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A relative of mine just recently bought me the steinway supreme polish and the cleanse & conditioner. I was reading the back and it said for pianos, use steinway cream polish. Can I still use the polish I have now on the piano or do i need the cream polish? If i can use the ones I have now, how should I apply it the directions confuse me. One more thing why would steinway make polish for furniture?

Hi, Rach freak. I had the same problem. I have a steinway D. I tried to locate the "Steinway" Polish at three authorized steinway dealers. None carried the product. I called steinway world headquarters in Waltham (right next door) and they referred me to the factory. The factory gave me the name of local stores that carried it, including Linens & Things and Macy's Furniture and a mail order store like Hammacher Sclemmer. Linens and things thought I was crazy. Steinway said that they merely license their name to the polish manufacturers. I was frustrated, and a local piano store did carry "Yamaha" piano polish for ebony satin and polished. I feel that it worked fine. One can order the steinway polish from the internet, but I called their store and did not get any answer. I felt that they did not deserve my business. I would have liked to use the "approved" polish, but I did not want to wait. The yamaha polish worked fine. Hope this helps.

After my piano looking awful from wax buildup accumulated over ten years, I finally just used some plain old Lemon Pledge to totally clean all the old wax film off of the piano. In other words, just totally cleaned the surface.

My grand has a high luster black polyester finish. This is a liquid plastic, and I am sure Pledge is not going to harm it. The piano actually looks a lot better totally clean than when I was using expensive, film-type polishes.

People are going to write in and say, don't use Pledge, and that it may harm the piano. They have a right to their opinion, I suppose, but with a plastic-based varnish like polyester, it will not damage anything. It will get all the old wax off. And the dirt or dust, as well. That is my goal.

I have used Pledge and similar polishes for thirty-five years and nothing terrible has happened - looks as good as new. However, I do not spray it near the piano, which is closed - only a small quantity directly onto a cloth and not very often. 90% of the time a damp cloth is quite sufficient.

It's not the piano finish you have to worry about with Pledge, it's the pinblock.

Regarding polish, I use automobile polish on my high-gloss finish. Works very well. Especially the newer ones that "fill in" tiny scratches. I had some very minor scratches next to the music desk, used the polish and now they are gone.

Derick

Thanks for pointing that out, Derick. There are various articles on the internet explaining the pitfalls. Fortunately, my use of Pledge has been very infrequent and I have never sprayed it near the piano. Mostly I use a clean, damp cloth. I had better amend my post in case others squirt Pledge all over the place.

Derick
Which auto polish do you use?

I use the moist furniture wipes that are available in a sealed packets now in the UK and I guess in America too. Pledge and others do them and they are very cheap.

They do not leave a residue and they remove all finger marks, smears, dust etc and leave a mirror finish on my gloss black-polyester grand with no risk of sprays etc getting onto the strings. Highly recommended.

Kind regards

Adrian

I have several "high-end" German polishes, but the best one I found for the piano is Klasse. However, better than that is a synthetic polymer polish; Blackfire. I have never seen Klasse or Blackfire in any store and have only purchased them thru the internet.

However, the best thing I have used is a wax, not a polish; Meguiars Tech Wax. You should be able to find that very readily in an AutoZone or places like that. It comes with a nice applicator and a high-quality microfiber cloth included.

Derick

Thanks Derick for the information. I was going to ask you where and what you are using. I have a few fine scratches around the music desk myself that I blame those on the spiral bindings on some of my books.

John

Ted is right.

If you decide to use Pledge or similar, you never spray it directly on the piano. You spray a light amount on a soft cloth and then wipe the piano in a swirling motion. And as Ted says, use it sparingly. Just enough to cut and remove dirt or any traces of old polish.

I'm no authority on car polish, but even the best car waxes are designed to leave a film. Ever notice how water beads up on your car right after a waxing?

Any polish designed to leave a film will not create problems the first year, or the second. But after --say-- 10 years, with layer after layer of film build-up, the piano tends to take on a dull, smudgy look.

One would imagine that a new application of the film-type polish would remove all previous coats. Alas, often it does not. The problem is worse along angles and in corners where it is more difficult to get a good draw with your polishing cloth.

A high-gloss finish should hardly need to be supplied with an additional film polish. Isn't that a little like trying to be "holier than the Pope," as the old saying goes?