Hmm. I have a Weber baby grand which my Pa brought for me around a year ago.
Supposedly from a reputable dealer...it came with no paperwork. And lots of bottles and bits of metal, that I consequently have absolutely no idea what to do with.

How do you care for them generally?

I know I definitely need to have it tuned, I can tell that every time I play (), and there's a key that keeps sticking which, just my luck, is a note that seems to appear in nearly every one of my grade pieces, so I need to get that sorted. It's incredibly highly polished...and as careful as I try to be, it's still smothered in finger marks which will not budge; but I've heard horror stories about people using certain cleaners and polishes with disastrous effects. Any ideas on what to use?

And how about humidity and damp? And sunlight, actually. It lives in the living room in the corner in-between two large south-facing windows which get very strong sunlight pouring through for the majority of the day. Can that affect it?

Me looking at smudgy, out-of-tune, slightly-dusty piano =

Responding only to the bits I know about ...

"Two large south-facing windows which get very strong sunlight pouring through for the majority of the day" are going to play havoc with the finish of the wood, and the contrast between that heat and the cool of the night will kill the tuning very quickly. The good news is that if you subject the piano to that amount of sunlight you won't be worrying about the polish for much longer.

Humidity and damp are bad news because they can affect all sorts of things in the action. Repairing actions can be very expensive.

The sticking note could be an early symptom of this, but it could also be a completely unrelated problem which your tuner will be able to fix in a couple of minutes. In fact it sounds like you could do with having a tuner round pronto and asking him/her all these questions, as well as tuning the piano and testing your tea and biscuits for possible contamination.

Get it tuned and then keep it tuned by inviting the tuner in at least twice a year. Look after the bits under the bonnet as well as the case. The sunlight will bleach the colour out of the casewors as well as dry out the wood so it might be an idea to either get a cover for the piano, an old bedspread will do, or to close the blinds as often as possible. Keep well away from spray polishes in cans and ask the tuner to tell you the best way to clean it. It will depend on the way that the wood has been finished. If finger marks are showing badly it may well have a polyester finish and a almost dry soft cloth will remove those.

My piano tuner suggests opening the bottom panel of the piano and putting a cup of water inside it, which I do. I think it is something to do with stopping it drying out but I'm not sure.

yes, it keeps the air inside the piano slightly less dry I guess - you can buy proper humidifiers to fit inside but a cup of water works in the same way? presumably.

I must remember to ask my tuner next visit whether they still recommend them - I kept one inside a previous piano (a humidifier not a tuner) and probably should do the same for my new one - although it is in a north-facing room and is not near a radiator.

Thank you so much, guys

I went on a few websites and found out a little bit more about the piano I have. I'm thinking of actually contacting the makers and begging them for some paperwork or at least to tell me what all these bottles and screws are for (I did at least work out that the fluffily thingy shaped like a hand was a duster/buffer thing. I'm good like that ).

I had a feeling the sunlight might affect it. It is usually covered with something or other when I'm not playing, an old dust sheet or a bed sheet or something. We were going to invest in a proper cover, but something made us not. I can't for the life of me think what...ah well. An old bed sheet is better than nothing, right?

We're moving house in a few months anyway, so it should be living somewhere a lot better than where it is now. One of our requirements was at least two reception rooms, and one of the properties we're looking at has a lovely big Drawing room with a big bay window...definitely the piano room *blissful sigh*

I do know of an apparently very very good piano tuner, who my piano teacher uses. She says he's a gem, so I will make it my mission for the week to call him and scream for help. Also, humidity meters. Is it worth getting one?

I would say that its not worth getting a humidity meter, only because I asked my piano tuner, and he said a vase of water was just as good! But mine is only an upright! (Oh how I wish for a baby grand, they are lovely! )