Removing Gig-Grunge and Sweat Stains from Bubinga

[FlatwoundBass]

Hey All,
Just tried something that worked great on my Corvette and thought I would pass it along. My baby had developed some sweat stains where my right hand rests, and nothing I tried seemed to work until this: I scrubbed (with the grain) the affected area with a toothbrush saturated in a solvent that we used to call in the automotive industry "wax & grease remover" , or "pre-cleaner". It is basically a solvent that won't attack painted surfaces, but is used to wipe them down before re-painting. Next, after letting that evaporate back out of the wood, I lightly sanded with 400 grit sandpaper, and finished up with a quick scrub with a green Scotch-Brite. New coat of Warwick wax, and absolutely no sign of the former stains.
I'm a happy camper now; that stained area was really starting to bother me...
Later,
Steve

 

[Casey]

Hey All,
Just tried something that worked great on my Corvette and thought I would pass it along. My baby had developed some sweat stains where my right hand rests, and nothing I tried seemed to work until this: I scrubbed (with the grain) the affected area with a toothbrush saturated in a solvent that we used to call in the automotive industry "wax & grease remover" , or "pre-cleaner". It is basically a solvent that won't attack painted surfaces, but is used to wipe them down before re-painting. Next, after letting that evaporate back out of the wood, I lightly sanded with 400 grit sandpaper, and finished up with a quick scrub with a green Scotch-Brite. New coat of Warwick wax, and absolutely no sign of the former stains.
I'm a happy camper now; that stained area was really starting to bother me...
Later,
Steve

Acetone also works great for removing stuff of that sort, I used it to remove the wax on my thumbs neck before oiling it. Other than it drying out the wood a lil it works great

 

[Vinnie]

Nice I'll have to try that.

 

[Marvingravey]

Hey so I know this thread is inactive since 2006 but I have to ask how hard did you have to sand to remove said stains. I am dealing with the same issue currently and want to remove them without doing any damage.

 

[Hardy]

I gave my Warwick Streamer bolt on to a nearby guitar service. He removed all sweat stains. I could not see any difference in the shape of the top wood. That means the sweat did not sink into the wood.


Here you can see the bass before it was sanded:




And this is afterwards. The stain above the neck-pickup is just fresh shiny wax.

 

[schlobodan]

this works perfectly;-)

 

[schlobodan]

it is great to clean fretboards as well

 

[Marvingravey]

Schlobodan i cant speak german lol is this like the baby wipes recommended by you on another feed? hardy that a nice job they did! i wanna try and save as much money as i can i dont really know many luthiers in this area not one that i would trust enough with my bass lol

 

[schlobodan]

Schlobodan i cant speak german lol is this like the baby wipes recommended by you on another feed? hardy that a nice job they did! i wanna try and save as much money as i can i dont really know many luthiers in this area not one that i would trust enough with my bass lol

yep