Av 59 cleaning nitro finish.

[Bongo]

clean with naphtha as mentioned many times above.

Avoid car polishes unless you really need to polish stuff; they work just like sandpaper, just with super fine abrasives. Which really isn't a problem unless you're using them all the time for basic cleaning... Even then you'd have to use them far more often than most folks clean their guitars.
It's just good to know that you're actually sanding rather than cleaning.

 

[dspellman]

Tried cleaning the finish of my av 59 strat with boss guitar detailer. The boss detailer only made the grime more shiny.

Do you guys know if the fender customshop cleaning stuff is worth trying?

I will post a picture on the "Milky" grime that wont come of.

I generally use Meguiar's Cleaner/Wax in the burgundy bottle. The only guitar I hesitate to use that on is a friend's nitro-finished guitar that has SO much checking that it's difficult to get whatever you're using OUT of the spaces between the checks. Oh, and the old ('39) Epiphone Emperor that's been refinished in French Polish (back in '68). It's fine on both nitro and poly finishes (not on fretboards, of course) and it's great at getting stanky crap off the bodies and necks.

 

[dspellman]

Would this be harmful to guitar surfaces?
View attachment 608089

I wouldn't use the clay bar, but the Quik Detailer is fine.

 

[Baelzebub]

I use lighter fluid or naphtha. Works great at taking away the grim. Used it on all my AV reissues. Works great for dried beer droplets.

+1

 

[dspellman]

clean with naphtha as mentioned many times above.

Avoid car polishes unless you really need to polish stuff; they work just like sandpaper, just with super fine abrasives. Which really isn't a problem unless you're using them all the time for basic cleaning... Even then you'd have to use them far more often than most folks clean their guitars.
It's just good to know that you're actually sanding rather than cleaning.

Not all car polishes use abrasives to clean; many use chemistry. You're rarely "sanding" anything with them in any case. There are, of course, some car polishes that use abrasives, and this would include anti-swirl, etc. But most of the cleaner-waxes can be used for decades with no noticeable wear due to normal use.