Three products I’ve found to be both safe and effective for cleaning a guitar’s finish are Professor Green’s Instrument Polish (Fig. 4), Planet Waves Hydrate (Fig. 5), and naphtha (Fig. 6). Though each is radically different, they can all be used with a damp cloth.
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Here’s the breakdown: Professor Green’s Instrument Polish is a natural, water-based liquid cleaner with no harsh chemicals. I’d classify it as “guitar soap” rather than a modern polish. It does an excellent job cleaning dirt, oil, sweat, and oxidation.
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When caring for a guitar, your first line of defense is to wipe down its neck, strings, and body after you play. But that’s just the beginning. When caring for a guitar, your first line of defense is to wipe down its neck, strings, and body after you play.
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Professor Green’s Instrument Polish (left) is a water-based “guitar soap” that cleans effectively and leaves no residue. Fig. 5. Planet Waves Hydrate (center) is formulated to condition and clean unfinished fretboards. Fig.
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Meguiars car polish is the best guitar polish. Guitar polishes ust remove grease and do little to fix scratches, car polish works great.
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1 Guitar Shop 101: Using Super Glue in Guitar Repair. 2  Guitar Shop 101: Five Ways to Rock a Dremel. 3  Guitar Shop 101: How to Take Your Les Paul into the Slide Zone. 4  Guitar Shop 101: Curing Sticky-Neck Syndrome. 5  Guitar Shop 101: Upgrade Your Tele with an Electrosocket Jack Mount.
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A soft cloth is the best thing to use to polish and clean guitars. Many manufacturers of musical instrument accessories offer special polishing cloths made specifically for use on guitars. But an old 100 percent cotton T-shirt makes a great guitar wiping tool too, and the more it has been laundered the freer it will be from lint. Beware of paper towels, which can actually scratch a fine guitar’s finish, especially if it’s lacquer or shellac French polish. Use a polishing cloth to clean and shine the guitar by using gentle, circular motions.
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For wax, I use Meguiars #6 I believe, it cleans, polishes and waxes all in one step. Great stuff, plus it smells great! If i'm just cleaning off finger prints and other crap from the guitar, i'll use Dunlop 65 and then Stew-Mac Preservation Polish with a yellow Fender polishing cloth.
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Keep in mind that every time you use any compound to buff out a finish, you are removing finish, so use polish sparingly and with great discretion. Fig. 9. Buffing compounds can remove swirl marks and light scratches in a gloss finish, but you should never buff or polish a satin finish.
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The only household product that’s safe to use to clean your guitar is white distilled vinegar. It will clean the finish, but do you really want a guitar that smells like a pickle? Fig. 7. A damp paper towel (left) or microfiber cloth works well to clean a guitar’s finish. Fig. 8. Use a Q-tip (right) to clean hard-to-reach nooks and crannies. Cleaning the finish. When cleaning your guitar, I recommend using a damp paper towel or microfiber cloth.
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what is a great guitar polish
Meguiars car polish is the best guitar polish.