Staining or Dyeing Tolex

[james]

Before I attempt this myself, has anybody succeed in using a dye or stain on good tolex that is already glued on the piano cabinet?  The dye solution would need to be something that doesn't cause the glue to peel off or the vinyl to melt in the process, so I'm guessing a water-based stain is about the only thing that would work.  I'm sure I'll be spending a while at the art store looking for this, but there are a lot of other crazies on here, so I thought I'd ask around...   :shock:

[rockstardave]

Total newbie, non-tech, but here's my 2-cents:

This may make a few people cringe, but I was working on my tolex last night with a regular black Sharpie.  I had already cleaned it with some soapy water, a toothbrush (ugh), and some rags.  I "filled" in the minor scrapes and bruises with the Sharpie and quickly wiped away the excess ink. Some previous owner jerk also spray painted something white a little too close to my Rhodes, at some point in it's long, neglected life, so I was able to cover up the hundreds of tiny paint splatters, too.  Finished it off with ArmorAll, and I can't stop looking at it

I tried using a camera to "see" how this looked in higher definition, under different light sources.  On a couple areas where I didn't wipe up the extra ink (oops) it is just barely noticeable under the lens, and pretty much undetectable to the naked eye.  Overall, the tolex looks new.  I have to practically put my nose against it to see the imperfections.

If you want to stain the entire case back to black, I'd suggest a tiny bit of black ink dilluted in a lot of water and a rub down with gloves and a rag your significant other won't miss  I almost did this, but didn't find it necessary after the other steps I took.  

This was also a good opportunity for me to remove the case hardware and scrub it with some steel wool and metal polish.  Shiny!  Also a good idea so you don't mar it with ink.

And don't play while you do this!  I almost started jamming out on those pristine white keys, then I looked at my ink stained finger tips and thought better of it.

Hope that helps, it sure did the trick for me.  My 20 year old guitar amp tolex is next!

[Spaceduck]

Interesting stuff, it never occurred to me but yeah, some dye (or a sharpie like rsd said) can work wonders on ailing tolex. I have a CP70 that looks pretty awful due to scratches, and I've been dreading the thought of re-tolexing it. But this might do the trick with a lot less aggravation.

A google search led me here
"Vinyl Dye"
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/modding/46

Apparently it's pretty easy to find at most auto stores.

[Alan Lenhoff]

Try this place:  http://dyeandpaint.com/

I know someone who has used their vinyl dye products to restore a stained orange Tolex top on a Vox Continental, with excellent results.

[pianotuner steveo]

Yes the black sharpie is used by some piano techs for black acoustic piano touch ups as well.  For the new shiny polyester black, black nail polish is a better choice, but that wouldnt work on tolex.....

Another tip...if you have nicks in an acoustic piano or other wooden instruments or furniture, you can use stain to cover the scratches,it doesnt even need to be the exact color. Just use a similar color that is the eame shade or darker,and it works wonders.
Old English scratch cover doesnot work well, itsoaks in in a day or two and the scratches come back.....

[rockstardave]

A piano repairman taught me a trick yesterday for fixing gouges in the wood of any instrument.

1)  Get a rag damp and squeeze as much water out as you can.

2)  Cover the gouge with the towel and lightly iron it.  Allow the wood to cool, and repeat this a few times.

3)  In a few days, the wood should expand in that spot enough to raise the gouge.  This way, you can lightly sand away the uneven surface.

Luckily, my Rhodes didn't come with any deep wounds, just very minor abrasions to the tolex.  I do, however, have a couple guitars and a couple Hammond organs that I might try this on.