Poor Air Quality

[backfortyjordi]

Has anyone studied the affects of poor air quality on the concertina, or other bellows driven reeded instruments? With the world we live in, and especially where I live (Northwest Canada), summer means heavy smoke, even ash particulates in the air. 

 

Can't be good for anything, but is it gonna cause a lot of damage for me to honk away as the world burns?

[Lappy]

The worst it can do is blacken the back of leather valves. Soot can be cleaned from metal parts with swabs. Cleaning solutions can be made from baking soda, alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. Vinegar will work too but it’s a weak acid so you don’t want to use it for very long periods. Soot would take decades to produce bad effects in your concertina.
I used to work in northern Manitoba many years ago. I still love the smell of bush fires

I.e.…not to worry….

Edited June 22 by Lappy
forgot about vinegar

[David Lay]

Worry about your lungs.  If you need a filter to be better, get one.  Your stuff will follow along with your benefit in taking care of yourself.

[DaveM]

I've heard stories about instruments that survived a lot of playing in smoky pubs and the like back in the day;  I'm with David, worry about your lungs before the bellows.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

When you think concertinas, far back  in Victorian times, ( as example).. must have been played in all kinds of similar sooty and industrial dank conditions, in those days, and so I imagine that an  instrument will survive the modern world as we have it these days..🌝

[wschruba]

Maybe consider more solid fabric under the fretwork, if you're concerned?  Many concertinas had their fabric removed/replaced with tulle, which stops stuff like hair/dog fur, but not much else.  My older ones have linen fabric under the fretwork.

 

FWIW, I have a large air filter running in my house (I have asthma).  Most of the actual filter units are HEPA rated, so they'll clear smoke/particulate.  The ionizing filters can work too (I had several of these, at one point), but they require weekly/monthly maintenance, and are difficult to clean without nasty chemicals...dust/dirt in the air is ionized/trapped on plates, but because it's ionized (and so are the plates), it needs to be mechanically removed if you aren't using a thick, spray on foam surfactant. 

[Matthew Heumann]

I have many times opened old English concertinas that still smelled like coal or peat from Victorian fireplaces.

[Matthew Heumann]

I usually remove the black "soot" on wood with just a swab & moistened some rubbing alcohol, dries almost immediately without risk of wetting the wood. Gaskets & valves are best replaced when blackened. Yesterday in just 4 hours, I was able to punch out by hand and replace 60 valves that were severely blackened.