Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners What to use to get fingerprints off speakers?

Is it safe to use Pledge or just use a damp cloth? My little girl just can't keep her hands off of my speakers.

Try one of those Windex wipes. That should do it. And buy her a single M2i. Tell her it's hers and that she should keep her hands off of yours.

I use pledge on my Axioms. It clears off the fingerprints and keeps the finish nice and lustrous.

pledge is awfull stuff. id never put it on my axioms. i used to wipe my old JBL's off with it and it made them worse.

Id stay away from windex as well because of the ammonia, although i do use windex on my componets...

I believe its suggested in the manual to use a soft cloth with a mild soap and water, and then dry them off with a paper towel or something, it will work fine. and wont leave a bunch of crud on the speakers. Dish soap would work fine.

Maybe the Pledge in Hawaii is different.... I've had positive results with with it.

I believe that the original poster was speaking about an fingerprint on the aluminum cone of a driver. If that is the case, I'de go with just plain water or try the breathe on it method like people do when they are cleaning their glasses.

I wouldn't wan't to get any chemicals on the rubberized material supporting the cone. They might shorten the life of it.

Pledge should work great for the outside of the speaker cabinets, but not the drivers...

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I was talking about cleaning the speaker cabinets. I didn't know if it would hurt the finish to use pledge since the cabinets aren't real wood.

i dont think it would hurt them. when ever ive used it though it makes fingerprints even more visible and just adds kindof a greasy residue.

And it *could* be the humidity here.

I think the vinyl would be more resilient than real wood to chemical cleaners, but if the fingerprints were particularly stubborn you could always blast away at them with your Glock. They might sound even better w/ some additional porting.

Pledge will not hurt the vinyl and it's great stuff. DON'T use Windex, which could eat into any finishing agents that Axiom places on the vinyl. (I can't say for sure whether they use a finish on the vinyl, but why take chances? You definitely should never use Windex or glass cleaner on real wood, since the ammonia can damage the finish coat.)

Pledge is just silicon with some lemon scent and a combo that amounts to wax (even though they claim it's not waxy). When you use it, just do so sparingly and wipe thoroughly. It is designed to clean and shine, and does both well, so long as you wipe it to take off the very mild wax residue.

Incidentally, Pledge and any similar silicon-based wood cleaner works great for removing water rings and blush marks from wood finishes. Just spray it on the mark in excess and let it sit overnight. The silicon separates the liquid out of the finish -- let's it rise out of the finish and evaporate -- which usually is the source of the problem.

Read Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner if you want to understand wood finishing and cleaning products in detail.

Birdman