6 Piano Maintenance Tips

To enjoy the most beautiful sound and reap the fruits of all your hard work practicing, knowing how to maintain a piano is essential to your efforts. Piano maintenance not only will help you play more beautifully but will help take care of your piano, too, ensuring it’s in great shape for years to come.

As part of piano care, there are some tips and tricks that should be followed to keep it in good shape. With regular, dedicated care, you can keep your piano in top-notch condition, no matter how many years you have it.

Piano maintenance is important, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Cleaning and maintaining a piano does take time, but it’s not the most complicated task. To help you tackle the care for your piano, our team at Music Exchange is sharing 6 piano maintenance tips to make the process a breeze. Let’s jump right in.

6 Ways to Maintain a Piano

Taking on a new task can feel daunting, but maintaining your piano doesn’t have to. At Music Exchange, we have vast experience with both new and used pianos, and we know a thing or two about keeping them in good shape, no matter how old they are.

From doing the proper cleaning, to tuning and keeping an eye on the temperature, here are all our top piano care tips to keep your favorite instrument in the best condition.

1. Keep Your Piano Tuned

One of the most important, consistent piano maintenance tips is to tune your piano twice a year, or, better yet, every time the season changes. Think winter, spring, summer, and fall, making for an easy way to remember when it’s time to tune your piano. This will help keep your piano at the right pitch, no matter the time of year. But why? In order for your piano to produce the best sound possible, you’ll need an in-tune piano. Otherwise, the notes you’re playing will sound unpleasant, no longer showing off your skills.

While this is a piano care need that must be done regularly, it is not one you should tackle yourself. Pianos are made up of over 10,000 moving parts, and because of the intricate design, having a novice tune your instrument is a big mistake. Instead, we recommend turning to a piano maintenance technician to tune your piano. This way, it will be brought to the correct pitch, and they can perform any other needed repairs accurately for perfect piano practice.

2. Regulate the Instrument

Another key aspect of piano maintenance is consistent regulation. Regulating your piano refers to the process of examining its action, making sure it’s working properly to see if it’s in need of any repairs. This is like checking the oil on your car – an essential task that keeps the car running smoothly. This is a step that many tend to skip, but one that’s key to keeping your piano intact in the long run.

There are a lot of ways to regulate a piano and this will depend largely on the brand you have, how often you use it, and the condition it is in. Typically, this is a piano care task that can be done every 5-10 years, so not nearly as often as tuning it.

So, how do you know if it’s time for piano regulation? One of the first signifiers is with the keys. You’ll want to ensure that they are level across the keyboard, and if not, you likely need to regulate it. Additionally, if the piano doesn’t make any noise when you play softly, it probably needs a tune-up. Lastly, if any keys aren’t working or things are sluggish and choppy, that’s a very clear sign that you’re overdue for regulation.

3. Voice the Instrument Properly

Next up for our piano care tips is voicing. Not sure what this means? Let’s break it down.

Voicing is the process in which the density of the hammer felt is adjusted to create a richer or brighter tone. Different from tuning, this is a subjective adjustment that can be made based on how rich or mellow you want your piano to sound, and in making this switch, you can completely change the tone of your piano.

When should this be done? If you’re happy with the sound your piano is emitting, there’s no need to voice it. That being said, if it feels too soft or too harsh, voicing the instrument can make a big difference.

Similar to other piano maintenance needs, voicing your instrument will require a professional piano maintenance technician to handle the job. This way, they can ensure the instrument still functions properly as they voice it to your preferences. This is a delicate process and one that’s best left to the experts.

4. Do the Proper Cleaning

When it comes to maintaining your piano, it requires more than just a spring clean.

As part of your sanitary practices, cleaning the keys is a must. This will help keep dust, dirt, and oils from your skin off of the keys. However, when cleaning the keys, be sure to avoid any harsh chemicals and disinfectants that may harm the materials. Something as simple as a microfiber cloth can make for an easy way to keep your piano clean.

If it needs a bit of a deeper clean, lightly spray your cleaner on a cloth and gently rub it onto the keys. Please avoid directly spraying products onto the keys to prevent any unnecessary damage.

Additionally, you’ll want to reduce the dust on your piano. This can build up to cause issues with the action, or even promote rust on the springs – something we certainly want to avoid. To diminish dust, keep the lid of the piano closed whenever it’s not being used. Additionally, if you have a grand piano, use a string cover to protect the inside of your piano. On top of that, we recommend gently vacuuming the interior every year to keep it clean.

5. Watch Out for the Temperature and Humidity Level

Next on the list of piano maintenance tips is storage.

The first thing to keep in mind is maintaining a consistent temperature where you keep your piano. Ideally, a piano will remain in a room that’s around 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Since pianos are primarily made of wood, which can shrink and swell depending on how hot or cold it is, maintaining this consistent, neutral temperature can make a world of difference. These changes in the piano that occur during various temperatures will cause issues in the long run, making for expensive repairs over the years.

On top of temperature, you’ll want to maintain a consistent humidity level where your piano is stored. Similar to temperature, the wood of a piano will swell with more humidity, and the glue on various parts will loosen. This can lead your piano into disrepair. To avoid this, keep the instrument in a room that maintains humidity of 45-70%. You can purchase a hygrometer to monitor humidity.

To combat hard-to-control humidity, you can purchase a humidifier, dehumidifier, or a specialized piano humidity system that will control the environment within your piano on its own. However, for the latter option, be sure to consult a professional piano maintenance technician.

6. Take Care of the Piano’s Finish

Last on our list of piano care tips is piano finish care. When approaching this task, you want to keep three aspects in mind – keeping the piano clean, avoiding direct sunlight and extreme environmental factors, and thwarting abrasion.

Pianos not only serve as an instrument, but a furniture piece in homes, and it’s one that you want to keep beautiful in order to keep your home updated. To maintain the piano and its value, be sure to keep the piano clean and avoid any extreme conditions. To help with this, moderate temperatures to maintain the finish and overall structure of the instrument. On top of that, to avoid aging the piano, keep it out of direct sunlight.

To further maintain the finish of your piano, we recommend avoiding using your piano as a display or shelf. This means keeping objects off of it or laying them on top of a soft cloth. Additionally, keep dust off the piano as it can be abrasive over time.

While this may seem like a lot to maintain the finish of your piano, with just a bit of piano care each day, you will keep your piano in good condition, without too much hassle.

Bonus Tips

We know we’ve already equipped you with the top piano care tips, but for the overachievers, we have a few more steps to add to your checklist.

Ready to go above and beyond to show your piano some love? Here are some extra ideas for how to maintain a piano through the years

• Don’t turn your piano into a shelf. We mentioned it before, but placing various items on top of your piano can cause scratching, which will lead to a lot of wear and tear. If you really want to use it as a display, lay down a cloth or pad to keep a barrier between objects and your beautiful piano.
• Choose the right spot for your piano. This is important for many reasons. First, we want to keep pianos out of direct sunlight to maintain their beautiful finish. Additionally, the right room should be low in heat and humidity to keep the piano in good shape. And lastly, high traffic, bustling areas where people may set glasses down aren’t ideal for this gorgeous instrument.
• Avoid direct sunlight. We can’t say it enough — keep your piano out of the sun! Direct sunlight will have a significant impact on the age of your finish, causing the color to fade for an old-looking exterior. This consequence is one that can be easily avoided, so don’t make this simple mistake.
• Don’t spill anything over the instrument. To avoid damage, water stains, and the harmful use of many harsh cleaners, avoid spilling anything on the piano. The best way to prevent this is to not set any drinks or plants on the piano, as this condensation can cause significant damage over the years.
• Play your piano. It may seem obvious, but some may neglect their piano over the years. However, simply playing your piano regularly will make it sound better as it ages and limit the maintenance that’s needed. Just a few hours each week will make a world of difference. Whether you go with a new or used piano, playing it will show it the love it needs to last through the years.

Make Sure You Have the Right Technician

Did you notice a consistent tip across the board when it comes to how to maintain a piano? If you guessed “rely on a professional piano maintenance technician,” you’re right!

An experienced technician will know how to expertly perform your piano care, making the adjustments and repairs you need while ensuring the piano remains in tune and working properly. The best cared for pianos will require less maintenance over the years, and this is due largely in part to the experts making the changes. Due to the complex tasks at hand, leaving your piano maintenance to the professionals is certainly the way to go.

At Music Exchange, we make sure to properly maintain all our instruments, both new and used. Whether you need a piano technician recommendation to help get your piano back in tip-top shape or have additional questions about piano care, our team is here to help. Contact us online today with any questions or concerns, and we will ensure our experts provide the answers you need to keep your piano beautiful for years to come.