Thank you Linda! Is 4 0000 the size/weight of the steel wool? And pimice powder, is that something a store like Home Depot would carry? I'd like to try both on a tiny unseen corner to see which I like better before I go gung ho...think I know what I'll be doing this weekend :)

I hate to burst your concept, but what is the make of this piano and what is its age?

You said you bought it for the touch and the tone. That's fine, but I would definately consider make and age and then a paino restorer/ rebuilder before you go playing with the finish.

Being a professional musician, I would never play with an older instrument without proper knowledge and history.

Just my two cents.

Enjoy the journey.

eal51 in western CT

ea151, it's a Meister, I do not know the age. Unfortunately a piano restorer is not in the budget. Whoever finished it the first time around didn't do a very good job, I don't think at this point it could be made worse. However as I said before I do anything, I will test a small area in the back and see what it looks like. I recall when I was a kid, my dad completely taking apart an old piano, restoring it and refinishing it. Sure wish I had that talent.

whiskerz-
The fine steel wool should work adequately for your purpose.

As for the "pimice," I believe the other posters were intending to refer to pumice, which is a fine grit material usually produced by volcanic action. I'm not sure if HD would carry something like that, but specialty woodworkers stores generally carry a variety of fine, abrasive grit materials for just such purposes.

To use pumice or rottonstone you need a felt rubbing block and paraffin oil.

I have used pumice ( excuse the toyp...fat fingers!) with a piece of a felt hat and a block of wood and linseed oil...parrafin oil would work as well...but I think linseed oil is better. It leaves a bit behind that adds to the finish.
Rottonstone will give you a very shiny finish...I use it if something has dulled a portion of an existing finish.
Linda C

I don't know if I should post this because of lack of intrest but I will this one time. If it's not informative, I'll just let it slide from now on. Anyway, I build period furniture, repair furniture and repair and restore finishes on damaged furniture. First of all I would get some felt rubbing blocks and paraffin oil. These are made specifically for rubbing out finishes and are not much of an investment. The pumice comes in different grits. Use grit no.1, course, to flatten the finish and remove any imperfections like brush marks or streaks. If you haven't rubbed through the finish you'r good to go to the next step. The next step is to rub the finish out with no.2, medium grit pumice. Use a different felt block or clean the original with a hard spray from a garden hose. Clean the surface of the piano real well with paint thinner and a terrycloth rag between steps. Third step is to use no.4 fine grit pumice with a clean or new felt block. Wash the piano down thoroughly with paint thinner and let it dry. Now, look at your finish and check for color eveness. If the stain looks uneven, you can even it out with some spray toner but stand way back when spraying and just mist. You can't underspray but you can overspray. You want a wide pattern mist. I just finished a serpentine Queen Ann chest of drawers that I made, and this was part of the steps I used to rub out the finish. I don't use boiled linseed oil because that is a finish in itself and might cause the finish that is on there to soften or cause any subsequent finish I might want to add not to adhere. There are a few more steps I might want to do, depending how the piano looks at this point, but then one might want to try the old felt hat on a wood block linseed oil trick. I would continue with rottonstone and then a good furniture wax.

The difference here is that you are building furniture or restoring an old piece.
The OP here bought a used upright piano that has been badly refinished and wants to knock back the shine a bit.
I suspect that if she thought the only way to do that were to buy the blocks and go through the different grades of pumice and spray toner, she wouldn't do anything and continue hating the finish on the piano.
My suggestion was for the "quick and dirty" fix.
Linda C

My two cents worth--
I'm assuming that since someone refinished this piano originally, it isn't professionally done.
My suggestion would be sand it down with 400 grit, maybe even 200 grit sand paper until the finish is very dull. Clean it with mineral spirits or alcohol , then hand rub it with a 2 to 3 coats of rub on satin polyurethane, sanding lightly between each coat with steel wool or very fine sandpaper. I personally use 400 grit between coats.
This procedure would be easier for a novice DIYer and less complicated than trying to rub out the gloss.

Thank you everyone for all your suggestions, I'm going to print this all out and decide which way to go. Lindac, you are exactly correct, I just want to dull the finish down. I'm tending towards lindac and daveh644's methods. One more question - are the liquid products suggested safe to use indoors in a small area, with windows open? I also have 2 indoor cats and imagine I'll need to board them during the process? Thank you again.

We have two cats and finished our cabinets with them in the house with no obvious discomfort to them. We kept our windows open for ventilation.
I wear a face mask whenever I mess with any type of mineral based products.

Daveh644, thank you. In that case I think what I'll do is confine them to the bedroom (windows open) just in case...now if I can get over the cold I managed to get, I can get started on this overdue project :)

Since this topic is already under way , I'd like to see if anyone has tried to remove restor a finish. I used it on a patch of cove moulding in my 111 year old house. I'm in the city and have removed a layer of black grime from other wood in the house, so after cleaning it, I thought I could even out/ rejuvenate the finish , but the difference in shine is night and day, and I would like it duller. I'm not home now, but I can post photos later if anyone is interested.

Hi,

You don't have to remove Restore-a-finish; it ill evaporate on its own. If you want to hurry it along, use a rag and naphtha. Careful, it's very flammable.

Thanks. I actually may open a new thread,,now that I have cleaned and inspected up close, this trim is in worse shape than I thought.......: (