What is Nitrocellulose lacquer? The good and the bad…

You hear the word “nitro” or “nitrocellulose finish” thrown around in guitar talks, but what exactly is nitro?  In this article we will try to explaining what nitro is.  What we will not cover though are the benefits and/or drawbacks of nitro because that is  subjective, and I do not want to get slapped.  On that note lets go…

Lets take a time machine all the way back to 1832 and chill with a dude named Henri Braconnot who figured out a way to make pure nitrocellulose (which looks like cotton) by taking a cellulostic materials (fancy for wood fiber) and using a process called nitration which involves a bunch of acids and mixing them together.  This byproduct was originally used as an explosive because it burns really fast.  Later on, with more experimentation, they were able to figure out a way to plasticize the nitrocellulose and make nitrate which was really popular for film in the 20′s. The one BIG down side was that it burns and burns fast and it produces its own oxygen so water cant really put it out ( for further study check out Inglorious Bastards by Quentin Tarantino where the climax is in a burning theater).

Further on down the line, scientists  figured out a another chemical mix with nitrocellulose to make it an evaporation/solvent based lacquer that was used first in the automotive industry because it dried fast and was easy to apply and polish. However, like other nitrocellulose based products, it was still toxic and flammable.  Around the 40′s and 50′s the instrument industry took to “nitro” because of the same benefits that the automotive industry liked it for.  Later on down the line though other finishes were adopted because of the toxic nature of “nitro” and because the finish cracks and yellows.  Also when it comes in contact with natural rubber for extended periods of time, it can discolor (see above pic).  Some of the finishes that they later adopted are polyurethane and polyester for their stability and color fastness.

Hope that gave you some insight to the background of Nitrocellulose and that you enjoyed it!