Can I Use Lighter Fluid To Clean My Les Paul

[Super Bass]

Please don't use windex. I have permanent white/cloudy marks on the top of my wine red les paul custom from that {censored}. I feel a little sick every time I think about it. I wish I had the money to have it looked at by a pro finish guy. Maybe someday, I wish I just left the guitar dirty. Uugh

 

Get some Virtuoso cleaner and polish. It works wonders.

My LP Jr. had a lot of cloudiness in the finish when I got it (used) and it took it out. Also gave the guitar an amazing shine.

 

Actually I just used the stuff again there a few mins ago on the guitar. I think this guitar is never gonna look it's age. It's 22 this year and looks practically new.

[tartanphantom]

This stuff ought to do the trick....

 

[germs]

I own the Dunlop sample system I got a local mom and pop for like $20. It's a great deal if for nothing else than the polishing cloth, fret polishing material, and fretboard cleaner/conditioner. But anyway...

Dude, I wouldn't be so anal about cleaning the guitar. Sounds like your LP is a case queen, so just wash your hands before playing it. Should take care of all the problem smudges.

Also, don't clean it QUITE so often. Wiping it down for the obvious every week is fine. Maybe like once every few weeks. But even then, just use a polishing cloth (white athletic socks work very well) to wipe them down in detail. The Dunlop stuff should be used about as often as you change your strings (6-8 weeks for the climate-controlled storage).

As a matter of fact, the less ANYTHING you use on your guitar the better. A nice felt polishing cloth really is best. Just keep rubbing and buffing and you'll take care of all those nasty fingerprints. You know, to keep anyone from knowing you might have enjoyed playing your guitar...

[Seano Porno]

Buffing it out will be best. A fine cut or swirl removing polishing compound and a buffing wheel or polishing pad. I would learn from someone who knows what they are doing, because if you don't do it right, you can leave swirls and scratches. I don't know hat kind of sealer the HW1 uses, AVRI's use a poly sealing coat, thin skins use a nitro one. The difference is the nitro sealing coat will shrink into the grain with the nitro finish, so you'll never be able to maintain a mirror-like gloss.

 

 

Well I don't mind the grain sinkage cos basily....the idea is that the thing ages quickly. I'm not gonna do some hack relic job on it, it's gotta be natural, but I'm not gonna baby it either. I would like it to gloss up a bit.

 

Any ideas on tinting it?

[grickie]

I buy used , sometimes neglected guitars and lighter fluid works great to get the finish back. Cuts ages of dried sweat, stickers......buff and wax and the finish can really look great.

[catalinagooseV2]

Liighter fluid works best on Strats. Hendrix used it.

Hendrix favored Zippo lighter fluid to clean his guitar.

[JC777]

I've used a little bit of everything to clean guitar bodies.
I'm kinda indifferent.

But that is a sweet pic.

just don't light a match around it...

[some_dude]

Thank you for the replies. I called Gibson and they said it was ok to use the nappha (lighter fluid) on the guitar, but they DO NOT recommend the Dunlop 65 Polish & Cleaner on their guitars. They ONLY recommend the Gibson products because they actually contain traces of the finish in them and will NOT stop the wood from breathing.

If I was Gibson I wouldn't recommend the competitors products either.




Anyway, I'm going to nerd it up here for a minute.

There's actually three steps to maintaining the finish on anything that's painted.

Cleaning - Cleaning is using a chemical agent to disolve and remove wax and other residue to prepare the surface for polishing (you don't want to polish contaminants into the fnish, do you?).

Polishing - Polishing is using an abrasive material to perform micro-abbrasion to the even out the surface imprefections until it achieves uniformity... this uniformity is what causes a finish to reflect light evenly and thus gives a finish that 'mirror like shine'.

By using aggressive abbrasives you can repair surface damage that doesn't penetrate the finish, like shallow scratches and scrapes (such as the Windex damage above), then use a milder abbrasive to repair the damage done by the aggressive abbrasive and bring the finish back up to a mirror shine. Care should be taken to not over polish a finish. There is an optimum level of shine that can be achieved with a particular polish, then if you want it to shine even more you need to switch to an even more fine/milder polish, or even buffing (buffing is a form of polishing) with a buffing cloth.

Waxing - Applying a protectant to the finish to help seal it in from wear, weathering and contaminants. Further, if the finish is waxed contaminants will bond to the wax rather than the finish, so future cleaning and polishing will do less damage to the finish. Despite the popular misconception, waxing does not shine/mirror the finish... it's the polishing that does that. Waxing will however add depth and gloss to the look of the finish.

Not all finishes are meant to be waxed.... I'm pretty sure that poly is one of them.


Anyway, (if you're still reading at this point... ) most cleaners are actually cleaner/polishers. You're effectively cleaning residue at the same time that you're performing micro abbrasion on the surface. These are good for regular cleaning, as mild ones won't strip the wax and along with a little elbow grease will help buff it up.

Dunlop 65 is a good example of a mild cleaner/polisher, as is any other manufactuers cleaner who claims it will also add/restore shine. In the case of Dunlop 65 (and similar products) it's designed to be mild enough for daily use and will help remove skin oil and salt while giving a little buff. Anyone who's tried to use it to clean an old, poorly maintained guitar knows it's not so good at disolving caked on and hardened sweat/grease/niccotine.

Some cleaner/polishes also contain some form of wax. I don't know which cleaner/polishes also have wax. However, I'm pretty sure Gibson factory waxes their guitars, so perhaps Gibson's reason for claiming their product is better for your Gibson guitar is because it contains this wax, whereas Dunlop (which is designed for all guitars.... nitro and poly) likely doesn't. 1 step cleaner/waxes (called 1 step because the the entire cleaning/polishing/waxing process is done in one step rather than 3) are good for general maintenance of a waxed finish, though the wax will have to be restored properly every once in awhile (on a guitar... probably once a year unless you're cleaning it with naptha more often).

Naptha is an example of a pure solvent. It does nothing but clean. You can squirt it on your finish, rub it around, and you'll notice it doesn't get any shinyier since it's not polishing anything. What it's really good at though is the cleaning... you can remove old wax, caked on sweat and crud that something like Dunlop 65 would have a hell of a time removing, and it's both mild enough and evaporates fast enough that it won't etch or disolve the finish.

I don't know of any actual made for guitar polishes and waxes... most dudes I've talked just use mild automotive polish or furnature polish and a carnuba wax... Maguiar's being popular for polish, and both Maguiar's and Turtle Wax being popular for wax. I'd recommend sticking with carnuba wax since it's a natural wax. I don't know how modern, poly waxes will perform on nitro finished bodies.

I wouldn't recommend real polishing (as in, with a pure polish rather than a cleaner/polish) too often as it does wear the finish, and always use the mildest polish available to get the job done. In general, if the finish doesn't look dull, it doesn't need to be polished. Simply cleaning the guitar with a proper cleaner (like naptha), giving it a quick buff with a buffing cloth, then applying a new coat of wax will suffice (you don't want to wax in the contaminants to the finish).

Lastly... I mentioned waxing to be thorough.... most dudes I know don't wax their guitar... of course, most dudes I know don't wax their car either. I guess it just depends on how well you want to maintain that 'new paint' look. I like my guitars to age and look used, so I don't really bother doing anything beyond cleaning off the crud with a cleaner maybe twice a year and the occassional use of a cleaner/polish every month or two. The rest of it I included because I know some dudes are very into the mint look, and the polish and wax steps will help alot. The polishing step will also help those with scratched/scraped finishes, like that dude with the Windex dulling above, or someone who's trying to restore the value of their scratched and dulled Black Beauty (maintaining original finishes does not decrease the value of a guitar).

If you made it this far... cheers,

SD

[WakeTheDead]

This stuff ought to do the trick....

Hydrochloric Acid actually works much better (and quicker)!

[BG76]

Must be Gibson lighter fluid?

 

 

 

+vintage+ Gibson lighter fluid

[revan_delacroix]

i personally use naptha-based lighter fluid for cleaning up grime and grease off my rosewood fender stratocaset, especially the fretboard. i got tired of occasional dings on my axe so i decided to buy guitarguard skin. it does it job well.