How to Clean Piano Keys - A Step by Step Guide
Cleaning piano keys is an essential part of your piano's maintenance process. Of course you want to guarantee that your piano or keyboard would last for a very long time. In order to ensure this, regular maintenance and repairs when necessary should be on your itinerary. Your keys can easily gather dust, dirt, oils from your skin and grime making them look dingy. Even if you decide to wash your hands before playing the piano, your keys would still undergo wear. To clean your piano, you do not exactly need to hire the services of a professional. You can easily do it at home, saving yourself money while enjoying your clean piano.
Recall that your piano keys is one of the first most noticeable things about you piano. So you need to ensure that your cleaning regimen is consistent and effective. Before you go ahead with cleaning, you need to understand that different keys are cleaned in different ways. For instance, the method of cleaning plastic keys is different from cleaning ivory keys. While the keys on a piano are usually ivory, the keys on a keyboard are plastic. However, in recent times, there are now pianos with plastic keys. So you need to be sure of the material that your keys are made with.
Note that you may be also interested in our previous post of How Many Keys on a Piano, and Best Piano Keyboards for Beginners. Feel free to check them any time!
Identifying the Actual Material Your Keys Was Made With
If you are having any difficulties in figuring out what your keys are made with, here are some tips to help you.
- Plastic keys are a lot smoother than ivory keys and usually come with a clear coating
- Ivory keys have an off-white color, and not a pure white color
- Ivory keys tend to look a lot more yellow as they get dirty over time
- Ivory keys are two parts joined together and this is very distinct
Now that you know the difference between the keys, let's check out how to go about cleaning them.
How to Clean Ivory Piano Keys
Ivory piano keys are usually found high-end pianos and have a white luster that comes naturally with them. After using your piano for a while, there is a tendency for your keys to become yellow or get dirty. If you want to remove marks, fingerprints, or dirt, make use of mild soap. If your keys are yellowing, try applying alcohol, toothpaste or milk. Another option is to apply professional cleaning products on the keys to keep them clean. This clearly shows that there are different methods. However, here is the most common method that you can use on your journey to learning how to clean piano keys made of ivory.
Using Soap and a Damp Cloth
When you are using soap and a damp cloth, here are the steps to take.
Dampen a Clean Cloth
First off, you should get rid of marks and dirt present on the surface by cleaning with a soft cloth. Before using the cloth, ensure that you remove all the excess water by squeezing it. Your ivory piano keys should not be covered in water since this can cause damage to it. If they are covered in water, it could cause the ivory keys to swell thereby making it difficult to play. Avoid using a scouring pad or a brush on your keys because this would result in scratches. In summary, you should make use of soft clean cloth all the time.
Apply A Minute Amount Of Mild Soap
After dampening your soft cloth, apply a very minute amount of mild soap - preferably drops. Ensure that the soap has no fragrance or harsh chemical components which can cause damage to the keys. Also, you need to make sure that you applied only a very little amount of soap so that you don't end up with a lather. However, if you do not want to make use of soap, you're equally good to go with the soft cloth in most cases. This is because applying the right pressure with your damp, soft cloth is enough to clean your ivory piano keys.
Wipe The Keys Very Lightly
This process may take up to 20-30 minutes. This is because you would need to wipe every single key individually. You should wipe the keys very lightly and ensure that the motion of your cleaning covers from top to bottom. Avoid wiping them from side to side since this can damage them. If there are marks that are proving difficult to come off, you should apply very gentle wipes consistently until they come off. If there are stains, you may need to step your cleaning up a notch by using solutions like milk, alcohol or toothpaste.
Dry The Keys Afterwards
Once you are done wiping each key, pick a new piano cleaning cloth that is equally soft to dry the keys. Dry each key individually as well and make sure the top to bottom is covered. In addition, ensure that no excess water is left on the keys because this can damage the ivory.
How to Clean Black Lacquer Piano
Cleaning your piano will black Lacquer finish on a weekly basis is a great way to go. However, you also need to be careful as to what you apply. Certain cleaning products can tamper with your piano's beauty and sheen. So you should make use of only mild soaps and piano polish on this piano to remove smudges and fingerprints. In order to clean this piano, the materials you would need are a microfiber cloth, gloss-producing polish, and ¼ cup of baking soda or some mild soap. After getting these materials, here are the steps for cleaning.
Step 1:
Remove the surface layer of dust and dirt using a few duster or microfiber cloth. Ensure that the microfiber towel is damp after which you may or may not decide to add the mild soap. Next, wipe down the piano using long, straight strokes. Ensure that you do not use circular motions because it can cause scratches on your piano.
Step 2:
After ensuring that the piano is completely dry, you can then apply a Lacquer finish. Gloss-producing polish is advised because it would improve the sheen. Polish it lovingly until it begins to glow.
Step 3:
Ensure that no hard pressure is applied on the pianos edges and sharp corners. This is because it can easily lead to scratching and stripping.
Step 4:
In order to maintain your lacquer piano's glow, you need to ensure that you clean it weekly basis. Avoid pretreated furniture polishing cloths and paper towels when you are looking for wiping material.
How to Clean Plastic Piano Keys
If you have a keyboard piano instead of a grand piano, you still need to clean your instrument.
Step 1:
First off, you need to mix up the cleaning solution and this comprises a small bowl with warm water, and little quantity of mild soap.
Step 2:
Get a soft cleaning cloth and dip in the cleaning solution. Ensure that the cloth is a white one so that the dirt can show. Also, ensure that the cloth is only slightly damp.
Step 3:
When you begin to.clean the keys, you should start the white ones and do it in a brushing motion. However, ensure that your cleaning or rubbing is not in any way aggressive or vigorous. While doing the brushing motion, ensure that you do it on the keys from back to front. Do not do it side to side and front wipe backward. While the latter can push dirt in between keys, the former can push dirt to the back of the keys.
Step 4:
When you are about to clean the black keys, ensure that you use a different white cloth.
Step 5:
Get rid of all the soap residue using another white cloth as well.
Step 6:
When you are certain that the keys have dried, you should cover them up to prevent dust from settling again. Also, for every time that the piano is not in use, ensure that it is always covered.
Precautions
Now that you can basically clean a piano, the next step is to get to learn some of the things that you should never do. This is simply because the things would damage the keys.
- Avoid using chemically-based polish or cleaners
- Do not wipe keys from side to side, instead wipe from top to bottom to avoid pushing dirt in between your keys
- Avoid using spray disinfectants especially during cold/flu seasons as that can damage the keys
- Use different cloths for the black and white keys. If you want to use the same cloth, ensure that you use different sides.
- Use only lint-free cloths for cleaning because they would not leave any residue. Avoid paper towels and any other materials.
In conclusion, cleaning piano keys play an essential part in determining how long your piano would last. Weekly maintenance is one of the easiest ways of guaranteeing an extended lifespan for your piano. And what's more important? It requests only mineral effort!!