Peanut Butter Cleans Rosin

[jimbutt]

My son is the double bass player, but at 11, he's not ready to do major servicing, so I get the job. Over the months, I've been watching for what cleans off the rosin on strings and bows. Denatured alcohol is OK, but remembering what my friends had told me about cleaning pine sap off of my hands after working in the yard, and knowing that rosin is mostly just tree sap, I have demonstrated that peanut butter does a very nice job of cleaning rosin off of strings.

[Remember your chemistry folks: like dissolves like. PB is a good base (not bass) to go with the strong basic (as opposed to acidic) quality of sap.]

Advantages: Excellent removal rate and will not/cannot hurt the varnish (which dissolves easily with the alcohol)

Disadvantages: the smell (mainly a problem if you have a dog) if you leave any on the strings, and the need to clean off the residual peanut butter (which can done with soap and water, again not hurting the varnish). Also, I would not try this on the bow, but I'm willing to let someone else try. I would be concerned about the peanut oil affecting the hair. It should wash off, though, with S&W leaving nice clean hair.

I didn't see anything on the forum about this, so I thought I'd check in and see if anyone else had tried it.

[BTW, PB absolutely does remove pine sap from anything you get it on. No kidding. Try it.]

[toman]

errr... Not sure what the need is for this. A cloth applied after playing removes rosin just fine, and rubbing alcohol or a piece of scotchbrite takes care of gunked up strings. Peanut oil left on the strings will certainly ruin your bow hair, and same goes if you intentionally put it on the hair... The only cure for old, worn out and dirty bow hair is just to get new hair... Am I missing something here?

[billyfalconer]

The most common tool I've seen recommended for extreme buildup of rosin on strings is a plastic Brillo pad.

[kurt muroki]

Homer Mensch always used Xylene which is pretty strong stuff.

[hdiddy]

Some people use hand lotion to remove sap as well. I believe it's the lanolin from hand lotion that helps gets stuff moving. Dunno if it has something oil that might affect the strings in some way.

[Paul Warburton]

Peanut butter is one of the only things that'll clean off bumper stickers from car paint!

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

Peanut butter is one of the only things that'll clean off bumper stickers from car paint!

Now that is a good tip!!

[Heifetzbass]

Originally Posted by kurt muroki

Homer Mensch always used Xylene which is pretty strong stuff.

If you use xylene or xylol- Please, Please- use a respirator!

That stuff will FRY your brain- and not in a good way!

BG

[kurt muroki]

Originally Posted by Heifetzbass

If you use xylene or xylol- Please, Please- use a respirator!

That stuff will FRY your brain- and not in a good way!

BG

yeah! thanks for adding that, I forgot! also wear gloves.

[Maaaven]

The old chemistry saw has to do with polarity (polar versus
non-polar, such as oil versus water) and not much to do
with acid or base. Peanut butter has peanut oil. Rosin is
a sap product, where they drive off the lighter terpines and
are left with the resinous portion.

There are some other solvents that take off bumper sticker
goo, specifically a product sold as Goof-Off, which has xylene,
which is a non-polar solvent. It is also flammable, and is
closely related to benzene, which is a known bady. Acetone
is also listed in the resin acid page below, but ssing strong solvents will also take off varnish ASAP and is pretty
hazardous to your health too.

Has anyone every tried a shampoo on hair?
That is about as agressive as I would be willing to go on a
fine bow whos finnish I was not already redoing.

http://www.valspar.com/val/resident/goof-off.jsp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylene
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin_acid

[vindy500]

wait wait wait, crunchy or smooth

[PoorPlayer]

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

Peanut butter is one of the only things that'll clean off bumper stickers from car paint!

Barry Goldwater proved peanut butter can be used instead of shaving cream as well.

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/qu...ldw163613.html

[Jeff Moote]

Originally Posted by Maaaven

The old chemistry saw has to do with polarity (polar versus
non-polar, such as oil versus water) and not much to do
with acid or base. Peanut butter has peanut oil. Rosin is
a sap product, where they drive off the lighter terpines and
are left with the resinous portion.

Ah, it's nice to see people on here who know their chemistry

There are some other solvents that take off bumper sticker
goo, specifically a product sold as Goof-Off, which has xylene,
which is a non-polar solvent. It is also flammable, and is
closely related to benzene, which is a known bady. Acetone
is also listed in the resin acid page below, but ssing strong solvents will also take off varnish ASAP and is pretty
hazardous to your health too.

Yes, these solvents can be hazardous if you don't respect them and work in appropriate ventilation, etc. I guess I don't really worry since I'm used to working with them for work and thus know what not to do.

These solvents most definitely will dissolve varnish, so if cleaning strings on the bass it's important that they do not drip on the bass.

[Maaaven]

Water and rubbing alchohol are not idea solvents for rosin
due to the polarity thing, but hot water does a decent job,
and is quite safe. I have also used rubbing alchohol on a
piece of cotton with some sucess. Again not idea, but risk
is pretty low if you wring it out first.

The harsh solvent approaches may be more effective, and
with a crudey old fiberglass bow are probably expedient,
but they are not going anywhere near my good bows, and
I think it would have been irresponsible to leave the thread
on a note that encourages experimentation with hazardous
materials.

That said, it is (reported to be) a free country.

[Bas-ddwblwr]

Peanut butter?! it's for sandwiches, you plonker! There's something wrong with you mate...

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by Bas-ddwblwr

Peanut butter?! it's for sandwiches, you plonker! There's something wrong with you mate...

I have no idea what the hell a Plonker is.......but, i'm sure it's something very clever...

[All_¥our_Bass]

Originally Posted by vindy500

wait wait wait, crunchy or smooth

Dad:"Crunchy or smooth?"
Kid:"CRUNCHY!!"
Dad:"Ok."

. . . a few minutes pass

Kid:"Daddy, where's my peanut butter sandwich?"
Dad:"I didn't make you a sandwich, I was asking what you wanting to clean your bass with."

Personally, I'd clean with the crunchy kind.

[Bas-ddwblwr]

[quote=Paul Warburton;3727288]I have no idea what the hell a Plonker is...

Sorry, I wasn't sure whether Americans would know what it meant. It's a nicer way of saying "idiot".

[roach]

[quote=Bas-ddwblwr;3727951]

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

I have no idea what the hell a Plonker is...

Sorry, I wasn't sure whether Americans would know what it meant. It's a nicer way of saying "idiot".

I live in the U.K. and have a very large shovel you can borrow, in case you need to dig the hole any deeper!

[Paul Warburton]

Please read the above few posts to witness how nasty people can get over a simple, fun thread such as peanutbutter as a solvent.
What would you guys do with a serious subject like the DB or music?