Arsenic in felt

[vernon]

We're just starting a major renovation on an 1880s-ish Broadwood upright.
The key baizes are ok but an unhealthy pale green colour.Could their endurance have been due to their being impregnated with arsenic!?
Any felt historians out there.

[Barrie Heaton]

We're just starting a major renovation on an 1880s-ish Broadwood upright.
The key baizes are ok but an unhealthy pale green colour.Could their endurance have been due to their being impregnated with arsenic!?
Any felt historians out there.

DDT was defiantly used in the past, I remember one of the staff at white heads saying in the olden days they use to use DDT before it was banned that was in the 70s when I visited and we asked about moths

Barrier

[vernon]

This one is 1880s when I seem to have read that they used arsenic for the green in wallpaper- at least they did in a recent Doc Martin programme on the telly.
Maybe an urban myth. Anyway, the piano seems to have no moths for 130 years, tho' I don't know if it's left a trail of green tuners.

[mdw]

This one is 1880s when I seem to have read that they used arsenic for the green in wallpaper.

Isnt that what they think killed Napoleon on St Helena.

Ive tuned a piano which had a sign saying TREATED WITH DDT.

[Barrie Heaton]

This one is 1880s when I seem to have read that they used arsenic for the green in wallpaper- at least they did in a recent Doc Martin programme on the telly.
Maybe an urban myth. Anyway, the piano seems to have no moths for 130 years, tho' I don't know if it's left a trail of green tuners.

Would your local chemist not do a test on a sample

Barrie