Any good way to clean tolex??

jmv

jmv

New member
Okay so i was cleaning my BF bassman while i had it semi-taken apart getting ready to replace the speakers. On the tolex, all thats really there is some dust, because it spends most of its time in its flight case avoiding other grime. Problem is, i can never seem to get the tolex thats exposed quite as clean as the tolex that hides underneath the head of the amp.

Is there any good way to really de-dust tolex well?? I had some success with some of my newer fenders by running a slightly damp cloth over them, then going over it with armor-all wipes, however i'm worried to do that on my bassman. I've done the damp cloth, but i don't want any chemicals doing any harm to what could become a valuable amp.

Any suggestions welcome!

Thanks,
Jason
 
Re: Any good way to clean tolex??

Gearjoneser as well as others swear by Murphy's Oil Soap.
 
Re: Any good way to clean tolex??

some very mild soap, some damp rags with just enough water, a soft finger nail brush... even glass cleaner, a little bit will not hurt
 
Re: Any good way to clean tolex??

Armorall - just kidding. I always just use a soft toothbrush and a drop of laundry detergent.
 
Re: Any good way to clean tolex??

Saddle soap works well enough. I've used it on an old marshall studio 15 to great effect. Made it look new.
 
Re: Any good way to clean tolex??

My 1980 JMP looks like it has brand new tolex. Got one of those long handle scrub brushes for dishwashing and a regular toothbrush. Mixed water and a little dish soap and scrubbed away. Toothbrush for fine details and corners. Followed up with some Turtle Wax brand vinyl reconditioner and rubbed it in with a hand towel. Put on a couple coats of that and then buffed it with a clean handtowel. It looks new, shiny, and it didn't turn out greasy feeling.

Before and after.
 
Re: Any good way to clean tolex??

Nice before-and-after, YJM. In the "before" pic, the head Tolex looks completely different from the cab Tolex. How long would you say the cleaning and waxing took in total, start to finish?

- Keith
 
Re: Any good way to clean tolex??

Lol. I use windex. Works great. Spray it on, wipe it off. No worries. Its not rocket science. Its just tolex. lol
 
Re: Any good way to clean tolex??

tnvol said:
Lol. I use windex. Works great. Spray it on, wipe it off. No worries. Its not rocket science. Its just tolex. lol
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yes but because of the texture of tolex i'm finding it hard to get it truly clean, and in addition i do NOT want to use any sort of chemicals that might harm the tolex in the long run on a mint vintage amplifier....


Thanks for the input, guys.
 
Re: Any good way to clean tolex??

jmv said:
yes but because of the texture of tolex i'm finding it hard to get it truly clean, and in addition i do NOT want to use any sort of chemicals that might harm the tolex in the long run on a mint vintage amplifier....

Thanks for the input, guys.
Click to expand...

Yeah I can understand that. I've just always used Windex or Fantastic or something like that. I've used it for almost 20 yrs on my Marshall and it doesnt look like its had any negative effects. I see your point though.
 
Re: Any good way to clean tolex??

tnvol said:
Yeah I can understand that. I've just always used Windex or Fantastic or something like that. I've used it for almost 20 yrs on my Marshall and it doesnt look like its had any negative effects. I see your point though.
Click to expand...

that is good to know that you haven't seen any effects from it, its reassuring. I'm just paranoid i suppose.... not necessarily without reason though, take for example old armorall.... it was petroleum based or something and would actually ruin your interior in the long run! (not anymore though).
 
Re: Any good way to clean tolex??

KGMESSIER said:
Nice before-and-after, YJM. In the "before" pic, the head Tolex looks completely different from the cab Tolex. How long would you say the cleaning and waxing took in total, start to finish?

- Keith
Click to expand...

Yeah, the head had brown and green in the wrinkles from mold and dust. I didn't clean the back insides of the head so I could see the difference, and it is a big one.

MMMMmmmm, half an hour job for 27 years of grime.
 
Re: Any good way to clean tolex??

jmv said:
yes but because of the texture of tolex i'm finding it hard to get it truly clean, and in addition i do NOT want to use any sort of chemicals that might harm the tolex in the long run on a mint vintage amplifier....


Thanks for the input, guys.
Click to expand...

Just get a soft scrubbing brush and some water with dish soap and GENTLY scrub away. Toothbrush for fine work. You don't have to follow up with vinyl conditioner, it just makes it shiny and new looking.
 
Re: Any good way to clean tolex??

YJM what specific Turtle Wax product is it? They have an Armor All type protectant listed on their website, but nothing called a vinyl restorer.

That said I have had good results cleaning tolex with murphy's oil soap with a bathroom brush and a small toothbrush for crevices. Then dry the tolex, then Armor All but I don't care for that greasy feeling.
 
Re: Any good way to clean tolex??

Sorry, it is called F21 Super Protectant. I have never used Armor All but it is probably similar. It leaves a greasy feeling for a while, but I buffed it out very easily and it is smooth but not greasy now.
 
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