Wax on mandolin body?

[Tim Gillane]

I have a mandolin from the 1920s. It's a bit scratched up. Is it safe to use a wax (like Daddy Van's or Goddard's) to protect the wood on the body, or is it a really bad idea? It got that way from my fooling with it when I was a kid, I think (mea culpa). On an up note, someone lightly scratched "I love you" in little letters on the back; I suspect my grandfather or my father. I was advised by the Newbies group to double-check over here; the consensus there was pretty much, "Don't", which I sort of thought might be the case. What think you?

[Pablo Bosticio]

Since most of the wood instruments of that period were finished with some form of shellac, I would look for info about cleaning or recoating shellac. There are some experts here, you can find them by researching finish restoration.

[HoGo]

I would advise against car wax. Especially on old instrument that can have some joints that are not tight (may be unnoticed for years). If the wax gets into the cracks or loose joints it can be nearly impossible to clean them and glue back together. Try just using deionized (distilled) water to clean up and if you think the mandolin needs more protection than you can give it by careful handling you can have the finish touched up by French polishing (if that matches original finish) or in other way.

[Ivan Kelsall]

It's always been very much frowned upon to use any polish containing ''Silicones'' on instruments in case they ever require a re-finish or 'whatever'. Several years back,i owned a guitar on which i'd used Silicone polish to clean if for years. I badly scratched the back on a belt buckle & it needed a touch up / re-finish. I took it to the luthier that i used to use ,& all he did was to lightly sand the finish on the back all over, & then re-spray it with a lacquer finish. The sanding completely removed any Silicone polish residue as well as prepare the back for the new lacquer.

These days,i use a Beezwax spray polish (NO Silicones) to clean my mandolins. I spray it onto a clean cotton cloth,wipe it on & immediately wipe it off. As long a the scratches on your mandolin aren't down to the wood ie. on the finish only,then you could use a similar polish just to clean it up,
Ivan

[Paul Busman]

Just curious- what kind of mandolin is this? Could you post pictures?

[HoGo]

Ivan, had you polished the back over the scratch (to bare wood?) with the silicone he would have withesses major fisheye in the finish.
Sanding removed the contaminated surface but it that thing gets into crack you can hardly clean it for gluing other than scrape/cut wood away with scalpel and splice strip of new wood... Or use some oil-tolerant glue (special epoxy?)

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Adrian - Fortunately,the scratch hadn't gone down to the wood,it was in the finish only. Sanding simply removed the scratch 'dent' & left the surface Silicone free.
Here's a pic. of the re-finished back that i took just prior to selling the guitar - it's flawless !,
Ivan

[Tim Gillane]

The stuff is was thinking of using is beeswax, olive oil, and carnauba wax, no solvents, according to the label.

[Tim Gillane]

Paul Busman -- Sure.

[pops1]

The stuff is was thinking of using is beeswax, olive oil, and carnauba wax, no solvents, according to the label.

Glue won't stick to any of those. Appreciate the look of fond usage.

[Tim Gillane]

pops1:

[DHopkins]

This is what Breedlove says about their guitars and mandolins:

"Although we do not recommend a specific brand, many of our employees have been happy with Meguiar’s # 7 Show car glaze for polishing surface scratches. If you have deeper scratches then you may need to take your guitar into a technician to be buffed / sanded / then re-glossed. If you have a satin or semi gloss guitar, please do not use polish. When a polish is used on the satin it changes the appearance permanently creating gloss spots, the proper way to take care of this finish is simply to use a moist rag."