White water marks on veneer piano lid

[forgottenlife]

Hi everyone,

I am hoping to get some advice so thanks in advance. While moving my old grand piano, unfortunately water got into the wrapping and caused some damage to the lid. It caused patches of white water marks on the surface. On the edge of the lid the damage is more severe and has stripped the layer of varnish to reveal the wood underneath. It has also caused a small part of the top veneer to come off the actual lid.

I tried rubbing petroleum jelly on to the affected areas as mentioned in various posts. It helped in the least damaged patches, but unfortunately did not improve the rest. I would be really grateful if anyone could suggest any remedies? Many thanks!

Tom

 

[Roxie]

Pictures please.
John

 

[forgottenlife]

Hi John,

Thanks for your reply. Not exactly sure how I can post pictures on here, it is saying my account does not have permission?? Could you try copy and paste the following into your browser and see if it works?

mod edit to add pics

Cheers,
Tom

 

[forgottenlife]

That didn't seem to have worked neither....

 

[deema]

Thats probably french polish depending in the age of the grand piano. One solution is to ‘burn it out’ I’d not recommend it if you don’t know how to do it. Basically you cover the area with a bit of meths and set fire to it; then repolish. If you want to see how it’s done look up The English Polisher on uTube.
https://youtu.be/cmeTjg2hEqg

Personally I’d find a french polisher......The English Polisher isn’t far from you at Harrogate.

 

[custard]

Personally I’d find a french polisher......The English Polisher isn’t far from you at Harrogate.

I agree that this is a job for a professional, your best bet is a reputable antiques restorer, as flattening and re-gluing that lifted veneer is potentially tricky.

Regarding "The English Polisher", from what I've seen I wouldn't trust him to restore a pallet let alone a piano! He looks like one of those fly-by-night chancers that the antiques trade is stuffed to the gills with.

 

[deema]

French polishing was a trade in its own right. Traditionally you wouldn’t ask a cabinet maker to french polish and you wouldn’t ask a french polisher to repair / restore veneers.

 

[forgottenlife]

Hi, thank you for all your replies. I am no expert but I don't think the case is french polish. It is a very old English made piano, probably in just a fairly plain finish. The shine you can see in the photos is probably due to the fact that I preciously rubbed petroleum jelly on the case.

Tried heating the area with a hair dryer on low heat in order to remove the moisture, but that didn't work unfortunately. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[custard]

Traditionally you wouldn’t ask a cabinet maker to french polish and you wouldn’t ask a french polisher to repair / restore veneers.

And I wouldn't ask the English Polisher to do either!

:lol:

 

[custard]

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

The problem Tom is the veneer looks like it's become slightly cockled from the moisture, so it may not glue down cleanly. Then you've got the problem of staining and polishing to match the rest of the piece.

The hard truth is, if you're looking for a clean and presentable result, this just isn't a job for a novice to tackle.

Unfortunately there's a "have a go" culture on this forum, where a bunch of bored old blokes will egg you on to take a crack at it! They'll give you advice which sounds superficially plausible, but in reality won't work. The problem is they've never done anything like this, but they won't feel that's any barrier to handing out advice!

There's a chap who goes by the forum name of Percy Snodgrass, he's a top level professional restorer and is worth listening to. Pretty much everyone else hasn't really got much of a clue. So if this piano is important to you then find yourself a good restorer and pay the market rate for quality work.

 

[Bod]

Take real good notice of Custards last post.
This repair will not be easy or cheap. It needs to be done by someone who knows what they are doing.
French polishing is a technical method of creating a shine, it is frequently done on English furniture, and has no regional connections.

Bod