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Vintage threads from the first ten years

Cleaning Tolex

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6/26/2004 3:10 AM

Cleaning Tolex

Two words:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=ampage&path=tg/detail/-/B0000E6EE6" target="_blank">ScumBuster!

7/14/2004 4:13 PM
Mark Lavelle	Nah – just rip it all off and let that beautiful wood out (unless it's MDF, of course!). Great idea for a subject area, tboy.

8/29/2004 7:47 PM

Re: Cleaning Tolex, etc

I generally use a toothbrush and this stuff by Armor All called "multi purpose auto cleaner". it's gentle and does not dry out the plastic. Spray it on, brush it, use a paper towel to wipe it back off. A couple rounds of this will get most tolex looking pretty nice again. You can use a plastic treatment afterwards if you like that 'new' or 'shiny' look. If you want a 'new' look without looking wet or geting slippery (most of these things are silicon compounds) try the rubber conditioner from Griot's garage. A bit more expensive, but it really does the trick (and will last a long time.. ) It is not silicon based, and gets you back to that "day 1" look without leaving a greasy residue etc.

For control panels which are painted (vox, most fenders, etc) if they are dirty enough that the soap and water does not get it clean, I use turtlewax. Turtle wax has a very mild abrasive in it, and the combo of the petroleum based solvents in the wax + the fine compound + some elbox grease take deep dirt and stains out and clean + protect the paint. Need to be careful with this but the results can be excellent. Just be extra careful where the writing is so that it does not get taken off..

For knobs that look really shot, you can give them a go round in the dishwasher.. it can work wonders sometimes.

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