WD-40 to clean guitar strings?

[PTony]

One of the best uses I’ve found for WD-40 is removing tar spots from car paint. I’ve detailed cars (professionally at a one point) for years and am VERY OCD about pretty much everything. That being said, once I’ve used it I wash the vehicle and then proceed with detailing afterwards. But guitar string cleaning...uhhh I’ll stick with the ”just change the strings” crowd.

[Bridgepin]

I use WD-40 for a lot of things, but cleaning my guitars strings doesn't really sound to good to me...... Pun intended

[pdxstrummer]

Originally Posted by dwasifar

No way.

Aside from the obvious deleterious effects on wood and fingers, leaving the strings coated with oil is just going to attract more dirt.

My dad firmly believed in WD-40's magical cleaning abilities. Every time he and my mom rode their bikes, he would spray down the gears and derailleur with it. I took a look at his bike when he started having trouble with the chain. The derailleur was so solidly gummed up with WD-40 and dirt that its gears had simply frozen, and the chain had worn the teeth off them. "But WD-40 wouldn't do that! It's a cleaner and a lubricant!"

I collect, clean and fix typewriters as one of my hobbies. The words I hate to hear when I go to buy a machine are, "I just cleaned it with WD40!"

[duesenberg]

Originally Posted by ohiopicker

I don’t quite get it. Lots of bad comments about WD40, yet we oil our fretboards with lemon and linseed oils, clean our strings with specialized cleaning products that contain who knows what, and String our guitars with coated strings...

I use copious amounts of mineral oil on fretboards, nothing else.
WD40 can be used on strings before they are installed to help extend life. I would never spray it near the guitar.

[musicman1951]

Originally Posted by ohiopicker

I don’t quite get it. Lots of bad comments about WD40, yet we oil our fretboards with lemon and linseed oils, clean our strings with specialized cleaning products that contain who knows what, and String our guitars with coated strings...

OK, I don't do any of that - so I suppose it's alright that I think WD-40 is a crazy idea for strings. ;-)

[L20A]

Spray a small amount of WD-40 on a cloth and then wipe down the strings.
Have something between the strings and the fret board, to keep the WD-40 from contacting the fret board.
Don't over do it.

There are products on the market to do this.
I would suggest that these products would be a better choice.

[Bluemonk]

Only if the choice was between WD-400 and Goo Gone.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Naturally, the people and companies that make and sell those products would like us to use them lavishly and often...

If you were to email the makers of Comet, Boraxo, Pepsodent and EZ-Off and ask them if their product will clean guitar strings, I bet they'd all say yes.

[mawmow]

How would you save in string cost over a year ?
Would it pay the WD-40 ? :-/
Is it worth a fretboard on a beloved guitar ? :-(

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by mawmow

Is it worth a fretboard on a beloved guitar ? :-(

If a guitar in my house smelled like that, my wife would banish it to the garage and the cats would try to bury it.

[dwasifar]

Originally Posted by pdxstrummer

I collect, clean and fix typewriters as one of my hobbies. The words I hate to hear when I go to buy a machine are, "I just cleaned it with WD40!"

You share that hobby with Tom Hanks. Apparently if you type him a letter, he'll type one back.

I think that's a great hobby, actually. I'm still sorry I didn't take my dad's Remington Rand Model 17 when he offered it to me. I learned to type on that giant iron behemoth, and he banged out his entire doctoral thesis on it. (I remember hearing it clatter while he worked on that.)

I don't know what became of it. I know my sister didn't want it either. Probably went to the scrapyard.

[Brucebubs]

A little Napalm on a rag works too but keep it away from your skin .. and your house.

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by mikev0882

So, I was watching CNBC yesterday and they were interviewing the CEO of whoever makes WD. While they were interviewing him they had a side caption of maybe 7 or 8 uses for the product. And one of these Uses was ‘cleans guitar strings’. At first I LOL’d. But had anyone ever cleaned their guitar strings with WD?

I can see how he thinks its a great idea for his company, but do you think that it's a great idea to be constantly absorbing that through your fingers into your body?...That's exactly what will be happening...

My wife and I are currently on a kick to remove chemicals from our lives wherever we can...My guitar strings is definitely a place where I can control that...

Good luck

[Wade Hampton]

This subject has come up before. The last time it did I went to the WD-40 website, and they’ve got a whole page of dubious “things you can use WD-40 for!” and an open invitation to the public to submit more ideas.

The company is clearly interested in promoting their product as being suitable for many, many uses. But that doesn’t mean all or even any of their suggestions are worthwhile.


whm

[Rpt50]

WD-40 is actually a pretty amazing cleaner that I use very frequently in my shop. I buy it by the gallon and put it in a spray bottle. I have never seen it damage any surface in a cleaning context. I would have never thought of using it to clean guitar strings, but I bet it would work pretty well if you sprayed it on a rag and pinched it around a string. I can't see how it would harm the fret board given that we use other oil products there. I'm certainly not going to try it on my better guitars but I might give it a go on a beater.