Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I called Meguiar's today and had a nice ten-minute chat with a very knowledgeable Customer Care rep in their home office in Irvine, CA, near John Wayne Airport and Zen Center...

PW: Steve, does Scratch-X contain silicone?

SM: Yes, it does.

PW: Why does it not say so on the MSDS for this product?

SM: Because by law, only hazardous ingredients are required to be listed; others are at the manufacturer's option.

PW: When I look at the MSDS for, for instance, Armor-All, I see silicone listed under "Hazardous Ingredients".

SM: There's some confusion among manufacturers about that, not to mention that there are several types and concentrations of silicone, depending upon product and manufacturer. Scratch-X has such a miniscule amount of silicone, as a gloss enhancer, that I would have to say it's paint shop safe.

PW: Which is my own experience; I used to paint manufacturer's show cars, used a lot of it, and never saw any evidence of silicone contamination.

SM: That is correct. I have no hesitation in recommending it.

(Then followed a conversation on why Meguiar's stopped manufacturing their own water-based finish wax, called "Medallion", which I used exclusively until they stopped making it and I had to switch to Zymol out of need for a "buildable" wax material. The reason they stopped making this great product in 2002 was, simply, "VOC regs". Although their factory is in Memphis, TN, products are distributed in the USA and internationally, and this product was non-compliant. Adios, Medallion.)

BOTTOM LINE: I will continue to both use and recommend Scratch-X, unconditionally. The panic I've seen on other guitar sites is really an over-reaction to many manufacturers' blanket advice against products containing silicone in general. I'm sure that many car waxes contain lots and lots of silicone. Few guitar waxes do. Guitar manufacturers who sell their own proprietary brand of wax, of course have a vested interest in selling their wax products.

Silicone in wax is simply the lazy guy's way to get a shine on (in the profession, it's called, "zombie shine"). A real shine, like you see on million-dollar show cars, can only be gotten the same way the the RIC factory does it (which I follow to the letter, of course)--the labor-intensive process of clearcoat varnishing, color-sanding, re-varnishing, re-sanding, and then hand-buffing to a glasslike fare-thee-well. Scratch-X is an integral part of this process for me, it's the best way to restore gloss to a hazy surface without special machinery, and until a better product comes along, I'll keep it on the buffing table.

Nice to hear THE WORD on it.

Somewhat related, is the S-X/Z treatment safe on spirit varnish finishes? A friend of mine has an Eastman mandolin that has some surface scratches on it so I mentioned these products to him but he wants to know for sure.

Actually, quite related. Scratch-X contains the same solvent as spirit (alkyd) varnish, mineral spirits. This may slightly soften a fresher varnish finish, but will be fine on any finish over a few months old. The kaolin in the Scratch-X is not destructive or hazardous to this type of finish.

Great, I will let Isaac know that. He will have to wait a few months as he just got this mandolin.

If he wants to get those light scratches out without waiting, tell him he can use Novus Plastic Polish. Not quite as good as Scratch-X, but it uses water, not mineral spirits, as a vehicle.

I actually just picked up some Scratch-X a few days ago, because my preferred 3M swirl remover is nowhere to be found, and I used it on some guitars...Man..it works pretty good!

Are you saying that the silicone in Scratch-X is harmful to certain types of finishes? I'm assuming that many types of laquer guitar finishes (or even poly finishes) are not far from old style automotive paint, which Scratch X is designed for, right?

Cheers,
-Collin

The silicone in Scratch-X (what tiny bit of it there is) is harmful to NOTHING.

That was the thrust and purpose of my long posts above.

I just let Isaac know that, thanks much!

De nada...

Paul, thanks for all this great info. One stupid question, though. You speak of "cotton diapers". Are these also available at auto parts stores? If not, where can they be found? I just want to make sure I'm using the right thing.

brianeharmonjr wrote:Paul, thanks for all this great info. One stupid question, though. You speak of "cotton diapers". Are these also available at auto parts stores? If not, where can they be found? I just want to make sure I'm using the right thing.

cotton diapers... it's exactly what it sounds like

Most definitely NOT. Huggies are synthetic and paper, and don't have a speck of cotton in them.

Want to have some tragic fun?

If you've got a nice JG Rick, lay it on a table in a strong light, and rub it briskly with a bit of facial tissue, then, in another small area, a square of paper towel, and finally, with a bit of toilet paper/loo paper/bog roll. All of these should be dry, BTW.

See the scratches? This is what paper products (even the so-called "soft" ones) do to painted finishes. Now spend he rest of the day with Scratch-X and Zymol and a cotton, cloth diaper, removing those scratches.

The type of diaper I've been touting is the old-fashioned, cotton cloth or gauze diapers, available at Wal-Mart and K-Mart, I'm told. I get mine from a diaper service, 50 pounds twice a year, $5 a pound, nicely, er, broken in and soft as a baby's, er, breath.

Tales out of school: Once, back in '67, we were readying my '55 Chevy Nomad for a World of Wheels custom car show in Chicago at the service station where I worked. We realized that we had no diapers with which to perform the rubbing-out task, and weren't likely to find any at midnight! Following a late-night flash of inspiration, we raided the sanitary napkin machine in the women's rest room. The old-style napkins with the "handles" at each end were cotton fluff inside and cotton gauze on the outside. They worked fabulously and we finished the car just in time to drive it to the show.

Don't try this with newer hygiene products, folks--they're synthetic these days and will scratch just like Huggies.

I found them at the auto parts store. Thanks.

I actually had to look quite a few places in the 'Zoo to find them. Imagine, two baby specialty stores not carrying them!

johnallg wrote:I actually had to look quite a few places in the 'Zoo to find them. Imagine, two baby specialty stores not carrying them!

Yup...another classic going the way of the dodo...