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-   -   Is Goof-Off safe to use? (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=279249)

Norml 01-10-2013 12:32 PM

Is Goof-Off safe to use?
 
Since Naptha is no longer available in Sonoma county CA, I'm looking for an alternative to use as a pickguard adhesive remover. Has anyone used Goof-Off on their guitar with a lacquer finish? Other alternatives?

George Bailey 01-10-2013 12:35 PM

Goof off takes off everything doesn't it? I would think it would ruin the finish? Curious to see other answers. I'm not positive.

Norml 01-10-2013 12:46 PM

^That was my concern. Pretty soon everything is going to be outlawed in CA. It's getting rediculous.

cu4life7 01-10-2013 12:48 PM

I used Goo Gone (very tiny amount) on my Taylor GS mini with no problems. But like they say in vegas, "past performance is no indication of future success..."

I just put a tiny bit on a paper towel and rubbed it on, and then wiped it off very quickly with a soft microfiber.

TrevorW 01-10-2013 12:48 PM

You can use plain lighter fluid if you can still get that...

Dennis Morrison 01-10-2013 12:56 PM

Mineral spirits works about the same as naptha, is non-flammable, won't harm finish, and is available at hardware stores, Walmart, etc.

ljguitar 01-10-2013 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dennis Morrison (Post 3310679)
Mineral spirits works about the same as naptha, is non-flammable, won't harm finish, and is available at hardware stores, Walmart, etc.

Hi Dennis...

Mineral Spirits evaporates more slowly than Naptha, but is nearly the same as Naptha in chemical makeup. Since there is a ban on the chemical Naptha in his county, and the two are so similar, I'd be checking to see if both are banned.

It's hard to get Mineral Spirits in small quantities. It comes in quarts and gallons; (a several-lifetimes-long-option)

And of course another viable solution would be during the next road trip he takes out of the county, be sure to bring home a bottle of Rosonal Lighter Fluid. I've been using the same 1/2 pint for nearly a decade.



Guest 33123 01-10-2013 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norml (Post 3310660)
Since Naptha is no longer available in Sonoma county CA

wow, just wow. :(

Wade Hampton 01-10-2013 01:18 PM

Norm, if naptha has been banned, has lighter fluid been banned along with it?

http://www.cbdistributorsinc.com/ima...onol-Fluid.gif

From what I understand, Ronsonol lighter fluid is simply a slightly weaker solution of naptha than the stuff that's labeled as naptha. A plastic squeeze bottle of that is an item that you should be able to buy wherever cigarettes are sold.

One bottle should last you for years and years, so long as you're not also using it to refill a heavily used Zippo lighter! And even though it's somewhat weaker than the stuff that comes labeled as naptha, it works perfectly well to remove pickguard adhesive. It's all I've ever used.

If you can no longer buy lighter fluid in Sonoma County, the next time you visit San Francisco pick up a bottle. So long as you're not going to go around squirting it on Sonoma County law enforcement officials, I suspect your chances of getting busted for having it are probably pretty minimal....

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

Jim Owen 01-10-2013 01:29 PM

Hi Norm,
I wouldn't risk goof-off on nitro. As others have said, lighter fluid is your friend. I find that it's hard to get in my world because apparently my fellow hillbillies use it to burn brain cells.

Next road trip, pick up a bottle. It will last a lifetime if pick guard demolition.

Norml 01-10-2013 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton (Post 3310707)
Norm, if naptha has been banned, has lighter fluid been banned along with it?

http://www.cbdistributorsinc.com/ima...onol-Fluid.gif

From what I understand, Ronsonol lighter fluid is simply a slightly weaker solution of naptha than the stuff that's labeled as naptha. A plastic squeeze bottle of that is an item that you should be able to buy wherever cigarettes are sold.

One bottle should last you for years and years, so long as you're not also using it to refill a heavily used Zippo lighter! And even though it's somewhat weaker than the stuff that comes labeled as naptha, it works perfectly well to remove pickguard adhesive. It's all I've ever used.

If you can no longer buy lighter fluid in Sonoma County, the next time you visit San Francisco pick up a bottle. So long as you're not going to go around squirting it on Sonoma County law enforcement officials, I suspect your chances of getting busted for having it are probably pretty minimal....

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

Also banned.

ljguitar 01-10-2013 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton (Post 3310707)
...From what I understand, Ronsonol lighter fluid is simply a slightly weaker solution of naptha than the stuff that's labeled as naptha.

Hi Wade...

Naptha is Naptha. Doesn't come in strengths or different concentrations like ammonia or hydrochloric acid. Naptha is less oily and evaporates quicker than Mineral Spirits, thus better for our guitar work.

In fact it evaporates and doesn't leave residue behind.

It does come in different quantities.

The difference between my luthier and I is I buy it in 1/2 pints and he buys it a gallon at a time.

Oh, and I learned from the luthier who wrote most of Stewart McDonald's guitar maintaining books, that spit is a great solvent too, and the one to start with when attempting to remove mystery stains from a guitar before turning to Naptha. Just don't do it in front of your wife (experience speaking here). Especially don't let her catch you removing coffee stains from the coffee table that way...


Wade Hampton 01-10-2013 01:53 PM

After I mentioned that my impression was that lighter fluid was a weaker solution of naptha than the stuff labeled as such, Larry wrote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljguitar (Post 3310738)
[size=2]Hi Wade...

Naptha is Naptha. Doesn't come in strengths or different concentrations like ammonia or hydrochloric acid. Naptha is less oily and evaporates quicker than Mineral Spirits, thus better for our guitar work.

Oh, okay, good to know. Thanks.


Quote:

Originally Posted by ljguitar (Post 3310738)
Oh, and I learned from the luthier who wrote most of Stewart McDonald's guitar maintaining books, that spit is a great solvent too, and the one to start with when attempting to remove mystery stains from a guitar before turning to Naptha. Just don't do it in front of your wife (experience speaking here). Especially don't let her catch you removing coffee stains from the coffee table that way...

Yes, I'm married, as well, and can just imagine my own wife's reaction if I were to do that.....;)

A few months ago I read a long article about the lengthy, difficult restoraion of some old paintings, and the restorer mentioned that the "mild enzyme solution" he used to clean the surface of the paint was, in fact, saliva. So if art professionals like that guy use spit to clean delicate surfaces, I guess it's okay for guitar players to do that, too!

So long as our wives aren't in the room at the time....


Wade Hampton Miller


PS: Norm - if Ronsonol is illegal in Sonoma County, smuggle in a bottle from elsewhere.

Tone Gopher 01-10-2013 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton (Post 3310707)
Norm, if naptha has been banned, has lighter fluid been banned along with it?

http://www.cbdistributorsinc.com/ima...onol-Fluid.gif

From what I understand, Ronsonol lighter fluid is simply a slightly weaker solution of naptha than the stuff that's labeled as naptha...

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljguitar (Post 3310738)
Naptha is Naptha. Doesn't come in strengths or different concentrations...

If you look at the label in the image, you'll see that it contains heptane - Ronson Lighter Fluid is not pure naptha. I'd call that dilute.

Landru 01-10-2013 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norml (Post 3310670)
^That was my concern. Pretty soon everything is going to be outlawed in CA. It's getting rediculous.

I'm very proud to live in a state where finances are sometimes not the bottom line, but quality of life is. If that stuff is banned in Cali, it should've been banned long ago and everywhere in the U.S. Not our fault that some folks just don't get that the good life is not pork-barrel politics.


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