Cleaning Matt Finish

[FingahPickah]

Taylor offers a Satin Finish spray cleaner that works great. I use it exclusively on my 3 satin Eastmans and 1 Larrivee. It is not a polish. It cleans leaving no residue.

[Justbrandon]

I’ve used Dunlap 65 cleaner on my satin finished Collings with no issue. I spray it on a microfiber cloth first and then use that cloth to wioe down the guitar. I wouldn’t use the 65 cleaner on the fretboard tho. Dunlap makes a 65 lemon oil for that purpose, and that’s what I use on the fretboard and bridge.

[davidd]

I hope all the guys who are buying the dopey matte cars don't use the wrong products. Who came up with this stuff?

[rllink]

I don't generally use any cleaner on my matte guitars, but I got some nasty gunk on my Guild where my arm goes over the lower bout. I think it has something to do with the sunscreen I put on. Someone here suggested Virtuoso Cleaner, not polish. Warning, Virtuoso Cleaner will polish the matte nitro finish. It doesn't bother me and it got rid of the gunk, it just looks like it gets played a lot, which it does. But if that isn't your look, just beware, cleaners can contain abrasives too.

[Rockysdad]

Lizard Spit. Check it out https://www.lizardspit.com/product-p...-guitar-polish

[redi]

Naptha stems to be a good cleaner for my matte finish and leaves it very even. Helpful if you put some other product on it that’s not compatible with matte and makes the finish look odd.

[Carolina Blues]

Music Nomad Guitar Detailer.

New Microfiber cloth.

Done.

[Mandobart]

For ANY cleaning job I always start with good old clean water and a soft, lint-free cloth. I only use more aggressive chemicals (everything is more aggressive than pure water) when water alone doesn't do the job, which is just about never.

This is for gloss, satin or matte finishes. I'll sometimes use Virtuouso cleaner or Howards Feed n Wax. The Virtuoso cleaner doesn't shine up the matte finish, but Howards adds a soft subtle glow (which I personally prefer to plain matte) as does Virtuoso polish.

I don't want to know how you all get your guitars so filthy that water alone doesn't do the job. I gig and play festivals in the hot summer months several hours a week; water never fails.

[jpmist]

Originally Posted by redi

Naptha stems to be a good cleaner for my matte finish and leaves it very even. Helpful if you put some other product on it that’s not compatible with matte and makes the finish look odd.

Another vote for naptha. The Larrivee guys specifically mention naptha as their go to cleaner for their matte guitar finishes. Easy to find as Ronson lighter fluid.

[RP]

Originally Posted by Kinda Old

Is this not the place to ask questions such as this, without having to be concerned about someone deeming your question worthy?

It's certainly the place to ask guitar-related questions, but there's no guarantee as to how others may respond...

[Puddleglum]

Most cleaning products, polishes, etc are nothing more than a good way to waste money. A high-quality microfiber towel soaked in warm water will clean almost anything. I even use them (without soap of any kind) to get stains out of my truck’s fabric seats and carpet floor mats. I’ve resurrected severely stained canvas bags using this method. Wiping down a guitar like this will work perfectly. Even a high gloss guitar needs nothing but a damp microfiber to clean, and then a dry one to buff it up.

All said, so many things advertised to help our lives only complicate them and take our money in the process.

[rstaight]

I use Music Nomad Guitar One every time I change strings. Once a year I use Music Nomad F One fretboard oil on the fretboard and on the bridge also.

Fretboard oil will darken the fret board. Since the bridge on most of my guitars are the same as the same as the fretboard I do the bridge so they match. You should do it any way to keep it from cracking.

If I didn't use the Music Nomad products I would use Guardsman furniture polish on the body of the guitar. We use it on our furniture because it has no silicone and is readily available.

[abn556]

Virtuoso is great for getting that white arm sweat haze off guitars, but it will polish a Satin finish. I ended up polishing the finish on an satin Larrivee OM-40R with Virtuoso after making a shiny part where I cleaned off the arm sweat haze. Once you have that one shiny part, you have to just keep going.

[67goat]

As others have mentioned, naphtha works well, evaporates quickly, and seems to be pretty finish neutral.