Cleaning metal parts

[86kubicki]

Dear Curmudge - a friend has an Ibanez George Benson that was "rode hard and put away wet" as they say. After many years he has started playing it again, but a lot of the gold plated metal parts are heavily encrusted in green corrosion. I was wondering if you had any tips to remove this corrosion? Is there a way to clean without removing the gold plating in the process? Thanks!

[jingle_jangle]

The corrosion is affecting the metal underneath the gold, and any attempt to remove the green with standard paste-type polishes or even Nevr-Dull, is likely to wear the gold off, too. There is a dip-type cleaner on the market, although it is only available in gallons. Note that this stuff works on ferrous metals only (iron, steel), which will constitute the bulk of your friend's guitar's corrosion. (Die-cast metal that's gold-plated doesn't usually show the green splotches you describe--it merely bubbles).

Here's the link:

http://www.corrosionvci.com/pdf/Evapo-rust-remover.pdf

[86kubicki]

Thanks Paul - I don't know if my friend will be motivated to buy the stuff you mentioned, but I will certainly pass the information along. I think he realizes that there's a good chance that any attempt to remove the corrosion with conventional will likely strip the plating. Ah well, at least it will look better than the layer of green funk!