Beeswax

[outin]

Has anyone heard of using this for piano keys?
I have been suffering from the slippery keys on my upright from the beginning. It was getting intolerable, because I simply cannot play properly at home, as compared to my lessons and sometimes practicing just makes my playing worse. Summer was better, obviously my fingers were not so dry but now the problem came back again. So I asked my tuner if there's anything I can do (except get a new piano asap). He said some people use beeswax. That sounded like a really grazy idea, but I was desperate enough to try anything. And it really works! Of course I overdid it first and the keys became sticky, but even that is better than before. After getting the excess off, the keys feel quite like on my teacher's pianos. And playing is so much easier and sounds so much better. Imagine walking on slippery ice, that's how it felt to play on my piano before, so much extra tension just to avoid slipping and obviously with so much wasted energy the sound suffered too. Now even the octaves sound better although my hand is just as small as before...I just played for an hour just enjoying the easyness...It really feels like I got a new piano

[quantum]

One of my teachers used rosin (the stuff string players put on their bows).  Apparently before this particular concert, someone thought it would be nice to polish the piano keys so they were nice and shiny.  You know, piano keys are always prettier when shiny 

I find that the surface the keytop is made of has a lot of bearing on slipperiness.  Plasticky keys tend to get slippery quite easily.  Ivory or synthetic equivalents are much better, as they are porous and moisture does not sit and collect on the surface. 

[hfmadopter]

One of my teachers used rosin (the stuff string players put on their bows).  Apparently before this particular concert, someone thought it would be nice to polish the piano keys so they were nice and shiny.  You know, piano keys are always prettier when shiny 

I find that the surface the keytop is made of has a lot of bearing on slipperiness.  Plasticky keys tend to get slippery quite easily.  Ivory or synthetic equivalents are much better, as they are porous and moisture does not sit and collect on the surface. 

I suggested to outin a while ago to have her key tops replaced with an Ivory Touch material but she said she would rather get another piano ( hot for a grand back then). Least that's what I seem to recall.

I have them on my digital and love them, the Roland RD700NX has even nicer ones. My grand was replaced with plastic right before I got it and they can get slippery in the colder weather when the hands and keys are very dry. I use Clorox wipes on them ( after the grand kids have been on the piano for a while especially) mostly to sanitize and they are good for a while. Kids pick up all kinds of germs from school and it seems I'm getting dual use from the wipes.. However, some day if I ever have that grand rebuilt I really would consider following my own advice to outin !

[quantum]

Good to know some digitals have them as well.  

Personally, I also find that wood sharps help tremendously.  A lot of the slippage I was experiencing was happening on the black keys.  I learned 10/5 on plastic keys, but it always felt better to play on my teacher's ivory keys.  My current piano has synthetic ivory whites and wood sharps - it makes a world of a difference.  

[hfmadopter]

Good to know some digitals have them as well.  

Personally, I also find that wood sharps help tremendously.  A lot of the slippage I was experiencing was happening on the black keys.  I learned 10/5 on plastic keys, but it always felt better to play on my teacher's ivory keys.  My current piano has synthetic ivory whites and wood sharps - it makes a world of a difference.  

Yes I agree.

 My grand's black keys, however, are capped but they are not slippery , not particularly.. I'm not sure what that material is, it has a nice feel to it. I feel pretty secure with them. My digital s black keys stand a tad more proud than the grands do, I can feel that difference and can tweak a black key when rushing but they are not slippery . They also are slightly more squared off, so I grab an edge a bit easier.

Non of this is anything you can't work around. If a person has played on several pianos then you learn to adapt. It's a matter of owning the one you like best or perhaps the best compromise we can afford at least !!!

[outin]

I suggested to outin a while ago to have her key tops replaced with an Ivory Touch material but she said she would rather get another piano ( hot for a grand back then). Least that's what I seem to recall.

I asked my technician about replacing the keys or something but he said it would be very expensive and did not recommend it in case I plan to get another piano anyway. How do they replace the key tops btw?

Obviously some people have more natural friction on their fingertips and can play with such keys. I seem to have none during the colder seasons 

[j_menz]

The key tops are only glued on. They come off (sometimes on their own on older pianos).

With all this global warming, don't you have the odd woolly mammoth popping up every now and then?  Be on the lookout! Their tusks are ivory too, and there is really nothing quite as good. Your next DIY project.

[outin]

The key tops are only glued on. They come off (sometimes on their own on older pianos).

OK...then I hope mine do soon, the manufacturers guarantee is still valid

With all this global warming, don't you have the odd woolly mammoth popping up every now and then?  Be on the lookout! Their tusks are ivory too, and there is really nothing quite as good. Your next DIY project.

I don't live quite that north...no glaciers around here 

[j_menz]

I don't live quite that north...no glaciers around here 

I thought they were usually dug out of defrosted peat bogs.

[outin]

I thought they were usually dug out of defrosted peat bogs.

We don't have permaforst either...I think they usually find those in Siperia...or the alps...

[hfmadopter]

I asked my technician about replacing the keys or something but he said it would be very expensive and did not recommend it in case I plan to get another piano anyway. How do they replace the key tops btw?

Obviously some people have more natural friction on their fingertips and can play with such keys. I seem to have none during the colder seasons 

Key tops are glued onto your wooden key cores. Getting the old ones off could be a chore the average tech isn't so interested in. It would be nice to say it's peal and stick but it's not that simple !!

Hey, if the bees wax works that's great  ! Simple solution.

As I've aged and also at work for any kind of mechanical work or manual labor I do at all I wear nitrile gloves or work gloves in the yard at home etc. I even wear riding gloves on my bicycles. My hands and fingers are way softer than they used to be and also prone to bad circulation in the cold weather ( they go white and numb even if caught out in a cold rain on a 40 deg F day, never mind real winter weather). So they slip more than they used to on the keys. I don't recall slipping on these same keys 30 years ago for instance. 

[outin]

Hey, if the bees wax works that's great  ! Simple solution.

At least not expensive...I guess I'll just have to see how often I need to apply it...

As I've aged and also at work for any kind of mechanical work or manual labor I do at all I wear nitrile gloves or work gloves in the yard at home etc. I even wear riding gloves on my bicycles. My hands and fingers are way softer than they used to be and also prone to bad circulation in the cold weather ( they go white and numb even if caught out in a cold rain on a 40 deg F day, never mind real winter weather). So they slip more than they used to on the keys. I don't recall slipping on these same keys 30 years ago for instance. 

My fingers have always been like this, they are very smooth even in the summer but in the winter they are also dry, so I have a lot of trouble with things like turning pages...

[quantum]

My fingers have always been like this, they are very smooth even in the summer but in the winter they are also dry, so I have a lot of trouble with things like turning pages...

A solution for turning pages is to use sticky tabs or sticky notes.  You place a tab on the edge of the page for every page turn.  Stagger the tabs, much like a address book index, so you can easily select a single one to turn. 

[hfmadopter]

At least not expensive...I guess I'll just have to see how often I need to apply it...

My fingers have always been like this, they are very smooth even in the summer but in the winter they are also dry, so I have a lot of trouble with things like turning pages...

Do you use hand lotion for dry hands ? I find that helps, in fact if I don't use it my fingers crack in the winter ( the skin that is of course). Actually, I think we had a thread here at PS on this subject last winter. Anyway, cracked hands and fingers are very painful.

[quantum]

+1 for the lotion. 

I too suffer from dry hands in winter.  However, since making lotion a daily routine in winter, it has really helped reduce the dryness. 

[Bob]

I heard a story, maybe on here, about a piano tech using hair spray.  I think it was for Horowitz.  The tech cleaned the keys off too.  Went back stage to tell him. Horowitz was ticked off that the keys would be too slick.  So the tech went back out and sprayed them with hair spray.

I was thinking for the key tops.  For grip.  I'm wondering now if that was actually a joke -- Key move too easily?  Hairspray them. Then they won't move up and down so easily.

[outin]

Do you use hand lotion for dry hands ? I find that helps, in fact if I don't use it my fingers crack in the winter ( the skin that is of course). Actually, I think we had a thread here at PS on this subject last winter. Anyway, cracked hands and fingers are very painful.

Yes, I use hand lotion. It helps with the hands in general, but does little for the fingertips. They are the same after a moment.

It seems the wax also rubs off from the keys and after a day or two they are back to the way they are... It seems like these keys are especially designed to stay clean. The surface is some kind of hard and shiny plastic material, nothing seems to really stick to it...I am tempted to just use sand paper, but ruining the piano doesn't seem like a great idea...if it was an older one...

[outin]

A solution for turning pages is to use sticky tabs or sticky notes.  You place a tab on the edge of the page for every page turn.  Stagger the tabs, much like a address book index, so you can easily select a single one to turn. 

Sounds like a good ides, but I meant turning pages in general, like books or magazines...any handling of papers actually...I don't have to do much page turning while playing yet...

[hfmadopter]

outin, care to share a link to that Prelude ? I don't seem to be finding it anywhere online in my searches.

Meanwhile, I suspect anything applied to the keys will be temporary.

[outin]

outin, care to share a link to that Prelude ? I don't seem to be finding it anywhere online in my searches.

Because of the spelling I guess:

https://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/2/29/IMSLP06754-Liadov_-_Op.40_-_Etude___3_Preludes.pdf
Page 6

[j_menz]

Because of the spelling I guess:

Damn Russians and their funny alphabet!!

Another take on the same piece, which I prefer:

[outin]

Damn Russians and their funny alphabet!!

Another take on the same piece, which I prefer:

Maybe a bit "soft" for my taste..

Anyway, I'm trying to learn it from the score and avoid listening to recordings with all the liberties with rhythm. I'll rather take my own later

[hfmadopter]

Computer crashed , I haven't been around here for a couple of days. I swear I won't buy another HP product, we've had three of these crash in the last few years and this one twice now where I had hard disk errors and had to do a restore that formats half the HD. ..My Toshiba laptops, never a hitch, I think I'll stick with them. Towers seem old these days anyway.

Anyway, yes, I see/hear that piece now finally !!

[outin]

Computer crashed , I haven't been around here for a couple of days. I swear I won't buy another HP product, we've had three of these crash in the last few years and this one twice now where I had hard disk errors and had to do a restore that formats half the HD. ..My Toshiba laptops, never a hitch, I think I'll stick with them. Towers seem old these days anyway.

We recently changed to HP from Dell at work and several new laptops have broken down in just a few weeks...But it might be just the general trend to make products as cheap as possible and ignore durability.

[timothy42b]

You need to water your hands from the inside.  If your fingers are dry, drink more water.

I have a bag of powdered rosin from a softball sports store that I use when I need a grip.  I have not tried it on a piano, drinking water is enough for me. 

I did try the rosin on a trombone mute that fell out.  It worked great but caused a squeak that was worse than the clang of dropping the mute on the hard floor of the musical pit. 

Replacing the keytops is not for the faint.  Experienced piano technicians are wary of that job.  It has to be done very precisely and takes a huge amount of time, more than most people are willing to pay for. 

[hfmadopter]

We recently changed to HP from Dell at work and several new laptops have broken down in just a few weeks...But it might be just the general trend to make products as cheap as possible and ignore durability.

Work is centrally run in another state by an IT department.  The work stations through out the system get changed about every two years to and from most any brand. Some have laptops on wifi and some have dummy mini towers ( you can't do much from them but run mainframe software) . The guys and girls with the laptops get to do more ! However, the year they put in Compaq's ( owned by HP) must not have gone so well. They ran them just one year and changed them all out. I'm thinking Innova was next. Right now it's some name I never heard of. I will say though, the HP and Compaq printers have been fine.

I'm not so sure about this hydrate from within idea. I can't drink enough water to make a difference, if I drink any more water I'm going to flow into the sea. Age is a factor in my situation. I find a lot of things changing since about age 61, a bit slower going etc. Finger tips going numb in winter, softer skin on my fingers.