Re: Guitar-attacking solvents in cigarette smoke

Sounds more like Rainex. That's not really a window cleaning product, it's
an anti-fog fluid which has to be put on perfectly clean ( ie smoke-free)
surfaces to be effective. Lots of motorcyclists use it to keep their visors
clear in bad weather. It does come in small plastic bottles. Windex is
very pale blue and usually comes in clear, see-through spray bottles.

There is another product which apparently does the same as Rainex; it's
called Fog Off. Really. Not me being cheeky.
KH
"Chris Rockcliffe" <chrisrockcliffe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:C09B529D.84D99%chrisrockcliffe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
David Hajicek25/5/06 4:55 am

Chris:

I think you are confusing Windex with something else. Windex is a little
like ammonia water without the ammonia.

That's altogether very possible and I may have got the name wrong or
something - I'll check - I've still got the bottle (a small yellow
polythene
one) somewhere.

It is great for cleaning glass and doesn't leave a residue at all (all
evaporates). It is pretty mild stuff and shouldn't hurt a lacquer finish
if
you don't leave it on for a long time. It could cloud shellac though.

It could well have been the cigarette smoke that was reacting with the
thin
polymer coating of this product to make the inside greasy and steamy. I
smoked all the time in those days.

I'll get back on it.

CR




Dave Hajicek

"Chris Rockcliffe" <chrisrockcliffe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message
news:C09AB995.84D31%chrisrockcliffe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Bob Dorgan24/5/06 6:56 pm


"Kevin Hall" <timberline@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote;

Years ago the 'common wisdom' was that lemon oil was the hot lick for
guitar finishes. I don't like that stuff since it gets through
surface
cracks in the finish and can stain the wood, plus it tends to collect
crud on fingerboards. I wonder if it's reputation back then came from
an
ability to cut that smoke crud?


It would make sense..citrus oils have a great cutting action for goopy
substances.
Back in the late 60s I worked in a small music shop and the owner used
Windex to clean every guitar in the shop about once a week.
I have no idea if it did any long term damage, but it didn't seem to
cause
any problems over the short term.

He used almond oil for cleaning and lubing fingerboards. Again, I don't
know
what the long term effects were, but it worked to clean them up quickly
and
gave them a very nice sheen.
Dorgan

I'm very wary of Windex. It is an American product and I did buy some in
the
UK (not cheap either) and used it on the outside of my car windscreen.
It
does exactly what it claims to do. It is interesting in that it is a
liquid
polymer solution which creates surface tension which reacts with rain
water
droplets - holding them in suspension. It is very good for that.

However I foolishly also used it on the inside of the windscreen
(windshield) at the time (a Volvo) and for months after that, wished I
hadn't. It took some scrubbing to get it off, but I did need to remove
it,
because it was reacting with something in the car's air flow system to
steam
up the windows very badly.

All that has nothing to do with guitars. But the polymeric action would
seem
to raise red warning flags with all kinds of guitar finishes -
nitrocellulose, to other polymer based finishes or whatever. Although we
know the dangers of silicone polishes reacting with Nitro, I'm not sure
about liquid polymers in certain circumstances.

As for this rather alarmist stuff about tobacco tar - LOLL really - but
I'm
with Dorgan on this. I guess if someone hung a guitar with a nitro
finish
near the ceiling in a bar of smokers and left it for 30 years it would
be
covered with tar. And I bet it would likely wash off with soda and soap
and
come up just like new.

CR







.

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