# Does milk clean ivory? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 7, 2026, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-milk-clean-ivory/1026426 "2026-01-07T10:29:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-milk-clean-ivory/1026426/1 "2026-01-07T10:29:03Z")
I have a beautiful old upright piano, that as of now, is at least 99 years old. I got it from my parents, who got it from my paternal grandmother, whom I presume bought it new in about 1927 or so. It is a fine old instrument, and I love playing it. Nothing wrong with the action on it. It won’t hold its tuning nowadays, which makes it all the more fun when I play ragtime or similar. Sounds like a honky-tonk piano like you hear in Westerns. But the white keys are real, genuine ivory, on wooden keys. I remember my mother cleaning them with milk when I was a child, claiming, “Milk cleans ivory.” They looked a little better after a cleaning, but not perfect. In the twenty-five years that I’ve owned it, I’ve never cleaned the white keys like Mom did. I didn’t see the need; I’m the only one who plays it, and I know where the white keys are, and it still sounds good (to me anyway). The keys are a yellowish-brown, but still identifiable as white keys. I have no interest in cleaning the ivory keys, but playing my piano recently, I got to wondering, “Does milk really clean ivory?” Hence my question. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-milk-clean-ivory/1026426/2 "2026-01-07T12:10:05Z")
I am not an expert, but I assume [these folks](https://ogdenpianogallery.com/tips-for-cleaning-your-piano-keys/) and [these](https://www.merriammusic.com/pianos/how-to-clean-piano-keys) have some idea of what they’re doing. From the second link: > If your piano keys are real ivory, you are probably aware they were [once bone of a living creature](https://www.npr.org/2014/08/18/338989248/elephant-slaughter-african-slavery-and-americas-pianos). This being the case, they are very naturally porous. > > This means that using other natural items like diluted lemon juice, or even milk, can be a good method for cleaning. This is because the naturally occurring acids in things like milk or lemon juice help fight the yellowing stains on cleaning ivory keys. > > Of course, be careful to dilute the acids so they do not wear down the bone. > > It’s also best to allow each key or set of several keys, to dry thoroughly before moving on to the next. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-milk-clean-ivory/1026426/3 "2026-01-07T13:01:23Z")
Interesting link, excepting the fact that ivory is closer to teeth than to bone. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-milk-clean-ivory/1026426/4 "2026-01-08T14:23:31Z")
Boy, I’d worry about my piano smelling like spoiled milk afterward! Lemon juice might be better for that reason alone. I’d probably hire a pro if ours needed cleaning. (We inherited a 1930s Steinway grand that my grandmother bought herself as a single woman for $1200–a LOT of money back then! She must have been very serious about playing.) ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-milk-clean-ivory/1026426/5 "2026-01-08T15:33:00Z")
Ivory doesn’t always yellow much naturally, there are 2000 yo Roman & Chinese ivory artifacts that look pretty good and a surprising number of mammoth tusks out there. But the color change patina that does occur can’t be reversed. Piano keys in particular can get dirty & worn from fingers and paws but the signs would be far more apparent toward the front. Milk DOES readily yellow and stink and, other than being wet, I can’t think of any reason to use it for cleaning anything. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-milk-clean-ivory/1026426/6 "2026-01-08T17:29:31Z")
I heard that keys yellow faster if you keep the keyboard cover down. ??? ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-milk-clean-ivory/1026426/7 "2026-01-08T20:00:55Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Interesting link, excepting the fact that ivory is closer to teeth than to bone. Brush daily? 😃 I have an ivory chess set, a gift from my grandfather to my father when he graduated university. However, it’s coloured so I can’t test this. I am lucky, it’s crossed the Canada-US border at least twice and probably up to a half-dozen times in the last 40 years, and not been confiscated.