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Mine is a Kawai CA98. I've never given this much thought but now that I have students coming in and touching the piano ( sometimes after touching their mouth or eyes ) I think it's necessary. My only concern is damaging the finish on the piano with something like vinegar or lemon ( I often prefer natural cleaning products ) I'm thinking some of these chemical disinfectants could also potentially damage the finish of this piano ( I do need it to look new as I might want to sell it or trade it for another model this year ).

Don't sanitize the piano. Sanitize the hands.

Water and soap is what's recommended.

And you don't need to worry about any "aerosols" landing on the piano as you are breathing in that air anyway and any virus surviving on the surface will only enter your body via your hands.

...which you wash with water and soap.

Exactly. A well thought out, logical, and scientific answer. Thank you

Well thought out?

Viruses go both ways: to you, and from you.
Cleaning your hands reduces the flux from you.
But you'll have to clean the surface you come into contact with to reduce the flux to you.

This video shows the best way to disinfect a grand piano, but I'm sure the same technique could be used on a digital:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP5dPn_eP7Q

+1. While it IS a good idea to wash your hands thoroughly and frequently, it is only one part of the equation, and borderline irresponsible to recommend that it is alone sufficient. A student who washes their hands when they come into your house can still touch their face, their nose, their lips, their arms, and any other exposed part of their body that isn't their hands. So can you as you play.

For everyone's sake, including your own, please do disinfect commonly touched surfaces, including the piano.

Excellent!

Yes, people touch their faces without even realizing before it's already done.

Yes, viruses do survive on surfaces for some time.

But they don't go inside your body through the fingertips, so washing your hands after playing the piano will help.

...unless you touch your face while playing. 😐

Maybe wipe the keys with alcohol then (?)

And nobody said anything about hand washing being sufficient alone. But it should definitely help and not harm the piano.

What?
You said this yesterday:

There are always several ways to interpret a post.

If someone was considering wiping the piano as the only measure then it might be better to wash hands instead.

It's of course possible that the piano sanitation was an additional measure that was considered.

Then the real question is what chemicals are safe for the piano.

I didn't say "Don't do anything else beyond washing hands". But it's easier to find hand-safe soap than digital-piano-safe chemicals.

OK, I guess I don't know what "don't sanitize the piano" means.

Best way I found to sanitize a piano is play ABBA's "Dancing Queen". Twice for heavily infected units. No virus, bacteria, or fungus will survive. Just won't.

If you can't find a good version from the 'net, just play "We've Only Just Begun". Another true killer of the living.

Or... spray some Lysol onto a wash cloth, then wipe. My friend is a lab tech at a major Pharma. She said the two most powerful killers are bleach and the ingredient in Lysol. Lysol won't bleach or damage surfaces (supposedly).

Peace
Bruce in Philly

The question wasn't "What are all the measures one should take when piano students visit?" so there's no need to list all the common guidelines like "Don't touch your face" and no hand shakes or kisses on the cheek.

My first comment was a false dichotomy, I suppose. You can do both. And by washing the hands I mean the students too of course.

So there should be less to sanitize on the piano.

But let's move on...

Make sure you're teaching with your mask on, and have a box fan @ 2 cross flow windows, 1 intake, 1 exhaust.

Failing that you will almost certainly catch or transmit Covid.

Will it fit in the dishwasher?
I'd use a low temperature though as the hot wash finished my MacBook off

...and here you thought my idea was crazy:


A built-in sanitation system that works automatically; aptly named ASS (automatic sanitation system).


The ASS system uses no water or chemicals; simply close the lid and ASS goes to work.........automatically.

No fuss, no chemicals, no water, no need to power, ASS does it all for you, my brother!



P.S.

ASS (automatic sanitation system) can be retrofitted into existing pianos by a certified -ASS- technician! (Patents pending).

If everyone's washing their hands, avoids touching their face, perhaps wearing a mask, then how does anything actually get on the surface in the first place?

I think that was the thinking behind the original "wash your hands" suggestion.

I think he should have cleaned the strings as well. Since COVID-19 is an airborne desease, the viruses coming out of the piano player will go and rest on the strings. When the second person plays it, the strings will vibrate and can spread the virus/particles in the air. Just saying.

Also, the seat if it get sweaty or the player gently releases a sinlent wind, it needs to be changed.


This image uses some special effects to show another different way COVID-19 can spread in the surrounding space.

Joking aside people will touch the piano bench too to move it back and forth and maybe to adjust the height.

Here's an article that is kind of a tough read but has a good summary chart in Figure 2. The article is focused on novo and roto viruses, and food born pathogens, but I would imagine the cleaning tests on hard surfaces hold true for corona viruses as well. The surprising part is that a single wipe with either plain water or soapy water or two concentrations of bleach give very similar results. It's only by combining soapy water with bleach in a two step process that there is really a large improvement. So I guess the takeaway is a single wipe with a damp cloth, using a clean surface of the cloth each time, is about as effective as using soap or bleach. You only take the next step up if you wipe first with a soapy cloth followed up with a bleach wipe.