Ten years of dust, out of your piano.
Open a piano that hasn’t been cleaned and you’ll find it: grey felt, grit across the soundboard, and worse under the keys. We clear all of it — with soundboard steels and soft brushes, never a shop vac — and put nothing at risk doing it. Most often in the same visit as your tuning, anywhere in Orange County.
What a full cleaning covers
- Soundboard & plate. Dust drawn out from under the strings with soundboard steels and soft brushes — never blown deeper in.
- Keys & keybed. Key tops cleaned (plastic or ivory, each handled correctly); keys lifted to clear the keybed of dust, coins and lost guitar picks.
- Action. Hammers and whippens dusted gently in place, with a check for moth or rodent evidence while we’re inside.
- Cabinet & pedals. Finish cleaned with the right product for lacquer or polyester; brass pedals polished on request.
Beach-city pianos get dirtier
Salt air is abrasive
Homes near the water that keep the windows open collect a fine, salt-laden dust that corrodes strings and tuning pins faster than inland grime. Regular cleaning is cheap insurance against a restringing bill.
Bundle it with a tuning
The piano is already open and the technician is already there — so a combined tuning-and-cleaning visit costs meaningfully less than two trips. Most clients simply alternate: tune, tune-and-clean, tune.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the inside of a piano need professional cleaning?
A piano is an open wooden box that sits in one spot for decades. Dust settles on the soundboard, under the strings and deep in the action, where it holds moisture, dulls the tone and attracts moths and mice. You can’t safely vacuum it out — reaching it means removing parts of the piano, which is exactly what we do.
Can I just clean the keys myself?
The key tops, yes — a barely-damp cloth with mild soap, wiped front to back, is safe on both plastic and ivory. What you shouldn’t do is pull the action out to reach the keybed, spray anything into the piano, or polish ivory with household cleaners. That part is ours.
How often should a piano be cleaned inside?
Every three to five years for most homes — sooner near the beach, where salt air and open windows load the soundboard faster. The easy move is to add a cleaning to a regular tuning visit: one appointment, one trip.
Can you fix water stains or refinish the cabinet?
Deep finish work is restoration, not cleaning — but we assess it during a cleaning visit and can hand the job to a refinishing shop we trust. See our piano restoration page.
Give your piano a clean it can feel.
Add a cleaning to your next tuning, or book one on its own — anywhere in Orange County. Call or text and we’ll get you on the schedule.
OC Piano Care · Serving all of Orange County · Mon–Sat, 8am–6pm