Possible to properly "disinfect" a keyboard?

[KeyboardEric]

Wondering about community keyboards i.e. schools, churches, band spaces etc. Does anyone know of a sound method to limit the amount of germs on a keyboard without using dangerous liquids that can effect the keys/circuitry? I've been meaning to try and get to the bottom of this for a while. My guess is that its complicated. cheers!

[KeyboardEric]

Washing hands is the first thing that comes to mind but it'd be difficult for young students to follow through with this.

[Jazz+]

Rubbing alcohol on a tissue and carefully blotting the keys.

[Baldwin Funster]

Something as contagious as the Corona is reported to be isn't going to be blotted out with a wipe. Otherwise you wouldn't see workers wearing hazmat suits. Lock up the communal keyboards for a couple months to age out the virus then keep them locked up until this thing stops spreading.

[Stokely]

Yes, I suspect being in a place that has a "communal keyboard" is the true issue here. Meaning, you are surrounded by other people. If I went into an empty hall and wanted to play the keyboard there...I simply wouldn't most likely. I'm half-expecting most of our upcoming gigs to be cancelled, and for those that aren't they'll be empty. Then again, I thought that last weekend and the place was packed so who knows. The time to sequester would be "now" it seems to me, not after it has been tested positive in your area...by then, probably too late.

 

Edit: sounds like you aren't talking about the corona virus specifically here, so nvm...it's on a lot of minds right now! I have an elderly parent with health issues living with me so I'm especially worried that one of us will bring it home to her.

[Ledbetter]

Isopropyl alcohol can cause cracking in plastics. Might as well use hot water and a little bleach on a washcloth on the keys.

[Mighty Motif Max]

...sounds like you aren't talking about the corona virus specifically here, so nvm...it's on a lot of minds right now! I have an elderly parent with health issues living with me so I'm especially worried that one of us will bring it home to her.

 

I"ve got a keyboard coming from Oregon later this week. Not touching that for a good week or two more.

[GRollins]

Deterioration of plastics due to solvents is, in part, controlled by exposure time. Isopropyl alcohol (aka isopropanol) isn't going to stay on the keys long enough to be a problem, especially given that you're not going to be doing this every day for years--probably more like a month or two.

 

The problem you'll be facing is that the sheer surface area/nooks and crannies in a keybed are going to be a bitch to keep clean. For instance--you have someone who is sick (with any germ--doesn't have to be Wuhan/coronavirus) and they sneeze. Some of the aerosol of droplets goes into the gap between the keys and settles on the side of a key. The next person comes along and wipes the surfaces of all the keys (nuisance enough), but does not depress each key to wipe the sides. The next player comes along and the side of their finger brushes against the contaminated key. Then they have a tickle on their nose and...they scratch.

 

If it was a wide, flat, smooth surface like the lid of a grand piano, you'd be in good shape. The keys, however, are going to be a bear to clean effectively, especially every day, possibly multiple times per day. It'll be an annoying job and sooner or later someone will get sloppy and that will be all that it takes.

 

Grey

[drawback]

The piano at my gig is played by a few others so to make myself "feel better" I carry One-Step Sanitizing Wipes which come in individual packets (they have alcohol in them). They're impossible to get nowadays, so I've resorted to individual packages of alcohol swabs. If I run out of those, I may just resort to alcohol. Feeling better is relative, after all.

[Docbop]

My media gig at the church we had a large Digi Venue board and about six different mixers who rotated services plus assistants. So we didn't wipe down the board, but we just kept large bottle of Purell next to the board so before or after running the board you could use the Purell. Funny with both a acoustic piano and a Motif for the band and a couple more pianos in the multipurpose rooms we had lots of people on the keyboards all the time and no one else thought twice about how clean the keys were, their only concern was about particular heavy handed gospel players pounding on the keyboards.

[uhoh7]

Thanks for posting this thread. No doubt it will save a few lives. I mean that.

 

CDC Giudelines for COVID 19 Cleaning and disinfection.

 

You have to wonder how piano teachers will deal with the issue.

 

 

[Stokely]

I'm not sure how this affects my gigs, or how it should affect my gigs. My wife just told me she wishes I could cancel them. She is from China and has a lot of friends and family there, and isolation has been their approach (and it may have helped, a lot).

[Docbop]

There are company rep's and piano store staff that hang out here and be great if some of them would comment on the best way to clean a E piano and A piano and what things that should not be used to clean. At this point in time it would be a helpful for many here.

 

 

[CowboyNQ]

Washing hands is the first thing that comes to mind but it'd be difficult for young students to follow through with this.

I would take the cruise ship approach here. Have a bottle of hand sanitiser available for the students to use before and after they play the keyboards.

 

[J_tour]

Washing hands is the first thing that comes to mind but it'd be difficult for young students to follow through with this.

I would take the cruise ship approach here. Have a bottle of hand sanitiser available for the students to use before and after they play the keyboards.

 

I like that one.

 

I confess I'm still a bit of an eye-roller, but then again that's just concern for my own health: absolutely concern for populations who are more susceptible is responsible and reasonable.

 

Maybe this is one area where Glenn Gould's hand-washing rituals will prove to have been a bit prescient!

 

TBH, besides (obviously) washing the hands thoroughly, the places where when performing seem risky are: if you wear glasses (nerd glasses or Blues Brothers types), you're probably adjusting them every so often.

 

If you're anything like me, you sweat like a mofo, just on a typical session, even just practicing.

 

Just off the cuff, maybe just have a towel around your neck, like a boxer, to add one extra layer when you need to get sweat out of your eyes or off your brow? I think Richard Tee used to perform, at least sometimes, with a towel around his neck.

 

I mean, you're going to pick all kinds of nasty stuff up anyway, so, obviously, wash hands before and after (yes, I know it's kind of a hassle to get your hands just the right amount of dry before playing), and be vigilant about touching your face or picking your nose while playing.

 

Seems about the only thing to be done.

[KuruPrionz]

Only a few people will touch the keyboard.

 

EVERYBODY will touch the doorknobs.

 

Priorities, they are important.

 

DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE WITH YOUR HANDS!!!

 

Wash hands with soap, then touch face. Consider washing face too.

[drawback]

My family doctor has been in the habit of using hand sanitizers all the time. Comes into the office/exam room, shakes my hand, pump. I pump. He examines, pumps. I say goodbye, pump. I leave by opening door with elbow, etc etc. Then I get into my car via my dirty door handle and grab my dirty keys and then place my hands on the dirty steering wheel and I push the dirty radio knob. Go home, wash my hands, use Vaseline Intensive Care to keep my now disinfected hands from cracking. OMG, the hand cream pump is dirty.

[J_tour]

Go home, wash my hands, use Vaseline Intensive Care to keep my now disinfected hands from cracking. OMG, the hand cream pump is dirty.

 

Gloves.

 

Oh. Wait. Keyboards.

 

Well, still. Gloves!

 

And splash goggles.

 

I'm thinking about cutting my hands off entirely. Not doing much performing or recording these days.

[KeyboardEric]

There are company rep's and piano store staff that hang out here and be great if some of them would comment on the best way to clean a E piano and A piano and what things that should not be used to clean. At this point in time it would be a helpful for many here.

 

 

+1

[EricBarker]

Something as contagious as the Corona is reported to be isn't going to be blotted out with a wipe. Otherwise you wouldn't see workers wearing hazmat suits. Lock up the communal keyboards for a couple months to age out the virus then keep them locked up until this thing stops spreading.

Corona is bad to humans because of it's combination of moderate contagiousness, above-average fatality rate, as well as it's delayed onset (you're walking around for a week spreading it without knowing). It's bad. BUT, the virus itself isn't some sort of super element that can't be destroyed. Structurally, it's basically a common cold, though it shares some similarities with flu. A good hit with alcohol will absolutely destroy it. A careful disinfection of a keyboard surface will be fine. Take a cotton swab and go over each key and exposed side edges. This may be a lot of work for a lab of 20 boards, but a single board could be safely done in a minute or two. Larger surfaces, use an alcohol pad, and then follow it up by a damp cloth to remove the alchohol so it doesn't damage plastic long term.

[Jazz+]

Rubbing alcohol is sold in plastic bottles. It"s not damaging the plastic keys, it evaporates quickly. And why are plastic keys considered more important than your own personal health?

[EricBarker]

Agreed, though there are different types of plastics, it might be that some react differently. OBVIOUSLY isopropyl bottles are going to be a type that doesn't degrade from alcohol. But I'm not a chemist, so don't listen to me.

 

Acetone will f*** your whole s*** up though. Personal experience from painting my keytar.

[rickzjamm]

Alas, from now on don't do Sam Ash, Guitar Center,ect... always felt that demoing a board was beneficial in a potential purchase but never knew who was "playing" before me.

[Stokely]

Alas, from now on don't do Sam Ash, Guitar Center,ect... always felt that demoing a board was beneficial in a potential purchase but never knew who was "playing" before me.

 

Very good point...I am in the process of trying some out right now and I'm going to put that on hold (though mostly because I'm looking to buy a non-piano keyboard first). Plus, the one I have on the top of my list (kawai es110) I have yet to see in the wild around here. Sam Ash did have an es8, which I understand is a step up in action, it was very smooth.

 

[Sospiri]

No one bothered to mention that the coronavirus cannot survive outside of the body for very long. A lot of posters have assumed that once it is on the keys, it is going to stay there forever, but that is not so. The best idea seems to be sanitizer on your hands before you perform and then again on your hands after the performance.

[Stokely]

No one bothered to mention that the coronavirus cannot survive outside of the body for very long. A lot of posters have assumed that once it is on the keys, it is going to stay there forever, but that is not so. The best idea seems to be sanitizer on your hands before you perform and then again on your hands after the performance.

 

Not forever, but nine days seems to be the number I have heard the most (this may be based on data from previous similar viruses). It would be very welcome indeed if this is not the case.

 

[p19978]

I have heard 9 days at room temps; less in warmer weather (hopefully the oncoming spring will do the job).

[Dave Bryce]

Guys -

 

I've just had to disinfect this thread because some here may unfamiliar with our policies when it comes to politics. Short version - there's no room for political discussion here, please.

 

Besides the big sticky at the top of the forum, this info can be found HERE.

 

There's a bunch of useful information in this thread - please keep the politics out of this, okay?

 

dB

[Sospiri]

Thanks for the figure, Stokely. I've also heard that heat is the quickest way to kill it, but does this mean a Mediterranean summer or a flamethrower? And they also say that the quickest way to catch it is from a sneeze or a cough droplet, hence the use of masks by some people, though these seem to be to protect other people in the room from your coughs and sneezes rather than to protect you from other people's droplets. As many medical people have said, they are no sure way of protecting yourself from getting infected.

[Stokely]

Thanks for the figure, Stokely. I've also heard that heat is the quickest way to kill it, but does this mean a Mediterranean summer or a flamethrower? And they also say that the quickest way to catch it is from a sneeze or a cough droplet, hence the use of masks by some people, though these seem to be to protect other people in the room from your coughs and sneezes rather than to protect you from other people's droplets. As many medical people have said, they are no sure way of protecting yourself from getting infected.

 

I've been following smarter people than me talking about it--but of course everyone is dependant on iffy data at this point. The big deal was whether this was "airborne" (as in, can float miles on dust) or droplet-only. Latest seems to be droplet only, which is still "airborne" but for a short distance.

 

Masks are a hot topic. My takeaway: they CAN help prevent infection to some degree if they are the right type and they are worn properly. However, most people probably won't, and fiddling with the uncomfortable things defeats the purpose. Also, the practical reason to avoid them is simply that the medical people are running out of them, and they are the ones that REALLY need them. My brother is nurse at a hospital here, and they already have shortages of masks.

 

Hopefully work on a vaccine churns along and we can slow this thing down enough in the meantime.