Nitro finish polishing advice?

[Fiery Father]

My SG's nitro coat is very dull/smokey from years of no care from the previous owner. I'm paranoid that I might ruin it if I tried to polish it with just any old polish.

What would you guys recommend I use to be able to get it to a shine again?

[alk-3]

Go to the auto store and get some swirl remover. Make sure it's silicone free though.
a bit of elbow grease with a soft cotton cloth and the swirl remover will do the trick.

[nadzab]

I'd even suggest skipping the swirl remover...mist it with your breath, clean gently with a VERY soft cloth, repeat until done.

[g6120]

Regular polish will clean some but wont get all the residue so why polish over what you want to rid yourself of .

I have used naphtha many times on nitro finishes which will cut threw the grime and smoke .

Once cleaned just use a good guitar polish and your set .

[Webtroll]

I haven't tried it on my '74 LP because I like the way it looks, but I have a mahogany bass body I made and sprayed with lacquer that shines. Wet sanded with 600 and then Transtar Tri-Cut II. I'll be using it on my new LP build as well. I'd get someone to verify this tho as I am not a luthier and may just be trying to get you to screw up your guitar for my own amusement.

[axepilot]

Originally Posted by g6120

Regular polish will clean some but wont get all the residue so why polish over what you want to rid yourself of .

I have used naphtha many times on nitro finishes which will cut threw the grime and smoke .

Once cleaned just use a good guitar polish and your set .

Winner!

Naphtha will cut through the grime and smoke of ages and will not hurt the finish. Strip away the gunk, and polish it up with a good finish polish.

[fattbottom]

Naphtha to clean it. Naphtha will take all of the grunge off without any damage. The swirl remover with a good cotton t shirt material may work but will need alot of elbow grease. the amount of work is really based on how much damage was done to the finish. If it is cloudy, that may be a moisture damage issue that is into the nitro and may not be able to be removed. If hand buffing does not work but you do see some improvement, you may have to use an electric buffer or a foam buffing pad on a drill to really get it done. Nitro is very hard and it gets harder with age. If you go the electric buffer way, go easy as you can buff through the finish, especially on the edges, use a little water as well to lessen the chances for buff through until you get the hang of it. buff until you get a slight dry cloudy look , stop and then let it dry and then wipe with a clean cotton t shirt cloth. Do not use anything grittier than a swirl remover and make sure you tape up the fingerboard or you will be making more work to get the polish off of it.

[g6120]

Ive had good luck using corn starch to get rid of light scratches and swerls in guitar finishes and on some of my cars as well .

Using a damp towell and just a bit of corn starch is something I recommend which has worked well for myself in the past .

[sprbld417]

Use virtuoso polish and cleaner! It is the hands down BEST guitar finish cleaner and polish there ever was. I spent 20 something bucks on it at guitar center, applied it to my 1975 les paul deluxe, applied it using like a tenth of the bottle, and I haven't had to do it again since. This stuff totally cleans every piece of dirt off your finish, protects your finish from scratches (not so much dents but it helps), and most importantly makes it look beautiful. It's even blocks out UV rays too.

http://www.virtuosopolish.com/

However naphta and a polishing cloth will work wonderfully as well. In fact, virtuoso's cleaner is mostly naphta (I've made this assumption because it smells like it). Gibson recommends using naptha to clean the finish for as long as I can remember.