1925 Steinway M restored in our shop
Bringing the best out of your Steinway
A Steinway is built to last for generations, but how it sounds and feels from year to year depends on the care it gets. This page is for Steinway owners who want to keep their instrument at its best: simple things you can safely do yourself, the warning signs to watch for, and when it’s time to call a piano technician.
We’ll keep adding to this page. Over time, each topic below will get its own in-depth article.
Caring for the Action: Hammers, Wippens, Dampers and Backchecks
The action is the thousands of small wood, felt and leather parts that turn a keystroke into sound. The best thing an owner can do is protect it: keep the lid and fallboard closed when the piano isn’t being played to limit dust, keep food, drinks and pencils away from the keys, and never spray lubricants (such as WD-40) into the piano. Most action problems need a technician to diagnose correctly, and household products can do lasting harm.
Watch for keys that are sluggish or slow to return, notes that won’t repeat quickly, clicking or knocking noises, notes that keep sounding after you release the key (a damper issue), or hammers with deep string grooves. Hammers can often be reshaped to extend their life; worn hammers, wippens, dampers and backchecks can be replaced with quality parts when the time comes, either individually or as part of a restoration.
More on this soon: a deeper guide to action care and replacement.
String Care and Replacement
Avoid touching the strings with your fingers. Skin oils and moisture encourage rust, especially on the plain steel strings in the treble. Stable humidity is the best protection, and so is regular tuning, which keeps tension even across the scale.
Strings don’t last forever. Over decades they can rust, lose their tonal clarity, and become more likely to break; bass strings in particular can lose resonance and sound “dead.” A single broken string can be replaced, but when a piano has many tired strings, a full restringing — often together with new tuning pins and pinblock work — brings back clarity, sustain and tuning stability. That is a shop job and part of many restorations.
More on this soon: a deeper guide to string care and replacement.
Caring for the Bridges
The bridges carry the strings’ vibration into the soundboard, so they have a large effect on tone. Owners can’t do much hands-on care here, but stable humidity matters: repeated swelling and shrinking over the years can contribute to cracks around the bridge pins.
Signs of bridge trouble include buzzes, tuning that won’t hold on certain notes, or notes that sound thin or “false.” Your technician can inspect the bridges during a tuning visit. Depending on condition, bridges may be repaired, recapped or replaced, which is usually done as part of a larger restoration.
More on this soon: a deeper guide to bridge care.
Caring for the Soundboard
The soundboard is the wooden heart of the piano’s tone, and it reacts constantly to humidity. Here on the Colorado Front Range, dry air — especially in winter with the heat running — is the biggest threat. Aim for steady indoor humidity of around 40–50%, and keep the piano away from heating and cooling vents, fireplaces, drafty windows and direct sunlight. A room humidifier, or a climate control system installed inside the piano, can make a real difference.
Small soundboard cracks aren’t always a tonal problem on their own, but buzzing, ribs separating from the board, or a loss of “crown” (the board’s slight arch) can weaken tone and sustain. A technician can tell you whether a repair is needed or whether the board is simply showing its age.
More on this soon: a deeper guide to soundboard care.
Maintaining the Touch of Your Steinway
Touch — how the keys feel, respond and repeat — comes from regulation: dozens of precise adjustments to every key and action part. With play, felts compress, cloth wears and wood shifts with the seasons, so even a well-built Steinway slowly drifts out of regulation. Because it happens gradually, many owners don’t notice until the piano is set right again.
Uneven key heights, keys that feel heavy or uneven, poor control in soft passages, or trouble with fast repetition are all signs that regulation is due. How often depends on how much the piano is played. Ask your technician to check regulation at tuning visits, and see our services for touch and tone work.
More on this soon: a deeper guide to maintaining touch.
Maintaining the Tone of Your Steinway
A Steinway’s tone is shaped by tuning, by the condition of the hammers, and by voicing: careful adjustment of the hammer felt to make the tone brighter or warmer and to even it out from note to note. As hammers compact with play, a piano often grows brighter or harsher, or certain notes start to stand out.
Regular tuning is the foundation; a piano that is kept in tune simply sounds better. The room matters too: hard floors and bare walls make a piano sound brighter, while rugs and drapes soften it. Voicing should only be done by an experienced technician, because hammer felt that has been needled too much cannot be undone.
More on this soon: a deeper guide to maintaining tone.
Caring for the Keys of Your Steinway
To clean keys, use a soft, white cloth lightly dampened with water (or a drop of mild soap), wipe one key at a time from back to front, and dry right away. Don’t let moisture run between the keys, and avoid harsh cleaners and solvents. On older Steinways with ivory keytops, leaving the fallboard open now and then in indirect light helps keep ivory from yellowing; avoid direct sun.
Sticking keys are often caused by humidity swelling the wood and are easy for a technician to correct. Chipped or missing keytops, loose keys or clicking keys should be seen by a technician too. Keytops can be repaired or replaced, and keys can be fully restored when needed.
More on this soon: a deeper guide to key care.
Cleaning the Soundboard, Harp and Strings of Your Steinway
Dust collects under the strings and on the soundboard, and it’s tempting to reach in. Please don’t: the dampers, strings and action are easy to damage. It’s fine to lightly dust the exposed top surface of the harp (the cast-iron plate) with a soft, dry cloth, but don’t use polishes or sprays on the plate, strings or soundboard, and don’t vacuum near the dampers or action.
A technician can clean the soundboard under the strings with specialized tools, along with the plate and tuning pin area. A good time to ask is during a regular tuning visit, especially if it has been many years.
More on this soon: a deeper guide to cleaning the soundboard, harp and strings.
Caring for the Cabinet and Finish on Your Steinway
Dust often with a soft, clean microfiber or cotton cloth, following the grain, and use a very slightly damp cloth for fingerprints, then dry. Avoid household furniture polishes and sprays, especially those with silicone, which can build up and make future touch-up or refinishing much harder. Keep drinks, plants and vases off the piano, and use felt pads under anything you set on it.
Direct sunlight fades and checks finishes, and dry Colorado air can stress older lacquer and veneer, so placement and humidity matter for the cabinet as much as for what’s inside. Scratches, chips and worn finishes can often be touched up, and a full refinish — including hand-rubbed lacquer — is available as part of a restoration.
More on this soon: a deeper guide to cabinet and finish care.
Questions About Your Steinway?
Every piano is different. If you’re not sure whether something needs attention, we’re happy to take a look. Schedule a tuning, ask about restoration, or contact us.