with the sound.
x-rpt retired ptg member
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Scientifically speaking, your piano produces sound when you hammer hits the string and the string vibrates. If your string and hammer is coated with dust, the dust bunnies sort of acts like a muffler. I don't think a small amount of dust is audible, but if they are thick and fluffy.. you know.. Maybe after reading this comment, you will feel that it sounds different, psychologically
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One of my go to voicing techniques is cleaning the hammers. Cleaning dirt from the slight groove of a nicely shaped hammer removes harshness of the attack. I assume the dirt comes from dust in the air, even with a closed lid. I wouldn't say dust ruins the sound, but changes it. It's easily repairable.
Tim Coates
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I heard that someone at the 2016 PTG convention demonstrated a change in tone by simply cleaning the dust off a piano's strings. I wasn't at the convention, so I can't verify this personally.
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No, but I can't begin to tell you how many clients think that it does. Dust isn't really helping anything and, if allowed to "collect" too long in the action, it can cause added wear on parts. A job for professional piano tech. Best wishes.
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What would be the best way to keep dust from forming? Vacuum or blow out with your air filter on full blast?
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I heard that someone at the 2016 PTG convention demonstrated a change in tone by simply cleaning the dust off a piano's strings. I wasn't at the convention, so I can't verify this personally. If dust affected sound, my M & H would not have been audible when I tested it. There was a thick coating of dust --- over about 28 years duration!
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With a blast of air, dust can be blown into unexpected places, that cannot easily be seen or cleaned (in theory). Theoretically, vacuuming would be a preferred method of dust removal.
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A slight accumulation of dust between cleanings has no effect on the sound. The problem is that if dust is allowed to accumulate beyond a certain point, it may be all but impossible to remove all of it. It eventually turns into a patina that will hide in areas that cleaning tools cannot reach satisfactorily.
While that is largely a cosmetic issue, the wound string sound may become dull and tubby when that patina is allowed to collect on them. Patina on the plain wire also has a slight effect. The easy solution is regular cleaning such as at each tuning. Unfortunately, many piano technicians avoid doing it but there are some, like me who do it routinely as a part of the tuning service. Any piano I have taken care of since it was new always looks like a brand new piano for decades.
If you are the piano owner and not the technician, you can still keep ahead of the dust build up by simply blowing the piano out when you are doing regular house keeping. If the piano has not been cleaned for many years, I suggest that you find a technician who is willing to do a thorough interior cleaning first.
This will be somewhat like having your car detail cleaned at the car wash as opposed to the cursory cleaning that they usually do. They pull the car into a bay and several technicians go into it with high powered vacuums, air hoses and other tools that will get into the crevices where dirt and grim hide. You pay quite a hefty charge for that.
The same will be with a deep interior cleaning of a grand piano. It can take considerable time. Therefore, piano technicians may charge more for that than they do for a tuning. It will just depend on how much time it takes.
Once you have a clean piano, however, if you have a small vacuum cleaner such as is used to clean out a car, stairs or odd places in the home and you can put the hose on the blow end, you can just hose it out once a month or so. Just make sure there are no foreign objects in the piano that may blow into where you cannot retrieve them. A small shop vac can also be used. A powerful hair dryer with an attachment that provides a more forceful air flow can also be used but certainly, never with any heat; only cold air. You can blow on the keys too because dust and lint settles between them.
You will usually just get a bit of fine dust and lint when you do that. It will blow into the air and settle on the floor where it can be vacuumed. Some dust and lint is also likely to settle on the piano lid and case where it can also easily be wiped clean. Just take care, however if you have a high polish finish that you first wipe very gently with a soft, damp cloth or you may put fine scratch marks in the finish.
Most piano owners make the piano a once in a lifetime investment. If there is any possibility that you may want to sell the piano at some point in order to trade up to a better quality instrument, the piano will be worth far more if it is very clean inside and has few if any scratches or other incidental damage to the case.
Again, it is no different from maintaining a vehicle. A clean, well kept vehicle with little or no damage is worth far more at trade in time. I guess you could say as well that a dirty car with scratches and dings all over it runs as well as one that is kept in a pristine state of cleanliness but the clean car is simply a more dignified and pleasurable experience to drive.
Keeping the lid closed does not prevent the accumulation of dust and patina. It just slows the accumulation down a little. Even a string cover, while it can keep a piano looking very fresh for many years, does not prevent dust and lint from accumulating in the piano.
All pianos, both grand and vertical need interior cleaning at some point or another. The environment in which the piano is kept has a lot to do with the frequency of need. A grand piano interior, whether the lid is normally kept open or closed, will accumulate dust and lint the same as any other surface in the environment.
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 2,082
2000 Post Club Member
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A slight accumulation of dust between cleanings has no effect on the sound. The problem is that if dust is allowed to accumulate beyond a certain point, it may be all but impossible to remove all of it. It eventually turns into a patina that will hide in areas that cleaning tools cannot reach satisfactorily.
While that is largely a cosmetic issue, the wound string sound may become dull and tubby when that patina is allowed to collect on them. Patina on the plain wire also has a slight effect. The easy solution is regular cleaning such as at each tuning. Unfortunately, many piano technicians avoid doing it but there are some, like me who do it routinely as a part of the tuning service. Any piano I have taken care of since it was new always looks like a brand new piano for decades.
If you are the piano owner and not the technician, you can still keep ahead of the dust build up by simply blowing the piano out when you are doing regular house keeping. If the piano has not been cleaned for many years, I suggest that you find a technician who is willing to do a thorough interior cleaning first.
This will be somewhat like having your car detail cleaned at the car wash as opposed to the cursory cleaning that they usually do. They pull the car into a bay and several technicians go into it with high powered vacuums, air hoses and other tools that will get into the crevices where dirt and grim hide. You pay quite a hefty charge for that.
The same will be with a deep interior cleaning of a grand piano. It can take considerable time. Therefore, piano technicians may charge more for that than they do for a tuning. It will just depend on how much time it takes.
Once you have a clean piano, however, if you have a small vacuum cleaner such as is used to clean out a car, stairs or odd places in the home and you can put the hose on the blow end, you can just hose it out once a month or so. Just make sure there are no foreign objects in the piano that may blow into where you cannot retrieve them. A small shop vac can also be used. A powerful hair dryer with an attachment that provides a more forceful air flow can also be used but certainly, never with any heat; only cold air. You can blow on the keys too because dust and lint settles between them.
You will usually just get a bit of fine dust and lint when you do that. It will blow into the air and settle on the floor where it can be vacuumed. Some dust and lint is also likely to settle on the piano lid and case where it can also easily be wiped clean. Just take care, however if you have a high polish finish that you first wipe very gently with a soft, damp cloth or you may put fine scratch marks in the finish.
Most piano owners make the piano a once in a lifetime investment. If there is any possibility that you may want to sell the piano at some point in order to trade up to a better quality instrument, the piano will be worth far more if it is very clean inside and has few if any scratches or other incidental damage to the case.
Again, it is no different from maintaining a vehicle. A clean, well kept vehicle with little or no damage is worth far more at trade in time. I guess you could say as well that a dirty car with scratches and dings all over it runs as well as one that is kept in a pristine state of cleanliness but the clean car is simply a more dignified and pleasurable experience to drive.
Keeping the lid closed does not prevent the accumulation of dust and patina. It just slows the accumulation down a little. Even a string cover, while it can keep a piano looking very fresh for many years, does not prevent dust and lint from accumulating in the piano.
All pianos, both grand and vertical need interior cleaning at some point or another. The environment in which the piano is kept has a lot to do with the frequency of need. A grand piano interior, whether the lid is normally kept open or closed, will accumulate dust and lint the same as any other surface in the environment.
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Piano
by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:34 PM
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Piano
by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:23 PM
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