The Steel Guitar Forum

Looking for something to clean up the foggy laquer finish and make it shine like new.
I looked for 3M finess-it and McGuires mirror glaze but these small towns around don't have it,or I'm looking in the wrong place.
Thanks

McGuire's #7 Mirror Glaze, OR mix 1000 grit pumice and mineral oil. Rub the mixture in with your hands (not a cloth) until it gets hot to the touch.

You should be able to order those online.

The first thing I'd do is wipe the surface with lighter fluid (naphtha) to see if it's just a surface contamination - if so, the naphtha will remove it without harming the lacquer. If that doesn't work:

Foggy lacquer usually had a problem from the very beginning - moisture content.

Lacquer is one of the few finishes that completely re-wets itself; you can sparingly brush on some lacquer thinner and then progressively wet-sand (using 1000 through 2000 wet-or-dry paper) with a final polish, but you're limited by the existing mil thickness. I'd order some clear aerosol lacquer from Guitar Reranch - they package guitar finishes in aerosols with a special fine-finish tip. That lacquer will melt itself into the existing lacquer - then sand/polish as mentioned.

If neither one of those work then moisture/contamination is trapped in the film, and either spot or full refinishing is required.

I would do a search here on the Forum for Ricky Davis.
He has a formula he uses when he rejuvinates old Sho~Buds to bring back the finish.

Ricky D. be the man to talk to,
As Jim said, cloudy lacquer is usually a sign of moisture in the original application. Maybe Ricky has a trick for fixing.

Edited to say...Jim, do you use thinner as a wetting agent..as wet sanding,using thinner instead of water...I'm confused.Not disputing what you say,just slow to understand sometimes.

Hi Parr,
You can find Finess-It at almost any store that sells automotive paints. I usually find it the local NAPA store. Also most body shops have it.

If there is moisture trapped in the lacquer, there is no brand of "polish" that will clear it up.

If it is definitely lacquer, these guys are right, you need to determine whether the finish is cloudy due to a bad finish job or because of a poor buff job, or just dirt on the finish. Use a mild spray guitar polish like Martin or Dunlop. If you put naptha on it, you'll clean it for sure, but you might pull off some finish that has bonded to the dirt and oil and it will look dull anyway. I wish I could see it in person, finish is a tough thing to diagnose long distance. No amount of polishing or buffing will get rid of moisture in the finish when it was cured. If this is a classic guitar I'd be careful of course with anything you do to it. If you are going to strip the parts off and clean it up completely and the finish has moisture in it, you can spray the entire finish with lacquer retarder (slow curing thinner) and let it re-cure (leave it for a couple weeks before buffing). That's also good for re-adhering old chipping finish... You're stepping into the professional zone however and I wouldn't recommend any finish work to an amateur.