Best 'On the Road' Cleaner

leehop71

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Hey all! I've got a lacquer finish now and wanted to know what the consensus is on what to keep in the case to clean the lacquer finish body?
 

ClydeTower

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I use Gibson's pump polish. Excellent for daily cleaning to remove dust, finger prints, nitro haze...
For swirls, light scratches and such either Virtuoso polish or Player's kit polish
 

GAD

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I'm 53 and have played since I was 13. I've never cleaned a lacquer guitar as a routine. I've ended up having to remove wax and other nonsense from guitars over the years when buying them new, though.

For my photography I'll clean guitars and the only thing I use is Naptha. It smells terrible and it's really quite flammable, but it works.
 

adorshki

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Hey all! I've got a lacquer finish now and wanted to know what the consensus is on what to keep in the case to clean the lacquer finish body?

If it's not dirty already, a damp cotton cloth.
Old white cotton tee-shirts are ideal.
Microfiber is harder than lacquer and will dull it down with micro-scratches.
Like GAD said you don't really need to put much of anything on there for long times if you wipe it down after every use.
Too much polish actually creates wax build up.
I only use pump polish on the guitars when I change strings and that's less than once a year at my current rate of play.
OK, maybe a couple of times a year at most.
PLUS:
IF the guitar has finish flaws/checking/damage, silicones contained in most polishes can penetrate to the wood under the finish and start making problems.
Last I heard, Virtuoso is silicone free as are a couple of others, like Dunlop.
But these days with poly finish being the norm, a lot of makers don't bother to warn about silicones and the potential foo damage to NCL finishes.
 
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ClydeTower

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If it's not dirty already, a damp cotton cloth.
Old white cotton tee-shirts are ideal.
Microfiber is harder than lacquer and will dull it down with micro-scratches.
Like GAD said you don't really need to put much of anything on there for long times if you wipe it down after every use.
Too much polish actually creates wax build up.
I only use pump polish on the guitars when I change strings and that's less than once a year at my current rate of play.
OK, maybe a couple of times a year at most.
PLUS:
IF the guitar has finish flaws/checking/damage, silicones contained in most polishes can penetrate to the wood under the finish and start making problems.
Is this that G37 you linked to last week?
Last I heard, Virtuoso is silicone free as are a couple of others, like Dunlop.
But these days with poly finish being the norm, a lot of makers don't bother to warn about silicones and the potential foo damage to NCL finishes.

I think it depends a lot on your body chemistry.
My skin/sweat is like acid for my guitars. I get nitro haze where my skin comes in contact, especially on sunburst finishes. Simply wiping after play with a dry or damp cloth usually does not cut it.... it makes a mess and even causes more swirl marks in the dark finish because you have to put more elbow grease to get rid of the haze. If I let the haze accumulate over days, it gets really nasty and much harder to remove. The Gibson pump polish is safe to use daily if needed and works wonders for me. I know a lot of people who use it and swear by it also.

The Virtuoso polish or Player's kit polish is excellent for occasional deep polishing and from experience has worked really well to get rid of swirl marks or light scratches, but I would only do that a few times a year.
 
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txbumper57

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For cleaning I use Virtuoso Cleaner which is Nitro safe. I only use the Virtuoso polish once or twice a year but the cleaner removes everything without damaging the finish. You can find them in a set of bottles on Ebay and other sites for about $20 a set. Hope that helps!

TX
 

adorshki

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I think it depends a lot on your body chemistry.
My skin/sweat is like acid for my guitars.

That's actually a good point, and I actually got a "soft spot" on the lower bout of my D25 where my arm habitually rested, before I knew how fragile NCL was in that regard.
It took several months of drying (played the D40 almost exclusively during that interval) to harden up again, and still wouldn't buff up to full shine for years afterwards.
Now about ten years later, it seems to have "healed" but I did forget to scrutinize the area closely when I gave it a cleaning with a string change 2 weeks ago.
Primarily noticeable when viewing from an angle, not from straight on, but the fact that I even forgot about it is a clue in itself, otherwise I'm sure I would have noticed when polishing.
 

Stuball48

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If I counted correctly, you have 22 Guild guitars listed and 2 amps. Cleaning ain't no 30 minute to hour job for you. Wow, what a stable of thoroughbreds you have!
Cleaning for me is a piece of good cotton cloth and light dusting after each days playing. I rotate guitars each day so I have only one to clean.
Roughly, one to two minutes then back in the case.
 

txbumper57

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If I counted correctly, you have 22 Guild guitars listed and 2 amps. Cleaning ain't no 30 minute to hour job for you. Wow, what a stable of thoroughbreds you have!
Cleaning for me is a piece of good cotton cloth and light dusting after each days playing. I rotate guitars each day so I have only one to clean.
Roughly, one to two minutes then back in the case.

Thanks Stu, It all depends on what I am playing at the time. I usually keep 5-6 acoustics out on stands and 4-5 electrics as well. I also have about 15-20 other guitars including 2 Gretsch Black Falcons and some other nice hollowbodies and acoustics. If they are going in their case they get thoroughly cleaned so when I am ready to pull them back out they are ready to rock. So actually I am not cleaning all of the guitars at the same time, It is more like a merry go round situation, LOL.

TX
 

Stuball48

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Wow on other guitars TX. I knew you had the Greco and had a hunch you had other fine guitars. Shoot, Chet Adkins didn't have 3 Gretsch Black Falcons. You must experience daily conflict-"which rare guitar will I play today?"
 

txbumper57

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Wow on other guitars TX. I knew you had the Greco and had a hunch you had other fine guitars. Shoot, Chet Adkins didn't have 3 Gretsch Black Falcons. You must experience daily conflict-"which rare guitar will I play today?"

Thanks Stu, I like me some rare and interesting guitars, LOL! Here is the link to a NGD post for my Limited Black Falcon double cut that was a special run for Street Sounds in Brooklyn. They made 8 in Blue and 8 in red. My other black falcon is a single cutaway with Duncan Custom Shop Dynasonics in it.

http://letstalkguild.com/ltg/showth...-is-Beautiful!&highlight=Gretsch+Black+Falcon

TX
 
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kostask

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Get a snall squeeze bottle that fits the gear pocket of your case. Go to the Car parts store. Get a bottle of Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #9. Fill the squeeze bottle with the Meguiar's #9. Add two small soft cotton cloths. Use one cloth with the Meguiar's to clean the guitar, the other to clean off the Meguiar's #9 residue after it dries. If it is really filthy, use Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #2 first, then follow with #9.

Meguiar's #9 and #2 are used on most guitar repair shops to clean off wax residues, and other types of contaminants, both NCL and poly. It is used in auto body shops as a finishing polish, and has been for about 40 years, because it is paintable. What should be obvious is that it has no silicones in it. Silicones are a horror show in auto body shops.
 
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Stuball48

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There is no way I could NOT have that guitar in every picture I posted. I looked at each picture several times and could not, even, decide which was my favorite picture. Talk about conflict! To do hommage to your collection--from now on when I exit the house--I will pause and bow to the Southwest.
 

txbumper57

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There is no way I could NOT have that guitar in every picture I posted. I looked at each picture several times and could not, even, decide which was my favorite picture. Talk about conflict! To do hommage to your collection--from now on when I exit the house--I will pause and bow to the Southwest.

That is Hilarious Stu! You are cracking me up.

TX
 

Brad Little

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Cleaning products are required to have a Material Safety Data Sheet available. If you have any doubts about a cleaning product containing silicone, do a search for an MSDS. Here's a link to the MSDS for Meguiar's Fine Cut Cleaner, a product that some guitar companies license and relabel as guitar cleaner (Fender did and may still use various Meguiar's products in their cleaning kit). You can see the complete list of ingredients, as well as other info, like flammability. http://www.meguiars.com/content/en/msds/M02 SDS.pdf
Brad
 

swiveltung

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I use Gibson's pump polish. Excellent for daily cleaning to remove dust, finger prints, nitro haze...
For swirls, light scratches and such either Virtuoso polish or Player's kit polish

I have that at home, but beware (for a case) The bottle leaks like a sieve if not standing upright!
 
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