how do i clean a fretboard

[davidd]

Originally Posted by JayBee1404

I shudder when I read comments about 'gunk' or 'gunge', or 'grease build-up' on fingerboards.

If you wash your hands before playing, and wipe your strings and FB down after each playing session, as I do, there is never any grease, gunk, skin, sweat, spit, snot, or any other disgusting bodily substance building up on the board. A damp cloth followed by a dry cloth at each string change is all that's necessary.

Prevention is better than a cure, and considerably more hygienic.

The usual disclaimers apply......IMHO, YMMV etc.

While we may be hygienic quite a few guitars I have bought over the years have had some pretty gross junk all over them. My favorite Tele was a disgusting gunk encrusted ugly thing when I bought it. Sometimes you need more than H2O to remove years of buildup.

[jhmulkey]

Originally Posted by stringjunky2

Take a drinking glass, smudge your finger prints over then wipe it with a slightly damp cloth and then tell me "It's clean". Without using something sort of detergent you are just spreading it around.

Well, I've never used detergent on my fretboard (normally just 0000 steel wool), and it looks and feels great. Unlike a drinking glass, I'm not overly concerned with it being 100% sanitary. Not that I care if you use a detergent on your fretboard, of course

[Akousticplyr]

This Dunlop kit works great and lasts forever. Five years and counting with occasional use ie not every single string change. Comes with a rag and separate fret polish “cloth” thing which feels like rubberized sand paper for lack of better description.

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/acce...nditioning-kit

[musicwu]

I just use damp (not dripping) soft cloth to clean the fretboard and even the edges of the frets can be cleaned by reaching there with my fingertips covered with the cloth.

I don't use any solvent/cleaner product with my damp cloth but I do apply some olive oil (yes, the one from your kitchen) on the fretboard and it keeps the board shiny and it smells good too. The place where I live has low relative humidity all year round and this is recommended by my local luthier.

Not sure if you will like the smell tho.

[JayBee1404]

Originally Posted by davidd

While we may be hygienic quite a few guitars I have bought over the years have had some pretty gross junk all over them. My favorite Tele was a disgusting gunk encrusted ugly thing when I bought it. Sometimes you need more than H2O to remove years of buildup.

Yep, I agree that extreme circumstances demand extreme measures, David, but that's not what my post was about. It was about maintaining a clean F/B on a permanent basis.

[SouthpawJeff]

My feeling in general is start out with the least amount of chemicals and gradually work your way up. A rag dampened with warm water costs nothing and will remove a lot of crud. If that doesn’t get all/enough crud then maybe try some gentle scraping. If it’s still not clean enough then maybe try something harsher like naphtha.

Good luck,
Jeff

[Al_Plays_Poorly]

For cleaning, I just use water and elbow grease. Sometimes a little steel wool very carefully. For treating very dry, unfinished wood, I use nothing but Fret Doctor since it was first recommended to me.
Edmund W. Boyle [email protected] sells it (makes it up in his bathtub, I think) but a 30ml bottle will last you most of your life because you don't need much.

I only use it about every couple of years.