Best way to clean glossy finish on speakers?


I have a microfiber cloth and distilled water and isopropyl alcohol. 
 

I can use all this to clean a TV screen and my glasses, but is there a preferred way to clean pristine glossy finish on speaker cabinets so that trace scratching does not appear?.

 

emergingsoul

It should be available at any motorcycle dealer.   It is popular for plexi windshields 

My glossy finish looks fine without any polish.  I just want to clean off the surface. Why would anybody polish an already existing Nice looking glossy speaker finishes??

No clue. But applying a synthetic automotive paint sealant as I suggested above can protect that glossy finish and make it easier to dust and clean.

@garebear: Novus sells their products on their website, and so do Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, and DAP Plastics. Buy $25 or more and Amazon shipping is free. If you have a good plastics supply house in your area they should too, mine does.

@mijostyn,

I believe enough time has passed, couple of years I’d gather since my first & only observation give or take. Sending compliments on one stellar furniture wood shop you’ve put together / assembled, a labor of love indeed. Question if I may Sir, maybe somewhat OP related … nah, likely near impossible! :-) Any chance you’ve had the luxury operating any of Festool’s Line? Particularly Fes’s variable speed random orbit sanders along side and paired with their dust collection Vacs. Somewhat more costly in comparison compared to that of unsaid competition many others offer, however second-to-none in shear performance equaling less effort & time spent. Top tier phenomenal collection puts one’s H&L sandpaper inventory dwindling down to lets say 7 fold.

@dabel ,

Festool makes excellent gear. Their sander s are top notch. The problem is the price. At times they try to hard to be different like the Domino tool. Having buried myself in Milwaukee batteries I generally stick to their tools and I have not had a bad one. The one exception is Fein, another german company. I use their vacuum for dust capture on all my hand power tools and I have a 1/2 sheet Fein sander that I can't kill and I have used it to sand floors! I use a Lamello Plate joiner and Porter Cable routers.

I have kef r 11's in glossy black grills off. I use microfiber towels from Walmart from the auto department which do not have any bindings at the end with glass plus very lightly, also I wear a headlamp you will be surprised how much dust lays on the speaker cones themselves. You could see everything that you've been missing

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Ozzy...you're a genius. Read my previous post...or not...anyway, you're a genius.

I would go for the Stein way.

But whatever you do don't gloss over their instructions. 

@ghdprentice 

Almost any cloth will have dust embedded in it and will cause micro scratches… 

How true -- I learned the hard way with my piano black Silverlines  ;o/

 

 

 

@macg19 @mijostyn is 100% dead on, though I didn't see him mention that not all foam is alike. An inexpensive rotary buffer with a soft foam pad and Menzerna 3500 or a similar fine polish will remove swirls, and return you to a brilliant shine That said though, extreme caution around the drivers, or even hand polishing if you are having difficulty controlling the buffer is a good idea. Some are base/clear coating these days, which is a HARD finish comparatively, and most are probably still using lacquer, both have been used for automotive finishes, though clear lacquer hasn't it has identical qualities otherwise to lacquer paint. Therefore automotive polish is fine. Using things like ceramic or graphene coatings can be problematic as the better ones leave your finish unbelievable slick. IOW, easily dropped. Build up  of product can be an issue as well. If I was unsure whether the finish was a softer lacquer or a harder clear coat, I'd avoid using something that might be difficult, meaning more Menzerna 3500, to remove, but that's just me. A wax or coating should add brilliance, but the Menzerna 3500 may meet all your goals.

Interesting comment about cleaning drivers cones above.

Never thought to clean them, exactly how does one go about doing that? Maybe a light dusting from a swiffer?

Because people are around and so forth I keep the covers on and they look fine.

Sprayway Ammonia free window cleaner and a clean microfiber towel all day long!

@vandy357 

You asked about a ceramic product and I told you. After rubbing out with a fine polishing compound like Menzerna 3500 all you need to do is wipe off occasionally with a fast evaporating product one would normally use for cleaning windows but without the blue dye. I use 50% isopropyl alcohol in distilled water and a cotton or microfiber cloth. You could also use a quick detailer. Most clear coat finishes on modern loudspeakers are going to be polyester which is extremely tough, tougher than acrylic lacquer. 

I use Chemical Guys microfiber towels (yellow) on my Wilson Sabrina. I only remove dust. These towers are super soft.
I don’t use sprays or water. if I move my speakers I wear white cotton gloves to avoid fingerprints. When I had a Rega gloss black turntable I used the same towels with Meguiars Ultimate Quick Wax. Worked great. I haven’t had the need to use the spray wax with the speakers.

These are the towels. These are also the only towels I use on my car’s metallic black paint.

Yes sprayway is good also but I found glass plus to be a little bit better I use very little on the microfiber I do not spray the speaker if you start getting into rubbing hard you're going to notice scratches on the speaker.. trust me wear a headlight when you do this spray the microfiber towel and lightly take the dust off of the speaker and the cones..

@yyzsantabarbara isn't part.of the reason you've purchased those glossy speakers is for the esthetics? Putting covers over them when not in use IMO, makes them an eyesore, but what do I know.  I'm tje same person that never puts a case over my phone, again,  part of the reason for getting an attractive phone is to look at it, can't do that with a cover over it... just sayin...

In light of the diversity of comments above and they have all been amazing, I think we can all agree that speaker surfaces can be a amazingly Beautiful to look at, and arguably are the most beautiful part of your system, and possibly your Home. It is clear there is no good audiophile grade maintaining and cleaning kit tailored especially for speaker surfaces. Using polishing products for cars doesn’t make sense in light of different environments being encountered. Lots of other ideas offered herein are not really tailored to a speaker

Consequently, effective immediately, I will be launching a new product line addressing how best to clean and maintain pristine speaker surfaces. These products will be available at your favorite audio gear shops very soon.

This Will include special purpose microfiber towels, distilled water Products, modified swiffer dusting products, specially designed white handling gloves, air blowing Devices to remove dust, air filtration devices to remove harmful airborne dust particles, and polishing products which are under development as they just don’t really exist for indoor pristine speaker surfaces. A surprising product availability gap apparently exists for maintaining speaker surfaces and driver surfaces.

Stay tuned for developing announcements. This will be really really big.

@gumbedamit I got the NS5000 because it was the 2nd best speaker I had demoed and the safer choice to not get knocked over. Now after hearing it for a while in my Livingroom I think it maybe the best speaker sonically too. Those Zylon drivers are amazing. The NS5000 is also the most beautiful speaker I have owned.

As I write this and hear my son | wife | dog messing around in the Livingroom. I am happy I have a cover on the speakers. It takes 10 seconds to remove and listen when no one is around, except the dog.

 

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This sounds like more a commercial ad than a discussion thread. One can potentially avoid these hassle by just using covers. This is how I baby my upright piano. Of couse, be careful with the fabric of the cover that may "rub" the surface of the speakers that the OP is worrying ...

I will be launching a new product line addressing how best to clean and maintain pristine speaker surfaces. These products will be available at your favorite audio gear shops very soon.

This Will include special purpose microfiber towels, distilled water Products, modified swiffer dusting products, specially designed white handling gloves, air blowing Devices to remove dust, air filtration devices to remove harmful airborne dust particles, and polishing products which are under development as they just don’t really exist for indoor pristine speaker surfaces. A surprising product availability gap apparently exists for maintaining speaker surfaces and driver surfaces.

Stay tuned for developing announcements. This will be really really big.

You should always follow the manufacturer’s recommended method. For my Magico S7’s in candy apple red Mcoat I use the softest micro fiber cloth i can find and lightly mist with Maguiar’s Mirror Glaze Final Inspection No.34. and buff gently. Has worked perfectly to keep them looking brand new,without a scratch for almost five years now.

https://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-Mirror-Glaze-Final-Inspection/dp/B0002SQVNA

ghdprentice,

I totally agree with you the violin red on the Sonus faber is beautiful, I have the monitor audio platinum 200 ll in Santos Rosewood with 11 layers of hand polished lacquer and all I use is either a microfiber cloth or Swiffer duster and then just some leather conditioner on the front.

Not once have I ever completely understood all the added hype about Microfiber Cloth when a ole trusty worn-out quality t-shirt such as Hanes or Fruit of the Loom does the trick.

@dabel

 

Have you ever owned a high quality one? They are completely in a league of their own. Nothing like a t-shirt… or any other cotton product. Many times softer, lighter.

 

There are different categories of microfiber cloths… there are the flat no fluff… and really fluffy. The later are great for eye glasses and delicate cleaning. Just judging from the photos i think these look like the light fluffy type.

 

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-CW190423-24-Pack-Microfiber-Cleaning/dp/B009FUF6DM/ref=sr_1_1_ffob_sspa?hvadid=177592985656&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9033607&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=14545899354200151265&hvtargid=kwd-11508262033&hydadcr=7305_9586104&keywords=best%2Bmicrofiber%2Bcleaning%2Bcloth&qid=1693786593&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

 

Give them a try, one of the amazing inventions over the last couple dozen years. There is a much sturdier variety for windows… much heavier.

 

 


I ran across a package of two types of microfiber fabrics and link below, which includes a soft microfiber towels and a leatherly smooth fabric swatch that would seem to be ultra smooth. I’ve seen them before when they come with glasses i have bought. Apparently use of the word ultrasoft and you're searching efforts appears helpful

When I open up my Business selling microfiber towels for glossy speakers I may include this in my product line.

I think I’m gonna order these.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099GKXS27/?coliid=I3QQZD13588881&colid=190QB2SGMMM6E&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1

To "Dabel" I used to use all my old t-shirts also until I bought a black car and saw that it was introducing scratches to the finish. I think the thicker the microfiber the better but don't buy the ones that feel like fur as they do nothing

So for my 9-5, I sell automotive paint to body shops. A lot of speaker manufacturers outside the US still use cheap crap paint, but most anything stateside and everything in the EU are going to use more quality automotive grade paints, some base/clear but most are single stage where it comes out directly glossy. Glass cleaner and the like will not hurt them one bit. If someone does pull out a polisher to remove scratches, BE CAREFUL if you're using a rotary polisher as that can whip right through down through the paint. If you're using a dual-action polisher, they are much less aggressive and will not burn through even on the corners. As for polishes, compounds, etc please be mindful if there are any fillers in them as that will disguise scratches for the short term but come back a lot worse later. The older 3M products, lots of Meguiars, and Chemical Guys stuff will use fillers to make things appear shiny real quick to get a car out of the shop. Look for something like the new Meguiars 110 compound and 210 polish, or my new favorite the 3D 510 compound and 520 polish. The down side to the new materials with no fillers is they are harder to clean up if you are messy and get compound where you shouldn't. Wipe immediately with microfiber and quick detailer to clean up, or else. Speaking of microfiber towels and quick detailer, Presta Ultrasoft microfiber towels (part#800136) are the best ones on the market, hands down. Little more $ but worth every penny. And for a quick detailer spray, I've still yet to find one better than Meguiars 34 (part#M3416 for the spray bottle size) for everyday use. If you were to walk around a car show, that's what most are using to wipe down their cars. When I give my speakers a quick cleanup, it's a healthy spritz of that and a quickie wipe with microfiber and you're done in 2 seconds. Yes, it will even wipe off dried dog slobber.

Just thought I'd chime in on the conversation.

-Lloyd

 

On the note of speaker paints, if anyone is going to paint a set for themselves, I'm more than willing to help advise through the project. Just send me a message and I'll walk you through everything.

Yes @ghdprentice in the garage sits a baker’s dozen stack of microfiber cloths. Though i still prefer this application (t-shirts with ammonia free windex) as my number one go-to choice for 1980’s tar applied drivers. Sorry, for that particular post should’ve been more detailed and specific. Patience please, as i further work on ones communication skills ;)

@mijostyn

Just my educated guess regarding Porter Cable routers in use, model 100, 690 w/ plunge base, and 7518. For 1/2 sheet oscillating sanders our go-to then Porter Cables 505.

@dabel 

I use the 690 in various bases depending on the mission. My Plunge router is a 7539 and I use a 75182 in a router table configuration. I also have a 10 hp 3 phase SCMI spindle molder and the scars to prove it. I use the 303 1/4 sheet sander. It is faster at 12,000 RPM. My Fein 1/2 sheet sander will hit 14,000 rpm, what a machine!

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On the Wilsons, I'm a Griot's quick detailer fan.  Point has been made here, but not too clearly, spay you favorite cleaner on the cloth and apply, not directly on the speaker.

Have fun...

I use a microfiberr cloth on my Elacs 403.  Im sure there are some swirl marks, hard to keep then new like a black car when I was 20.