Cleaning an antique black walnut upright piano w/o stripping?

Question

It is a 1925 Beckwith upright piano. The finish is starting to alligator(black and bumpy), turning the sheen to a dull and rough finish on the edges and corners. That is the least of my troubles. My aunt had a  male cat, unneutered and he sprayed the piano by the foot pedals. How do I rid the piano of the smell, without stripping, which is very expensive and time consuming? Can I use an oil, ie. lemon, linseed? Will it soak in and condition the wood taking the smell of the cat with the absorbsion? Humidity is making the smell more atomized~WOW!  I tried Murphy's oil soap and it left it white/dull in the area. That scared me. This is a beautiful piece and want to hand it down to our grandson someday. Thanking you all for your answers.

Don R · Accepted Answer

I hate to say this but you may have to refinish this beauty.  The reason it is turning white/dull is that the orig finish is no longer tightly bonded to the wood and whatever you clean with is getting under the orig varnish.  Remember it is some 80 years old.
It wouldn't be that hard to strip the old varnish but be very careful around the keys.  Once you strip you can stain and re-varnish to the color you want.
Before you do this it would be best to have a local piano tech look at the sounding board to make sure it is not cracked (common prob on old pianos).  Maybe also make sure it can be tuned.  The strings become brittle over time. If the cost doesn't scare you , go for it.
The cat smell will disappear with the stripping (or over time).

Anonymous · Answer

You can certainly learn to read music and make up a board with notes so you can learn where the music you've learned to read are on the keyboard. Better yet Doll, I have a piano you can have. Email me and we can try to get it to you, nothing wrong with it.

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Cleaning an antique black walnut upright piano w/o stripping?

2 Answers