• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Leather strap residue left on bass body--possible to remove?

William Duran

William Duran

Jan 29, 2018
12
13
Conway, AR
#1
So I left my strap on my bass while storing it in my gig bag for a day or so, nothing unusual for me. Obviously wouldn't do it again though. When I packed the bass up I had just finished playing outdoors in Arkansas for 2~ hours (i.e. hot and humid), the rest of the time it was in the case after that was in my air conditioned car or a building, so not as hot.

I guess the heat pulled some of the material off my strap, which was nestled against the bass body, and left a residue on the upper horn of the instrument.

This is the type of strap I have... (leather)

strappost.jpg

And this is what the bass looks like.

IMG_4941.JPG


I've lightly scraped it with a fingernail and nothing changed--feels pretty stuck on there. Have any of y'all experienced this?
 
#7
I have a '76 P bass whose white finish has long ago turned custard. It got exposed to some moisture and the black strap on it left leather "stains" on the finish. They wouldn't rub out with regular polish.
Or your thumb and some spit!!! It looked exactly like your issue.

I got this stuff:

ColorTone Scratch Remover | stewmac.com

Super mild abrasive. Worked it gently and it took everything out with no trace of impact to the finish at all. Designed for guitar finishes, rather than using something more industrial which, though I'm sure will produce results, might impact what's around it.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!Minimum impact.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bobyoung53, Tbone76, LostJohnny and 1 other person
#8
William Duran said:
Probably so! "Leather residue" doesn't make the most sense but I couldn't think of what else it could be.

E: it's got a pretty coarse texture
Click to expand...
It was the inside of your strap that was resting against your bass, right? Because it looks like the lining is some kind of polyurethane. I once had something similar happen from a stand I used to have. I'm pretty sure I just used some warm water and a towel or something to get rid of it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Matty Koff and William Duran
#10
Tosh said:
I use Solumel to clean the upholstery and headliner in my car, but it is a solvent (tea tree oil) so I don't know if you should use it on the guitar finish. Have you tried just Dawn and a soft clean cloth? That's what they use to get crude oil off of birds and other animals when there's a spill....
Click to expand...
Right? There's nothing cuter than that baby penguin chick getting a bubble bath.
Oh, and yeah, I'd start with something mild and work my way harsher. Dye can be tricky but you don't want to wreck the surface. Try a very small test area. Good luck.
 
#14
William Duran said:
I've lightly scraped it with a fingernail and nothing changed--feels pretty stuck on there. Have any of y'all experienced this?
Click to expand...

Yeah. And it is fixable, easy.

First thing to realize is the strap isn't real leather. I forget the trade name of the stuff, that company "Walker and Williams" uses the same crap, they call it "padded glove leather". Cut it open. Inside's full of some kind of...stuff. It's not pure leather. Here's a good explanation.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I think Levy's still does full grain leather straps (edit, they do not, nothing but "garment leather" these days, that's too bad!) and you'll know it because it's expensive as hell.

At any rate, I'd get a used t-shirt and some Turtle Wax (the green stuff, not the harsher rubout stuff, which I think is red and grey, depending on grit) or equivalent and just start rubbing. It WILL come off. It may take a while.

And you got off easy. I was dumb enough to leave a woven cotton strap on my nitro-finished Strat about ten years ago after a gig, stuffed it in the bag, didn't open it for a couple of weeks, and the imprints of the woven cotton are, a decade later, still nice and visible on the finish. Only way to fix that is sand and buff it out and I just don't feel like going to that amount of effort.
 
#15
William Duran said:
So I left my strap on my bass while storing it in my gig bag for a day or so, nothing unusual for me. Obviously wouldn't do it again though. When I packed the bass up I had just finished playing outdoors in Arkansas for 2~ hours (i.e. hot and humid), the rest of the time it was in the case after that was in my air conditioned car or a building, so not as hot.

I guess the heat pulled some of the material off my strap, which was nestled against the bass body, and left a residue on the upper horn of the instrument.

This is the type of strap I have... (leather)

View attachment 3932745
And this is what the bass looks like.

View attachment 3932746

I've lightly scraped it with a fingernail and nothing changed--feels pretty stuck on there. Have any of y'all experienced this?
Click to expand...
Rubbing alcohol
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back