58. Storing a piano

The best place to store your piano is in an inhabited home. Short of this ideal, it MUST be kept dry. Humidity can rust wires and pins.

I have heard of people storing pianos in the barn and on the front porch. It would be much more practical to just throw it away up front and avoid the trauma of later seeing what rats and moths can do to it.

Moths and carpet beetle larva love to move into an idle piano and have perpetual lunch. Before you store it, drop some moth balls in the bottom, and be sure to cover it to trap the fumes. DO NOT put a jar of water in the bottom. Someone will move the piano, and the water will spill, rusting the pedal works.

If it is dry, it does not hurt a piano to get cold in storage. It is worse for the piano to be where humidity goes in great extremes.

Be sure a grand piano is not used on the bottom of a great load of books and junk. The lid is not very thick, and you could crack it. The best way to store a grand is on its legs so that the action is at rest in a normal position. If you store it on its side, you may have to work on the action later to correct warping. This is a preference item.

Do not wrap a piano with only a clinging plastic sheet.  First, wrap it with sheets of some cotton cloth, then use the plastic.  Plastic can cling and eventually bond to the finish.  When removed, it may come off, but it could leave an imprint like a road map of Georgia.

 On to task 59.

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