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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 848
Location: Canada | I love sitting outside on my patio in the summer evenings and playing a bit of guitar. But now we had some good rainfalls and mosquitoes have been emerging and are becoming a nuisance here. Last summer my preferred guitar was a Guild Orpheum which has a very delicate nitro finish. So there was a constant struggle to balance my desire to play with dealing with mosquitoes, and with protecting the guitar from the detrimental effects of DEET (which dissolves some plastics as well as nitrocellulose finish quite quickly). Now this summer, I quite enjoy playing the 1687 outside, and I am wondering if I can apply DEET freely or if there are any components of the Adamas that might be affected if they get in contact with DEET covered skin? |
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Joined:
December 2015
Posts: 287
Location: Katmandu | I would advise caution since DEET is an effective solvent known to dissolve painted or varnished surfaces. But perhaps someone has first-hand experiences with DEET here. |
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Joined:
February 2016
Posts: 1803
Location: When?? | WAIT.. STOP... NO!! My wife owns a salon and has commented before on how she has seen ladies' nail polish actually bubbled and peeled right off after applying a DEET repellent. It usually requires acetone to cut through polish, so as for the Adamas-type finish being damaged by DEET-- I would strongly think YES, especially if exposed repeatedly. I like a good porch swing strum too; and we sometimes have a mosquito problem at our lake house.. annoying little mazzards.. but personally I think I would just go play my guitar inside before I would put that stuff on my skin! Anyway, I have found that a simple table fan blowing directly on me works wonders. It doesn't have to be set at gail force wind speed or anything, but just enough of a breeze to foil their aerodynamic ability to linger or land. So there's my $.02 worth with a wish of good luck to ya. |
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Joined:
July 2005
Posts: 1609
Location: Colorado | DEET also does a good job of cleaning those hazed car headlights!.... |
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Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 1556
Location: Indiana | I lived on Hilton Head Island for years and played mostly outdoor gigs.... notorious area for no-see-ums. At first, I found myself dousing myself in DEET 6, 7 days a week. One day I noticed that it was beginning to remove the finish from the neck. Couple of spots down to bare wood. Said to myself, "damn, wonder what that's doing to ME?" My solution was to add a high volume fan to my setup and that worked great. A little noisy and chilly on late fall evenings... but easier on my guitars and neurology. |
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Joined:
September 2011
Posts: 402
Location: New Hartford CT | DEET can work as a solvent on plastics, finishes or any delicate coating. Keep it the heck away from your guitar at all cost. I learned this the hard way, DEET actually burned some of the plastic housings on one of my telescopes. |
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Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6197
Location: Phoenix AZ | ... yet perfectly safe for humans and pets. |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Standingovation - 2016-08-03 9:44 AM
... yet perfectly safe for humans and pets.
...according to the FDA. And their statement of approval is worth every penny they were paid to say it.
Edited by Waskel 2016-08-03 12:37 PM
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | We get our house and property sprayed with a mosquito specific surface spray 4 times a year. We live outdoors here 10 months of the year. They used to be a huge problem, but if we get bitten now, it means its time to spray again. Definitely worth the money if you're serious about a life on the porch. No more DEET or smelly mosquito coils. You'd have to investigate for yourself what's available in your area, as your local restrictions would be different to Australia, and other States. |
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Adamas and DEET