Tolex cleaner?

[hamerhead]

I've had this mid/late-60s Super Reverb carcass sitting in the shed for probably 1000 years collecting whatever that grungy goo is that gets stuck deep into all the cracks and crevices. For some reason, I decided it needs to be cleaned up and made functional, at least as a speaker cabinet.

Is there a cleaner - maybe a foam - that'll lift that crap outta there?

[Studio Custom]

Vinegar Windex and a finger nail brush.

[kenjones]

People have told me I am insane for even suggesting this, but here's what I have done with an old dusty amp (and was told to do by a couple of my amp repairing friends). I remove all of the electronics and speakers and go to a car wash that has the handheld, high pressure wands. Spray the inside and outside of the amp with foam tire cleaner. Let the foam cleaner sit and soak into the dusty cracks and crevices for about 10-15 minutes. Use the high-pressure wand to blast the inside and outside of the amp. I even used the high-pressure wand on the baffle board and grill cloth. Wipe down the amp and take it home to sit in the sun for a few hours. I wish I would have taken before and after photos when I did this to my early 70's sliver face Deluxe Reverb, but the results were amazing and the whole process was so easy.

Here's where I posted this in 2005: http://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/topic/7679-cleaning-old-fender-tolex/

And again in 2007: http://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/topic/16669-cleaning-tolex/#entry176648

[crunchee]

The 'car wash' method of cleaning was/is one that Gerald Weber (of Kendrick amps) recommended in one of his books, which was partially compiled from his old Q & A columns in Vintage Guitar Magazine. The thing I'd be concerned with is having old solid pine or other solid wood, and particle board, if present (Fender amp baffle boards in the '60's and '70's was particle board, mainly) soaking up any water. You'd want to keep any exposure to water down to a minimum...and be careful about using a pressure wash around the exposed ends of Tolex and the tube chart (you might want to cover the tube chart area with plastic, at least), otherwise you might strip them off.

[Sugartune]

When I did clean my amps and cases and things, I just used Armor All all purpose wipes.

Now I know that what I was wiping away was not dirt and gunk, but pure mojo. Some of it has come back.

[tbonesullivan]

The tire foam is mostly silicone. It's one of the tricks many use to get crap off the engine and other parts of their cars. Things like armor all or other vinyl products would probably work as well. The question is how much of the "gunk" came from outside, and how much is just the vinyl decomposing.

[hamerhead]

I guess if I really wanted to destroy an old cabinet, the car wash would be the way to go. I mean, I like getting the job done as quickly as anyone, but that old Tolex would blow right off, and the wood under it would swell, splinter, etc. I'm not saying it can't be done, just not by me. Are you sure Weber didn't say that just to drum up some business?

Bravo to anyone who has pulled it off, but that has 'bad idea' written all over it.

[Armitage]

Armor All Cleaner works great. Not the regular Armor All...

[DaveL]

Fingernail brush is a great suggestion... (old tootbrush too)

recommend that whatever you use, test it on a small area first...

and be very careful around old speaker grill cloth, some

cleaners can discolor it and make it look worse than what

you started with.

[Mike Shaw]

For really grubby amps I use that foaming bathtub cleaner stuff and a scrub brush. I rinse with the sink sprayer. If it's not to bad I like to use Murphy's Oil Soap with a scrub brush and sprayer rinse.

I don't like shiny, slick amps so ArmorAll is out. I've also heard that it degrades the tolex. I like to use leather conditioner from the auto store. I think it's Lexol or something similar. It gives a soft sheen to the tolex and smells like a new leather jacket - yummy!

[cynic]

From the looks (and smell) of used amps I've had, a lot of people have tried cat piss with limited success. YMMV.

[randelli]

From the looks (and smell) of used amps I've had, a lot of people have tried cat piss with limited success. YMMV.

Cat piss and stale beer mixed in an ashtray....

[cmatthes]

I pulled a late '60s Orange 4X12 cab out of a musty basement up the road from me in Frederick, MD a few years ago for an HFC'er who lives a few hundred miles from me. The woven grillcloth was surprisingly decent, but the orange tolex was more blackish brown with gray splotches than anything resembling the original color.

I really didn't know that I could work through all that, but I took it out onto the back deck on a clear September afternoon and sat down with some warm water, diluted Simple Green solution, and various soft bristle brushes. I removed the back, pulled the Rola speakers and went to town. A few hours later, it looked really damned good, despite the loss of feeling in my fingertips.

[kenjones]

Why do I get the feeling that I am either being called a "liar" or an "idiot" every time I post the car wash method? I guess it's true that no good deed goes unpunished.

[hamerhead]

No not at all (well OK maybe the idiot part ) ! I think there's a possibility that it could work and I appreciate the suggestion, but in my case it would be a bad bad thing.

[gtone]

Dawn dish soap (the blue stuff) and a bit of warm water is amazing at degunking crud and removing sticky adhesives, etc with or without a bit of vinegar mixed in. Keep the water away from the wood and focus on the tolex only as water and wood don't mix though...

Our younger son's home for a few days and is prepping his car to sell it. He pulled out the window tint film material without first reading how to do it properly. The resulting baked-on adhesive residue was thick and almost impossible to remove and we tried a lot of the "usual suspects" - razor blades, heat gun and Goo-Be-Gone, varsol, methylated spirits, lacquer thinner, acetone, green & orange industrial cleaner/degreasers, Mr. Clean Magic Erasers and so on to little or no effect. Wife suggested the blue Dawn dish soap with warm water trick - just slopped it on and let it soak for 30 seconds or so and it came off pretty readily while the harsh, strong chemicals barely made a dent. Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't have witnessed it first hand. My new "go to" product for tough to remove adhesives, gunk, etc.

[Steve Haynie]

Westley's Bleche-White whitewall tire cleaner is what you need to use.

Take the amp out of the cabinet, and take off the handle and legs. Take out the grill, too. Tape some plastic over the tube chart inside the cabinet.

Spray the whitewall cleaner on the tolex and move it around with a soft brush with exploded tip bristles. Let the chemical do the work, so wait a minute or so. Be ready to rinse it off with a hose, only using enough water to get the cleaner off. Wipe away the rest. Avoid spraying water inside the cabinet, but you will have a little spray inside. That is why you want to protect the label inside.

You will have the darkest black tolex you have ever seen. The chemical will loosen any dirt that has embedded itself in the rubber/tolex.

[HAMERMAN]

Westley's Bleche-White whitewall tire cleaner is what you need to use.

Take the amp out of the cabinet, and take off the handle and legs. Take out the grill, too. Tape some plastic over the tube chart inside the cabinet.

Spray the whitewall cleaner on the tolex and move it around with a soft brush with exploded tip bristles. Let the chemical do the work, so wait a minute or so. Be ready to rinse it off with a hose, only using enough water to get the cleaner off. Wipe away the rest. Avoid spraying water inside the cabinet, but you will have a little spray inside. That is why you want to protect the label inside.

You will have the darkest black tolex you have ever seen. The chemical will loosen any dirt that has embedded itself in the rubber/tolex.

I got a giggle out of seeing this because I have used Westley's in the past (on cars) and always pronounced it "Bleck White" rather than "Bleach White". Along the same lines I have always called anti-seize compound anti-sleeze compound. I do not know why. :-)

[stobro]

Blecch-White, the approved Mad magazine alternate spelling.

[hamerhead]

Well, I used some of the little woman's bathroom cleaner. It went from this:

....to this:

It'll never be pretty again (I have the handle somewhere, and the other tilt leg has always been missing), but it's a helluva lot better. Three of the 4 original speakers still functioned, so one is a spare and a pair of Kendricks fill the empty holes.

I forgot how good this thing sounds.

[ARM OF HAMER]

Murphy's Oil Soap Spray Cleaner[W/O the orange oil] I have used this for a long time on guitar cases with great results! it never failed to take off old paint, sticker residue, scuff marks,...............you name it and leaves the tolex shiny clean and it smells great! For really old guitar cases I vacuum them out then air them out but leave the outside as is as I like the worn/distressed look. ...............for future reference.

[HAMERMAN]

Huge improvement! This gives me amp GAS to find a proper cabinet for my blackface Super Reverb that somebody had turned into a head before it found it's way to me. Every few years I almost buy a cabinet for it and then when I think about also buying 4 speakers I get cheap and decide to put it off again. :-(

[hamerican gigolo]

Murphy's Oil Soap & a brush & bucket. The car wash thing sounds ludicrous.

[mc2]

I pulled a late '60s Orange 4X12 cab out of a musty basement up the road from me in Frederick, MD a few years ago for an HFC'er who lives a few hundred miles from me. The woven grillcloth was surprisingly decent, but the orange tolex was more blackish brown with gray splotches than anything resembling the original color.I really didn't know that I could work through all that, but I took it out onto the back deck on a clear September afternoon and sat down with some warm water, diluted Simple Green solution, and various soft bristle brushes. I removed the back, pulled the Rola speakers and went to town. A few hours later, it looked really damned good, despite the loss of feeling in my fingertips.

Yeah....I used the same on John McVie's old Orange Matamp cabs that smelled like Fleetwood Mac. That Simple Green got rid of the McVie, Fleetwood and Kirwin spooge but didn't put a dent in the Peter Green Albatross aroma.

http://s1359.photobucket.com/user/mc2NYNO/media/Or200McVie_TBird_zps00eea0a5.jpg.html?sort=3&o=571

http://s1359.photobucket.com/user/mc2NYNO/media/OR200rig_rear_zps9fd61fd7.jpg.html?sort=3&o=569