Removing finish scratches with T Cut

susbemol · August 2022

I've come across a few people mentioning the use of products like T Cut to remove finish scratches on a guitar. I have tried to find any videos or more details on recommended ways to go about it but couldn't find anything.

Does anyone know of any resources that I can have a look at to learn more about this?

Teyeplayer · August 2022

Just rub it on and in and then rub it off, there really is very little to it.

susbemol · August 2022

Thanks for that, mate. If it's as simple as that, I suppose that's probably why there aren't more instructions or demos on this!

BillDL · August 2022

There are quite a few videos on YouTube where people demonstrate various buffing compounds for removing scratches and swirl marks from guitars. T-Cut is very UK-centric and most of the videos showing its use are doing what it was designed for, i.e. automotive buffing and polishing. There are other brands of similar compound by companies like Meguiar's and also ones designed for polishing metal (Brasso being the obvious one). They are all very similar in that they contain very fine abrasive powder suspended in a cream of some kind that often contains a slow drying mild solvent. The solvent is what makes it risky to try buffing some types of softer lacquer like Nitrocellulose without testing on an inconspicuous area first. The rock hard so-called "Poly" finishes on a lot of modern guitars is almost impervious to mild solvents such as this and can be buffed up to a high shine with T-Cut and most other fine abrasive "cutting" creams. Even toothpaste works.

A folded pad of soft cotton-rich cloth like an old T-shirt.
A bead of T-Cut onto it.
Rub fairly vigorously using your finger or thumb (or even the heel of your hand for large areas) to focus the pressure a bit.
Allow to dry and buff off with a clean piece of the same cloth.
Repeat until scratches are removed.

Try to avoid getting it into fine gaps or onto bare fretboards because it leaves a white residue that can be hard to remove from wood grain and seams.

Teyeplayer · August 2022

It is that simple. Done it with a few nitro finished ones recently and it did a world of good. Just don’t be scared of the stuff, it’ll be very hard to balls it up.

susbemol · August 2022

Thanks for the reassurance, guys. I'll give it a go in the next few weeks.

mrkb · August 2022

Does T-Cut work where the finish has gone milky due to UV exposure? Or is that not on the surface?

Jim · August 2022

To the OP: T-Cut isn't ideal as its non-friable. Most other automotive polishes (e.g. Autoglym Super Resin Polish) have special abrasives that break down as you work them, so in effect act like going to a finer and finer grit of sandpaper.
I recently polished a modern poly guitar with plenty of scuffs and scratches. I got some out, but the finish is that hard that when I stepped up to using a drill with a buffing pad, I was in danger of burning through the finish in some areas.

Sarge · August 2022

Honestly there isn't one answer, it all depends on how deep your scratches are and how much of a mirror finish you want to achieve.
If you can feel the scratches with a fingernail... like it stops the nail from advancing along, then most likely you'll need to use wet and dry sandpaper from 600 grit up to 1500/2000 grit to remove the scratches.
If they're just swirl marks then a couple of buffing compounds will do... for this I use Farecla G3 then Maguires Ultimate Compound for a mirror finish.

if it is deep scratches then the aforementioned wet and dry then

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Removing finish scratches with T Cut

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