[Luv2CUSmile]

Please help! My son has run out of lacquer polish and his lacquer polishing cloth is "used up" he says...
So, I have been to every music and "wanna-be music" store in our area and no one has any lacquer polish right now... on back order..., don't keep in store but will order it... just did an order and it will be at least a week..., etc-
Long story, short (the more I am here many of you will find I can rarely accomplish this-:bluewink
He has another away game, still using the University saxophone and must polish it up hisself... They are to be tip top for this weekend and his in need of a good "polishing"...
I have searched through the forum and through google and have only run across for gold/silver plated, bare brass, relacquering, and on and on...
What can he use?
I have checked the cybersax site...
Please, I am confused even more now and need help since search is not helping...
I have seen...
Windex?
or an oil soap... would Murphy's oil soap work?? Just clean it well and taking from cybersax... use yarn to get in the smaller areas and dry thoroughly using a microfiber cloth??
Anyone with any advice...
again this is a yamaha yts-475... a lacquered horn... not gold plated/silver plated or nickel... the lacquer is about 95% so only very small areas with no lacquer and that is more in areas where "touching" occurs mostly, etc
Any help would be most appreciated!

~Luv

PS- my son said he was going to also come in and ask about this, I know he had late practice again today so I went ahead but if another post shows up very similar to this, please bear with us. Thx again!

 

[hornfixer]

You can use Guitar polish.
You can also use Pledge furniture polish.

 

[saxmusicguy]

How about just using a soft cloth without any chemicals? As long as you wipe off the finger oils after each use, the lacquered finish should stay very nice.

 

[Smooth Sop Berator]

Maybe nobody stocks it because nobody uses it. I recommend a damp old t-shirt or similar rag. Don't use Murphy's oil soap unless you like a chemical odor on the instrument.

 

[Stephen Howard]

You don't really need a lacquer polish.
Most of what gets on the finish is a mixture of saliva, condensation and fingermarks.
Fingermarks are best removed with soft dry cloth. Water marks are best removed with...more water.
For a quick clean, simply breath on the lacquer and wipe over with a soft cloth. For more stubborn marks you can use a little luke-warm water with a tiny drop of detergent added. Use a cotton bud if you want to get into tight corners.

If you think in terms of the phrase "spit and polish", you won't go far wrong.

Regards,

 

[swansong]

So far no one has mentioned using a microfiber cloth, they are excellent. I prefer the ones that aren't terry-cloth, but flat fiber.

Some auto parts stores have em, but they have em with free priority shipping over here in case you can't find one in your area.
http://www.musicmedic.com/catalog/products/swab-201.html

GIves my super 20 a nice luster without any chemicals! FYI It is much softer after you wash it once.

 

[The A Train]

I'd heard about the furniture polish years ago and tried it, works great and your horn smells lemony afterwards! :mrgreen: They offer them in a pack-of-wipes form as well and he can carry them with his sax for use just before the game.

 

[simso]

Another yes to lemon fresh furniture polish

 

[HUTMO]

Micro fiber cloth with pledge. Mmm mmmmm mmmmm lemony fresh.

 

[Luv2CUSmile]

WOW! Well, thank-you very much everyone!! I wish I knew of this forum when he was in middle school and high school! I could have been saving a ton of money! LOL
We do have the micro fiber cloths (not from music medic but they are the same type cloths)... I will tell him to just use that and maybe try the pledge as well... A great idea! I have tried for years to find out exactly what was in the lacquer polish and never could... always wondered if he could have used something else... This forum is great!
Thx again! This helps so much!

~Luv

 

[geauxsax]

I use furniture polish too--the "Pledge" wipes are very easy and convenient.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Please don't use any kind of product on lacquer. Unless something untoward has been spilt on it, all you need is a hanky or an old pair of pants as long as they aren't the abrasive kind. Or if you want something a bit more fancy (depending on the pants) an eCloth, computer screen cleaning cloth or spectacles cloth.

Maybe spit and polish, but just some hot air will do.

Pledge etc.won't do any harm though, but may well if you get it on the pads.

 

[KEN K]

You cannot polish lacquer. All you can do is wipe it . Did a band director tell him to polish a lacquered horn?

 

[Luv2CUSmile]

LOL, just stopped back over to see if this thread had moved...
Yes Ken, the exact task is that their instruments need to be cleaned and polished to a shine before every performance... Most of the kids are using lacquered instruments... a very few (count on one hand) have a bare brass or gold plated instrument other than drums which I believe are stainless steel hardware but could quite possibly, maybe be silver plated...
I bought him an e-cloth (very fine micro fiber) and the multi surface pledge wipes...
I can't wait til he has his own...

Thx!

~Luv

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

You cannot polish lacquer. All you can do is wipe it . Did a band director tell him to polish a lacquered horn?

I think that one can polish lacquer in the same sense that you can make tired, dry epidermis more alive (transparent or translucent, less opaque), by applying an oil or cream.

For lacquer, it is to do with filling the microscopic scratch marks with a transparent substance, so that the reflected light is less diffused by those blemishes. So on new, blemish-free lacquer, it would not do anything. Unless... Unless the polish contains some quite hard material such as carnauba wax, that resulted in a thin film slightly that is slightly protective against future micro-abrasion. IMO - half-baked.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I think that one can polish lacquer in the same sense that you can make tired, dry epidermis more alive (transparent or translucent, less opaque), by applying an oil or cream.

For lacquer, it is to do with filling the microscopic scratch marks with a transparent substance, so that the reflected light is less diffused by those blemishes. So on new, blemish-free lacquer, it would not do anything. Unless...

I think you are possibly right about that, which means that rather than general maintenance on a new saxophone, it's something you might do to well worn one to make it slightly lss worn looking. However I think the difference is going to be so slight compared with just an ecloth and some breath, it certainly wouldn't make any difference on the bandstand. And the down side is that some people would end up with polish on the pads, and in the action where it may do some harm.

 

[Garrett]

Lemon "Pledge" works great and will fill small micro scratches (nano scratches?). Be very careful with microfiber cloth, it will leave fairly visible micro scratches on a lacquered silver finish sax. I have had to sell a couple of new silver saxophones as discounted blemished saxophones because of the microfiber cloth leaving noticeable scratches. Soft cotton is always good for polishing. Spray the "Pledge" on the cloth first to avoid over spraying into the pads or hard to reach areas, then wipe it on your sax. Use another dry soft to wipe off and polish. You can use "Q-tips" to get to the hard to reach places.

 

[Enviroguy]

Lemon Pledge is the way to go. It shines, protects and smells every so lovely..... :bluewink:

 

[Dr G]

I use Meguiar's Cleaner/Polish (an auto product) on my lacquered saxophones and guitars. I learned of it while working in a guitar shop years ago and have used it ever since - including instruments with nitrocellulose finishes. I apply it once or twice a year and it eases cleaning the horn before, after, and sometimes during a performance (something to do during a 48 bar rest).

 

[RandyJ]

I found these with an easy search, cheap on ebay, you could pick up a couple for your son;
http://cgi.ebay.com/Selmer-Polishin...591?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33525a7367

My Selmer rep gave me a case of them several years ago and I use them to wipe, clean and wrap (mouthpieces, etc.) stuff with. They are embedded with something, I wear a couple out in about a year and toss them for new ones.

Of course he's fine with an old t shirt and pledge.