Finishes and perspiration

AlbertC

When the weather is sunny and warm I like to sit in the garden and play an acoustic.
However, my bare arm gets sweaty and I've noticed this can have the effect of making the finish turn sort of cloudy/opaque on the part of the guitar body top where my arm is resting.
What's happening with that and is it causing damage? 

bertie

mine do this, but its just gunk from skin/fat/dirt/grease  and comes off with a clean.

does yours ?   as in, have you cleaned it, or is it just immediately after playing ?

I never play i long sleeves, so its a permanent thing with me

Mellish

If the guitar is a Martin, and you play it in short sleeves but don't wipe it down before putting it in its case, you could get a nasty shock next time you open the lid. 

I opened the lid to be greeted by a dirty black stain where my forearm had been. 
I got it off but it took hours. 

AlbertC

bertie said:

mine do this, but its just gunk from skin/fat/dirt/grease  and comes off with a clean.

does yours ?   as in, have you cleaned it, or is it just immediately after playing ?

I never play i long sleeves, so its a permanent thing with me

Yes, it usually wipes off fine on most guitars but I now have an very old Gibson with much fine cracking in the finish and it seemed to not have shrugged it off quite as easily 

bertie

AlbertC said:

bertie said:

mine do this, but its just gunk from skin/fat/dirt/grease  and comes off with a clean.

does yours ?   as in, have you cleaned it, or is it just immediately after playing ?

I never play i long sleeves, so its a permanent thing with me

Yes, it usually wipes off fine on most guitars but I now have an very old Gibson with much fine cracking in the finish and it seemed to not have shrugged it off quite as easily 

ah right, some important info here  -  sounds like its a nitro finish,  I know sweat and nitro don't mix well,  which I what I assume @Mellish ; was inferring about the Martin

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=615189

Mellish

^ yes, sweat left on a Nitro finish can cause issues. I've not seen the dark arm stain on Gibson's but I've seen it on many Martins. 

I used naphtha and Virtuoso Cleaner. It came off but it's a LOT of work.

 

sev112

On my Taylor with the satin type top finish, I find wiping it clean is ok, but serves to “polish” it so it goes shiny compared to the non-sweaty satin finish 

Stratavarious

Yep.. def. a problem on my satin finish acoustics.  My Ebony Les Paul has some forearm haze.

Just natural relicing in my book.. people actually pay to fake it!   

DavidR

My sweat certainly takes off the shellac from top end Classicals especially on upper guitar where elbow rests. I wonder if I could market it in any way! :-)

Seriously though, it was a big nuisance when I was more into classical and re-French polishing was never perfect. Not an unusual problem for other players either. Also, never keen on wearing a piece of stockinette over my right arm in the summer as per advice. Looks naff. In winter not so bad as could wear long sleeves.

Never had the same prob with any other finish.

Mellish

@Stratavarious as I said, one of the products I used to remove arm stains is Virtuoso Cleaner but don't use that on a satin finish - it'll kill it. Naphtha is safe though.

 

Stratavarious

Mellish said:

@Stratavarious as I said, one of the products I used to remove arm stains is Virtuoso Cleaner but don't use that on a satin finish - it'll kill it. Naphtha is safe though.

 

Yep.. I use naptha lighter fluid if I need to get gig gunk off my oil finished Eggle which shows it worse.

Smellyfingers

Just to want to alert that if I have this problem often and have to  deal with frequently, under no circumstances do I use any form of chemical additive regularly. Its culmstive effect would -- probably, seriously damage the finish and wood over any time!!

Instead I would use some form of natural fibre damp cloth followed by toilet tissue after each session. But I am a GAS motivated anus, so feel free to disagree.

Mellish

@Smellyfingers ; no, that's fine. There's  a lot who say just wipe down with a damp microfiber cloth and buff with a dry one.

 

BillDL

Smellyfingers said:

I am a GAS motivated anus, so feel free to disagree.

I disagree