Virtuoso Guitar Cleaner and Polish

[Gilliangirl]

Does anyone know where to buy this stuff in Canada? I've called around Calgary here and no one has it. My friends are telling me it's really good stuff. Anyone seen it in their travels?

NEVER MIND! I called L&McQ again and they are now saying they DO have it (the first time I called they said they did not have it).

[smorgdonkey]

Did you buy the stuff yet?

If it is crazy expensive or (read the ingredients) has any wax or silicone in it I'd try Dunlop Formula 65. Very nice. I use it on my Seagull, Taylor and Morgan. Pretty much all of my electrics too.

[Milkman]

I like lemon Pledge. It's about $4.00 a can and that will last months (even with the missus using it on the coffee tables).

[Gilliangirl]

Did you buy the stuff yet?

If it is crazy expensive or (read the ingredients) has any wax or silicone in it I'd try Dunlop Formula 65. Very nice. I use it on my Seagull, Taylor and Morgan. Pretty much all of my electrics too.

I might need something stronger than Dunlop. I tried Gibson Pump Polish but it needs a cleaner. I accidentally got bug spray on it and I've got a smeary mess on the lower bout, bass side from where my bug-sprayed arm was draped over the guitar the other night. Moral of the story: Do not get bug spray near your guitars!!!

[Gilliangirl]

I like lemon Pledge. It's about $4.00 a can and that will last months (even with the missus using it on the coffee tables).
Milkman, that's terrible stuff! You're gonna get a wax buildup on your guitars. Plus, isn't lemon acidic?

[ronmac]

I might need something stronger than Dunlop. I tried Gibson Pump Polish but it needs a cleaner. I accidentally got bug spray on it and I've got a smeary mess on the lower bout, bass side from where my bug-sprayed arm was draped over the guitar the other night. Moral of the story: Do not get bug spray near your guitars!!!

A cleaner or polish isn't going to help you in this situation, I'm afraid. The chemical solution in your bug spray has reacted with the finish on your guitar, softening it and causing it to deform.

The best thing to do right now is nothing! You should wait a few months for the finish to stabilize and then see if it can be leveled using a series of progressively finer sheets of sandpaper.

There is a thread over on the AGF that addresses this very subject, with some good advice from two highly respected Luthiers Rick Turner and Tim McKnight.

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129841

[Gilliangirl]

Ronmac, thanks for the link. I usually pop into the AGF regularly but have been too busy lately. Another friend on the Gibson forum is dealing with the same thing right now. Awful! Keep that bug spray away from your guitars folks!

[Gene Machine]

Ronmac, thanks for the link. I usually pop into the AGF regularly but have been too busy lately. Another friend on the Gibson forum is dealing with the same thing right now. Awful! Keep that bug spray away from your guitars folks!

i heard that before, some guy wiith a new nitro laquer tele. muskoil got on it and yucky yucky.

play poly outside. then less issues.

i use lighter fluid (naptha) to clean my guitars. it is the same as most git cleaners, just be careful around flames and contact to skin. it cleans the sweat goo off my SG really well.

then i do use pledge (i know i know) i never had a problem with pledge. ever. used to use it on my motorbike too. kept the dust off for a show and makes it easier to get bugs off windscreen (yeah, i pledged the windscreen)

[smorgdonkey]

You don't really notice the Pledge giving you any problems...but unless your guitar is a hard poly finish the wax goes into the pores and changes the sound of them. Keep that stuff FAR away from any nice solid wood acoustics that you have.

[bleedingfingers]

I had this happen to a fender jazz I had many years ago
and wet sanded it with 600 grit paper buffed it out with automotive rubbing compound then
used a Tres Amigo kit made for instruments that had two very fine rubbing compounds and a opticle felt polish pad.
But fender finishes are very thick so it's easier to blend the spots back in.


I'd take it to a tech or builder that doe's finishing he may be able to just buff it out or maybe overspray it and then buff it out .

cheers B.

[Gilliangirl]

Well, the latest is that I'm waiting 3 to 4 weeks for the solvents to dissipate, then I'm going to pick up some Novus #1 and Novus#2 and clean/buff it out. This is the prescription from a few luthiers. Who would have thought that Nitrocellulose and DEET would be such a bad combo. I never even thought about it when I grabbed the guitar that day. I'll NEVER do that again. A hard lesson learned. :oops:

[Paul]

Well, the latest is that I'm waiting 3 to 4 weeks for the solvents to dissipate, then I'm going to pick up some Novus #1 and Novus#2 and clean/buff it out. This is the prescription from a few luthiers. Who would have thought that Nitrocellulose and DEET would be such a bad combo. I never even thought about it when I grabbed the guitar that day. I'll NEVER do that again. A hard lesson learned. :oops:


I've seen more than one camera or binoculars ruined with bug spray. If that is what DEET can do to plastics or finishes, where is the logic in rubbing it into our skin?

I stopped using bug spray in the 80's. On a long outdoors trip, I find that poor personal hygiene is a viable substitute for DEET.

YMMV.