Who doesn’t like clean, shiny guitars? Just like the day you bought it.
That’s the main reason we polish guitars - to keep them clean and looking their best! For awhile now we've been wanting to do an All-In-One Guitar Polish Blog, covering just about everything you need on the topic of polishing guitars. So let's do it!
When you bought your last guitar you probably wanted the nicest one they had, even taking the time to play and look over several guitars to ensure yours was the best of the bunch. And not just for tone, you hopefully wanted one without the complementary scratches and dings, courtesy of careless people and floor models! If you bought used or online, you still hoped for the best shape when it showed up at your door. Maybe you even tried to polish and clean it up.
So wouldn’t it be great if a guitar polish did more than just clean and shine?
That’s where we come in, the makers of the best guitar polish and scratch remover ever! The truth is most guitar polishes on the market today do nothing more than clean the surface, or add a few glossing agents, leaving the actual finish rather unchanged. As you'll see, our guitar polish and scratch remover Player's Kits from Eternashine not only clean and shine: they actually refine your finish making permanent improvements. More on that in a moment...
In this blog we’ll touch on different types of polishes on the market and what you need to know. We’ll review the various types of product categories and what they do (and some you should avoid!). Then, we’ll discuss the restoring guitar polish that actually removes scratches and refines your guitar surface. That’s the Player’s Kit Guitar Scratch Remover set.
WHY YOU NEED A REAL GUITAR POLISH THAT DOES MORE THAN CLEAN
Our customers have shown us that guitars with restored finishes and vanished scratches are actually worth more money. When you trade in a car, the dealer walks around and inspects it looking for damage and how nice the paint looks to assess value. Likewise a guitar in better shape is usually worth more. There are a few exceptions, but generally a 1987 USA Fender Strat in mint condition commands more resale dollars than one in fair shape. Not only that, there's something great about having a used guitar that looks brand new and scratch-free!
CLEANERS
Some people use household cleaners on their guitar because it might be the first thing available. This is a bad idea!
Watch out for ammonia, common in many spray cleaners. Ammonia is a harsh solvent, and may affect certain finishes. Ammonia is commonly used for cutting heavy grease or killing germs - that’s great for your countertops or floors, but chemicals this harsh aren’t necessary on a guitar. Unless you were eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while you were changing your strings... but even then watch out for household cleaners!
Cleaners do just that - they clean and leave the surface spotless, often with a solvent. Trouble is, many so called ‘polishes’ on the market today are nothing more than cleaners with water and fragrance added for effect. There’s nothing wrong with that, except most are overpriced, too harsh, or promise more than they deliver. If gentle enough, some cleaners could be used on your guitar, but since it can be hard to tell what's in them and since many cleaners contain solvents, we recommend you steer clear of this category. Many nitrocellulose finishes can react negatively to harsh chemicals or solvents.
GREASY or GLOSSY CLEANERS
If you've ever used furniture polish you will remember how greasy and wet the surface of furniture felt after applying. Some people have used these products on their guitar - there are even some guitar polishes on the market today that resemble furniture polish whereas they leave a greasy oily film on the guitar. We aren't sure why this is ideal but we take a different approach with our polishes because they do not leave any fillers or grease behind, except a clean and polished surface. If you like a greasy, oily feel our products are definitely not going to make you happy! But if you like a more modern refined, clean-feeling surface you are going to love our polishes.
WAX
Wax is commonly used on everything from cars, skis, boats, pianos, floors and furniture. Wax does add a thin protective shell and helps shield from harmful effect of sunlight. It also creates a protective slick layer. A lot of guitar polishes include wax-like components whether you want them or not. Our approach is to offer wax separately because wax does make the body and neck more slippery and glossy and not everyone wants that. So with us you get the option of polishes that do not add any wax or silicone to the surface, in fact they leave nothing behind. If you want the option of wax you can use our separate wax and it is quite awesome with the shine and gloss it provides. The bonus is you do not get a greasy messy feel with it but you still get the amazing gloss.
LEMON OIL
Lemon oil is popular with some guitarists for the treatment of guitar fret boards. It is rather messy and takes time to apply because once it's soaked into the neck it continually needs to be wiped as it will ooze out of the pores of the wood for sometimes hours and even days. You cannot play your guitar normally right after treating it with lemon oil. If you like lemon oil then by all means keep using it - we aren't trying to knock it - but note we have seen no long-term difference between guitar necks that were treated with lemon oil and those that were treated with nothing or regular guitar polish.
If you use lemon oil on the body of the guitar there is no purpose for doing that because it doesn't soak into paint or clear coated wood. Because lemon oil is flammable and has petroleum distillates we do not offer a product like that because it affects how we ship our products and flammable items are banned in most air mail.
CAR PRODUCTS & COMPOUNDS
There are some good car products out there. The trouble is some of them are too harsh for guitars. On a pretty regular basis we have people contact us that used car polishes and compounds that severely damaged their finish because guitar clear-coats are usually thinner and sometimes more fragile than automobiles. On various occasions they were able to use our scratch mover kits to refine and remove damage done by car products. We aren't saying all car products are bad for guitars but we are saying that they are designed for cars, and some of them absolutely ARE dangerous for guitar. If you want to play it safe, especially on a vintage or Nitro cellulose instrument we recommend sticking with products design for guitars because they are not going to dig into the finish or create deep scratches like some automotive compounds can. Also almost every automotive product contains petroleum distillates which are not always good for guitar finishes. We are happy to announce our guitar polishes are free of solvents and petroleum distillates so you can be assured of having a more natural and gentle system. Also did we mention our products are designed exclusively for guitars, young and old?
THE ALL-IN-ONE PRODUCTS
There are many products on the market that provide an all-in-one approach or one-size-fits all. This is true of shampoo and conditioners, paint and primers, car wash and wax combinations, as well as vitamins and supplements. The bottomline? It's almost always better to perform the needed steps separately if you really want the best overall results. Ask a professional painter if he uses an all in one paint, or if he prefers primer and then a separate paint coat. There's a reason he'll prefer the separate ones. All in one products are a nice idea, and for guitars some of them work fine if you're just looking for a quick clean up and shine. But if you're looking for an ultimate finish restore, to remove years of abuse and really bring back a pristine looking finish, this is not possible to do with just one bottle. Just like there is no single pill that improves your health and nutrition, or one product to suit your every automobile finish need. Rather there are compounds, polishes, cleaners, wax, and glazes ... because these products have certain purposes and combining them in one does not allow each one to work in a separate manner as it was designed. This is why our Player's Kit polish sets have two separate amazingly formulated blends that won't work the same mixed together (Then for even more amazing results you can optionally use our detail and wax spray). It's the stages and steps that matter, really! For the best guitar scratch remover polishing & restoring, our Player's Kits take things to new levels! If you don't need a finish restore and just want a quick polish, our products do that too.
FINAL POINT ABOUT ALL IN ONE
If you like you will find our Guitar Spray Wax by Eternashine is as good of an all-in-one guitar polish as any out there. If you're just looking for a quick clean up for dirt, gunk, residue, and fingerprints - you will get an amazing clean guitar with a stellar shine all in one bottle.
Just know it's not a scratch remover and won't take off bad surface blemishes. For the best results ever, start with our Player's Kit if your guitar has a finish in need or scratches to be polished.
Then finish off with our Spray Wax and from there the upkeep is easy, just use the Spray Wax or Detail Spray as often as you like for fast cleanups!
TRUE GUITAR POLISHES REFINE
So what's the bottom line? We feel a true guitar polish should not only be safe for high gloss guitars and nitro-cellulose finishes but it should do more than just clean and shine. A true guitar polish should actually do something on the surface: remove light scratches, smooth the surface and really refine the finish increasing reflections and shine. It should also not wear off in 2 weeks like so many common polishes who's effect only lasts temporarily. With our polishes once you're finished the scratches are gone until you scratch it again. What you see is what it's going to look like in the future as long as you do not scratch or scuff it again. Guitar polishes that add temporary and unnecessary fillers, wax, solvents and gloss agents cannot make that claim.
Refining and restoring your guitars finish just looks better and can add value to your instrument. Some customers have even written to say their instruments IMPROVED in value because they look so good, like years were literally wiped away.
FOR THE GUITAR VIRTUOSO AND BEGINNER ALIKE
Our customers include: touring musicians (some of them famous) national brand custom guitar shops, many repair shops worldwide, professional instructors as well as beginners who just got their first guitar and want to keep it looking it's best. No matter what your level, playing style, or guitar collection looks like, step up to Eternashine and our famous guitar scratch remover kits today.
SUMMARY
If you're using something you like, keep at it! But if you're looking to take the next step in polishing your guitar, like refining your finish, removing surface scratches for good, and increasing shine, check out our Player's Kits. You can also add our Player's kits into your current guitar care routine. There's nothing quite like it on the market today!
