How to Restore Upright Pianos

Restoring upright pianos is less expense than buying a new piano.

Upright pianos are a smaller, more compact version of full or grand pianos. The restoring of an older or rundown upright piano can save a lot of money as opposed to buying a new upright. The restoration process is all about finding individual problems --- either with functionality or aesthetics --- and fixing them. New strings and a good tuning can often help the sound of an older piano, and a cleaning and sanding can fix most aesthetic inconsistencies.

Things You'll Need

• Clean, dry cloth
• Rubbing alcohol
• Piano key
• Piano tuner
• Replacement piano strings
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste

Instructions

1. Clean the entire upright piano's exterior using the clean, dry cloth. Douse the cloth lightly with the rubbing alcohol and ring off excess liquid. Apply a medium amount of pressure while scrubbing the outside of the piano's wood parts. Clean the legs and key cover as well. Apply harder pressure when cleaning areas with chips, dents or gouges to kill harmful bacteria that may be damaging the wood.

2. Squeeze a generous amount of toothpaste onto the toothbrush and scrub the keys. Work the bristles in between the keys and lather them with the toothpaste. Use another clean cloth with rubbing alcohol as a cleanser/solvent to remove the toothpaste after the cleaning. Repeat as necessary until keys are a brighter shade of white than their current condition.

3. Use the piano key to loosen all the piano string casings. Turn the key counterclockwise on the casing pin of each string and then gently pull each string out one by one. Replace with the replacement strings, retightening with the piano key. Turn the key clockwise to tighten and tune each string with the piano tuner.

Tips & Warnings

• Ask a piano dealer about different piano models because some have specific manufacturer defaults that need to be restored.

• Exercise caution around older piano strings because they are prone to breakages.

References

• Earthlink: Piano Maintinance Tips
• Pianoworld: FAQ's