CAUT

As I recall Mario Igrec posted a mix his staff had been using at Juilliard (Fantastic mixed with something else). That said, mixing cleaning chemicals can result in poisonous gases, so it is not the time to randomly experiment at this!

Small practice rooms seem problematic to me, but I mostly have a suburban clientele. And lockdown until at least May 18.

Face mask & gloves at all times, and cleaning the keys with KeyBrite before & after service.
21 pages of obituaries in today's (Sunday) Boston Globe.

As I recall Mario Igrec posted a mix his staff had been using at Juilliard (Fantastic mixed with something else). That said, mixing cleaning chemicals can result in poisonous gases, so it is not the time to randomly experiment at this!

Small practice rooms seem problematic to me, but I mostly have a suburban clientele. And lockdown until at least May 18.

Face mask & gloves at all times, and cleaning the keys with KeyBrite before & after service.
21 pages of obituaries in today's (Sunday) Boston Globe.

In the meantime I learned that there are several types of Fantastik product. The one that is approved by epa for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has "disinfectant" in the tag line under "Fantastik":

https://www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com/us/en/brands/fantastik/fantastik--Disinfectant-Multi-Purpose-Cleaner--Fresh

The epa list is here:

https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2

If you look up Fantastik, you will see that it is listed as requiring 5 minutes to kill the virus. I guess that is without manipulation, and when we rub the keys its effectiveness should be sped up greatly.

To increase its disinfecting properties, I have mixed Fantastik with more alcohol and no water (60% fantastik + 40% concentrated isopropyl [91% or stronger]) and have had good results on the keys and on lacquer and poly finished. No apparent combustible reactions or deadly fumes. The mix flashes off rapidly, degreases better than anything else I've tried, and leaves no visible residue. But do I need to soak the keys for 5 minutes? I don't know, but the mix evaporates way faster than that.

I have to say that my techs and I get a mild headache from Fantastik by itself or mixed with alcohol. It's clearly not something we'd prefer to work with continuously. When we get back to work, the first thing I'll try is the pharmacy (3%) hydrogen peroxide, but I remember from years ago that spraying it caused visible changes on the fallboard finish. That may have been because of the dirt or inferior finishing product on the fallboard. At Juilliard we have pianos that were refinished (or finish reflowed?) with a product that gets damaged by alcohol whereas factory lacquer doesn't. It may be the same with hydrogen peroxide. 

The other strategy I would've pursued before the school shut down was giving students alcohol pads such as Purell hand wipes so each user can disinfect the keyboard before use. What good is daily disinfection if 10 or 20 people will use the piano during the day? Unfortunately, we couldn't procure enough of those to have made them a feasible strategy. Now I hear from more people that Clorox wipes are OK, and will look into those. But I remember having a skin reaction and headache with those and Lysol wipes. 

Someone asked, what about ivory. For an occasional cleaning of very dirty keys I've used alcohol or the Fantastik mix. Keybrite is very nice but slower. I've also used water with a little dish soap, which is even slower. I think alcohol or strong cleaning agents are not good for ivory in the long term.

In the meantime I learned that there are several types of Fantastik product. The one that is approved by epa for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has "disinfectant" in the tag line under "Fantastik":

https://www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com/us/en/brands/fantastik/fantastik--Disinfectant-Multi-Purpose-Cleaner--Fresh

The epa list is here:

https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2

If you look up Fantastik, you will see that it is listed as requiring 5 minutes to kill the virus. I guess that is without manipulation, and when we rub the keys its effectiveness should be sped up greatly.

To increase its disinfecting properties, I have mixed Fantastik with more alcohol and no water (60% fantastik + 40% concentrated isopropyl [91% or stronger]) and have had good results on the keys and on lacquer and poly finished. No apparent combustible reactions or deadly fumes. The mix flashes off rapidly, degreases better than anything else I've tried, and leaves no visible residue. But do I need to soak the keys for 5 minutes? I don't know, but the mix evaporates way faster than that.

I have to say that my techs and I get a mild headache from Fantastik by itself or mixed with alcohol. It's clearly not something we'd prefer to work with continuously. When we get back to work, the first thing I'll try is the pharmacy (3%) hydrogen peroxide, but I remember from years ago that spraying it caused visible changes on the fallboard finish. That may have been because of the dirt or inferior finishing product on the fallboard. At Juilliard we have pianos that were refinished (or finish reflowed?) with a product that gets damaged by alcohol whereas factory lacquer doesn't. It may be the same with hydrogen peroxide. 

The other strategy I would've pursued before the school shut down was giving students alcohol pads such as Purell hand wipes so each user can disinfect the keyboard before use. What good is daily disinfection if 10 or 20 people will use the piano during the day? Unfortunately, we couldn't procure enough of those to have made them a feasible strategy. Now I hear from more people that Clorox wipes are OK, and will look into those. But I remember having a skin reaction and headache with those and Lysol wipes. 

Someone asked, what about ivory. For an occasional cleaning of very dirty keys I've used alcohol or the Fantastik mix. Keybrite is very nice but slower. I've also used water with a little dish soap, which is even slower. I think alcohol or strong cleaning agents are not good for ivory in the long term.

In the meantime I learned that there are several types of Fantastik product. The one that is approved by epa for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has "disinfectant" in the tag line under "Fantastik":

https://www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com/us/en/brands/fantastik/fantastik--Disinfectant-Multi-Purpose-Cleaner--Fresh

The epa list is here:

https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2

If you look up Fantastik, you will see that it is listed as requiring 5 minutes to kill the virus. I guess that is without manipulation, and when we rub the keys its effectiveness should be sped up greatly.

To increase its disinfecting properties, I have mixed Fantastik with more alcohol and no water (60% fantastik + 40% concentrated isopropyl [91% or stronger]) and have had good results on the keys and on lacquer and poly finished. No apparent combustible reactions or deadly fumes. The mix flashes off rapidly, degreases better than anything else I've tried, and leaves no visible residue. But do I need to soak the keys for 5 minutes? I don't know, but the mix evaporates way faster than that.

I have to say that my techs and I get a mild headache from Fantastik by itself or mixed with alcohol. It's clearly not something we'd prefer to work with continuously. When we get back to work, the first thing I'll try is the pharmacy (3%) hydrogen peroxide, but I remember from years ago that spraying it caused visible changes on the fallboard finish. That may have been because of the dirt or inferior finishing product on the fallboard. At Juilliard we have pianos that were refinished (or finish reflowed?) with a product that gets damaged by alcohol whereas factory lacquer doesn't. It may be the same with hydrogen peroxide. 

The other strategy I would've pursued before the school shut down was giving students alcohol pads such as Purell hand wipes so each user can disinfect the keyboard before use. What good is daily disinfection if 10 or 20 people will use the piano during the day? Unfortunately, we couldn't procure enough of those to have made them a feasible strategy. Now I hear from more people that Clorox wipes are OK, and will look into those. But I remember having a skin reaction and headache with those and Lysol wipes. 

Someone asked, what about ivory. For an occasional cleaning of very dirty keys I've used alcohol or the Fantastik mix. Keybrite is very nice but slower. I've also used water with a little dish soap, which is even slower. I think alcohol or strong cleaning agents are not good for ivory in the long term.

Soap and water on hands is being rinsed with a lot of water. Viruses are detached from surface and flushed. I am not sure they are necessarily killed. It's different on the keys.

What I am not clear about is does the degreasing effectiveness and speed indicate how effective a product is on the virus? Apparently there are disinfecting ingredients such as quarternary ammonium. How is their effect different from degreasing products, which remove the fatty shield and kill the virus that way?

Much more to study.

Soap and water on hands is being rinsed with a lot of water. Viruses are detached from surface and flushed. I am not sure they are necessarily killed. It's different on the keys.

What I am not clear about is does the degreasing effectiveness and speed indicate how effective a product is on the virus? Apparently there are disinfecting ingredients such as quarternary ammonium. How is their effect different from degreasing products, which remove the fatty shield and kill the virus that way?

Much more to study.

In the meantime I learned that there are several types of Fantastik product. The one that is approved by epa for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has "disinfectant" in the tag line under "Fantastik":

https://www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com/us/en/brands/fantastik/fantastik--Disinfectant-Multi-Purpose-Cleaner--Fresh

The epa list is here:

https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2

If you look up Fantastik, you will see that it is listed as requiring 5 minutes to kill the virus. I guess that is without manipulation, and when we rub the keys its effectiveness should be sped up greatly.

To increase its disinfecting properties, I have mixed Fantastik with more alcohol and no water (60% fantastik + 40% concentrated isopropyl [91% or stronger]) and have had good results on the keys and on lacquer and poly finished. No apparent combustible reactions or deadly fumes. The mix flashes off rapidly, degreases better than anything else I've tried, and leaves no visible residue. But do I need to soak the keys for 5 minutes? I don't know, but the mix evaporates way faster than that.

I have to say that my techs and I get a mild headache from Fantastik by itself or mixed with alcohol. It's clearly not something we'd prefer to work with continuously. When we get back to work, the first thing I'll try is the pharmacy (3%) hydrogen peroxide, but I remember from years ago that spraying it caused visible changes on the fallboard finish. That may have been because of the dirt or inferior finishing product on the fallboard. At Juilliard we have pianos that were refinished (or finish reflowed?) with a product that gets damaged by alcohol whereas factory lacquer doesn't. It may be the same with hydrogen peroxide. 

The other strategy I would've pursued before the school shut down was giving students alcohol pads such as Purell hand wipes so each user can disinfect the keyboard before use. What good is daily disinfection if 10 or 20 people will use the piano during the day? Unfortunately, we couldn't procure enough of those to have made them a feasible strategy. Now I hear from more people that Clorox wipes are OK, and will look into those. But I remember having a skin reaction and headache with those and Lysol wipes. 

Someone asked, what about ivory. For an occasional cleaning of very dirty keys I've used alcohol or the Fantastik mix. Keybrite is very nice but slower. I've also used water with a little dish soap, which is even slower. I think alcohol or strong cleaning agents are not good for ivory in the long term.

In the meantime I learned that there are several types of Fantastik product. The one that is approved by epa for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has "disinfectant" in the tag line under "Fantastik":

https://www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com/us/en/brands/fantastik/fantastik--Disinfectant-Multi-Purpose-Cleaner--Fresh

The epa list is here:

https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2

If you look up Fantastik, you will see that it is listed as requiring 5 minutes to kill the virus. I guess that is without manipulation, and when we rub the keys its effectiveness should be sped up greatly.

To increase its disinfecting properties, I have mixed Fantastik with more alcohol and no water (60% fantastik + 40% concentrated isopropyl [91% or stronger]) and have had good results on the keys and on lacquer and poly finished. No apparent combustible reactions or deadly fumes. The mix flashes off rapidly, degreases better than anything else I've tried, and leaves no visible residue. But do I need to soak the keys for 5 minutes? I don't know, but the mix evaporates way faster than that.

I have to say that my techs and I get a mild headache from Fantastik by itself or mixed with alcohol. It's clearly not something we'd prefer to work with continuously. When we get back to work, the first thing I'll try is the pharmacy (3%) hydrogen peroxide, but I remember from years ago that spraying it caused visible changes on the fallboard finish. That may have been because of the dirt or inferior finishing product on the fallboard. At Juilliard we have pianos that were refinished (or finish reflowed?) with a product that gets damaged by alcohol whereas factory lacquer doesn't. It may be the same with hydrogen peroxide. 

The other strategy I would've pursued before the school shut down was giving students alcohol pads such as Purell hand wipes so each user can disinfect the keyboard before use. What good is daily disinfection if 10 or 20 people will use the piano during the day? Unfortunately, we couldn't procure enough of those to have made them a feasible strategy. Now I hear from more people that Clorox wipes are OK, and will look into those. But I remember having a skin reaction and headache with those and Lysol wipes. 

Someone asked, what about ivory. For an occasional cleaning of very dirty keys I've used alcohol or the Fantastik mix. Keybrite is very nice but slower. I've also used water with a little dish soap, which is even slower. I think alcohol or strong cleaning agents are not good for ivory in the long term.