Murphy's Oil for guitar cleaning

Subject: Murphy's Oil for guitar cleaning
From: Jeep man
Date: 23 Nov 03 - 09:43 PM

My D18GE gets pretty grungy from time to time and I have found that Murphys's oil soap cleaner in the spray bottle works well. Question: Does anyone have any info on this? Will the oil injure the wood? Jim

Subject: RE: Murphy's Oil for guitar cleaning
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Nov 03 - 09:48 PM

It's a water-based soap made from flax seed. It's meant to be diluted further.

~S~

Subject: RE: Murphy's Oil for guitar cleaning
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 23 Nov 03 - 10:01 PM

Orange Oil

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Murphy's Oil for guitar cleaning
From: Mooh
Date: 23 Nov 03 - 11:31 PM

Virtually all cleaners should be diluted further than recommended, especially ones used with regularity. It saves product, is less harmful to the subject, exposes the user to less risk, and often does the job better by leaving less residue behind. It's better to repeat if necessary than not dilute. Clear water rinsing is helpful much of the time too, even when using a "no rinse" product. Often, clear water is all that's needed, no soap. Murphy's is no different.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Murphy's Oil for guitar cleaning
From: mooman
Date: 24 Nov 03 - 04:19 AM

I'm pretty close to Gargoyle on this, ui.e. citrus oil. Lemon oil is what I've used for a good 20 years+ and you can get it specially formulated for instrument use.

Peace

moo

Subject: RE: Murphy's Oil for guitar cleaning
From: Allan C.
Date: 24 Nov 03 - 08:09 AM

When you consider that the average guitar has some 30 coats of lacquer on it, it seems difficult to imagine that anything one might normally use to clean sealed wood products could substantially hurt it. Certainly Murphy's is as good as any and possibly better than some. Getting rid of the residue of whatever is used, as was mentioned, is certainly the more important issue.

Subject: RE: Murphy's Oil for guitar cleaning
From: GUEST,HOUSEPROUD
Date: 24 Nov 03 - 09:40 AM

I have tended my HARMONY SOVEREIGN, 1963, from new with a sparing application of a good furniture polish from time to time. No problem, its as good as gold. Don`t get hung up on too many "special" treatment. Tanner to a nicker they are probably a waste of effort and money.

Subject: RE: Murphy's Oil for guitar cleaning
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Nov 03 - 10:10 AM

For the price, Murphy's Oil Soap is a good product (diluted, as suggested) for your guitar, for other surfaces around the house, and for use as a surfactant in water to spray in your vegetable garden (along with some orange oil) to repel and/or kill critters chowing down on your veggies.

SRS

Subject: RE: Murphy's Oil for guitar cleaning
From: Jeep man
Date: 24 Nov 03 - 09:26 PM

As usual, you all have the answers I needed. Thanks a heap. Jeep

Subject: RE: Murphy's Oil for guitar cleaning
From: wendyg
Date: 25 Nov 03 - 09:15 AM

I use lemon oil on the fingerboard, and just a soft cloth on the rest of the guitar.

wg

Subject: RE: Murphy's Oil for guitar cleaning
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Nov 03 - 11:38 AM

I have always been told that denatured alcohol is the best thing to clean instruments. I have never used it, but that's what I have been told. Any comments about this?

Subject: RE: Murphy's Oil for guitar cleaning
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 25 Nov 03 - 04:58 PM

Do not, repeat do not, systematically polish a guitar with a wax polish, whether furniture polish or any other kind. Eventually a layer of wax builds up. This materially reduces resonance, at both ends of the scale, and results in a boxed in sound. I am at present polishing with care a 40 year old guitar I inherited, each time I change the strings, in the hope of eventually getting back the original brightness. An hour with white spirit a fortnight back made a great improvement, but if you use white spirit on old guitars beware of lacquer cracks and crazing, and do not use a modern guitar polish for at least a week afterwards to allow all the white spirit to evaporate from the cracks. My belief is that if any white spirit gets into the wood it will do no harm and evaporate from the unfinished side (inside) in due course, but I'm not going to keep on using even a gentle lolvent like white spirit any longer than I have to.

Subject: RE: Murphy's Oil for guitar cleaning
From: LadyJean
Date: 26 Nov 03 - 12:48 AM

You might try Milsek furniture polish. It's an oil, not a wax. It does clean. One of the things it does is get the grungy wax out of furniture. I clean houses for a living, and it's wonderful for woodwork, or furniture. I don't know how it would be for musical instruments. I do know it gets grunge out of wood. It also smells very nice. Oh, and a little dab'll do ya.

Subject: RE: Murphy's Oil for guitar cleaning
From: mooman
Date: 26 Nov 03 - 04:40 AM

The only wax that I would recommend for a guitar is good quality carnauba wax, used very sparingly.

Peace

moo