Silicone in guitar polish

daho · #1 07-19-2006, 10:37 AM

Does anyone know if Gibson's Pump Polish (orange bottle) has silicone in it? The label says the polish contains petroleum distillates; is that another name for silicone? Does silicone go by any other name?

SteveS · #2 07-19-2006, 11:25 AM

Petroleum distillates is not silicone.

guitarstrmr · #3 07-19-2006, 11:42 AM

The petro in the Gibson pump polish is actually trace amounts of nitrocellulose lacquer. If your guitar is finished with nitro (like most Gibsons and Martins), it will actually help to seal very small scratches that you have in the finish. It's a very good product. I've been using it for a long time with great results.

daho · #4 07-19-2006, 05:47 PM

So just to confirm, no silicone in Gibson pump polish?

guitarstrmr · #5 07-19-2006, 05:59 PM

Not that I know of. I know that silicone is supposed to damage guitar finishes and I've been using the Gibson polish for a long time with no damage.

daho · #6 07-19-2006, 08:48 PM

As I understand it, silicone does not damage a finish visually, but it seals it in such a way that is detrimental to the tone and the guitar's ability to "open up". It also supposedly makes it difficult or impossible to perform any refinish or glue repair work.

I read on a forum that the Fender Meguiar's polish has silicone in it. I've been using the Gibson polish on my Martin 000, and I'm concerned that I could be applying silicone to my guitar. Martin's Care and Feeding guide specifically warns against using a silicone polish.

emmonsh · #7 07-20-2006, 05:00 AM

i use fenders meguiars and it is also petroleum dis. there is no silicone in it.

guitarstrmr · #8 07-20-2006, 07:54 AM

OK, I suppose it's who you listen to. Here's a link that says that silicone will damage the finish.
http://www.sheppardguitars.com/care_tips.htm

Here's a link which says that silicone will not damage the finish. However, it is written by a company that puts silicone in their products.
http://www.sadowsky.com/welcome/new/polish.html

If you conduct an Internet search for Gibson pump polish, you will see numerous listings which advertise the Gibson pump polish and they say that it does not contain silicone.

It also says on the bottle of Gibson pump polish "safe for all finishes".

Can we put this issue to rest now? Use the polish. However, if you still have doubts, find something else.

Also, FYI, here's a link for the Meguiar's polish in which a customer states that they called the company and confirmed that the Meguiar's polish does contain silicone.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...5&src=3SOSWXXA

wordlesschorus · #9 07-20-2006, 11:33 AM

what about ernie ball polish? =]

daho · #10 07-20-2006, 06:25 PM

You found the same links I did. However, when I googled Gibson pump polish, I never saw any mention of silicone in the description. Got a link?

guitarstrmr · #11 07-20-2006, 06:30 PM

It was mentioned in the description of the Internet sites when I did the search. Why don't you just call Gibson Customer Service and ask them?
Gibson Customer Service #1-800-444-2766

kenkjk · #12 12-28-2010, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guitarstrmr

The petro in the Gibson pump polish is actually trace amounts of nitrocellulose lacquer. If your guitar is finished with nitro (like most Gibsons and Martins), it will actually help to seal very small scratches that you have in the finish. It's a very good product. I've been using it for a long time with great results.

It is the bst for martin too! It doesn't contain silicone. The dunlop 65 does a great job but it has 1% silicone but it cleans and shines. But I need to use the gibson most of the time! The martin cleaner/polish suks!

kenkjk · #13 12-28-2010, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guitarstrmr

OK, I suppose it's who you listen to. Here's a link that says that silicone will damage the finish.
http://www.sheppardguitars.com/care_tips.htm

Here's a link which says that silicone will not damage the finish. However, it is written by a company that puts silicone in their products.
http://www.sadowsky.com/welcome/new/polish.html

If you conduct an Internet search for Gibson pump polish, you will see numerous listings which advertise the Gibson pump polish and they say that it does not contain silicone.

It also says on the bottle of Gibson pump polish "safe for all finishes".

Can we put this issue to rest now? Use the polish. However, if you still have doubts, find something else.

Also, FYI, here's a link for the Meguiar's polish in which a customer states that they called the company and confirmed that the Meguiar's polish does contain silicone.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...5&src=3SOSWXXA

I can't imagine Gibson having nitrocelluose finish and ussing a silicone based product. Especially if martin warns against it! So gibson created this cleaner/polish pump for the nitro finish! It does NOT have silicone! Dolly P. does have slicone however!

cadam5150 · #14 12-29-2010, 04:18 AM

Anyone game enough to try Autoglym? Check out the picture below.

It works very well so far for me.

Turp · #15 12-29-2010, 07:59 AM

Silicone must be removed prior to any refinish. There is quite a bit of discussion about this and I know from the automotive industry its pressence will ruin a refinish. And, it is difficult to remove from a surface.

Regardless of the debate, there is an abundance of readily available non-silicone products.

I think the poster asked a question that offered an opportunity to refresh concerns about silicone product use and...

It reminded me to clean my instruments with my own favorite; Smith Pro Formula Polish. I used quite a few varieties of polishes and this is the best I've found.