• Join the A7X Discord!

    We're updating the community and moving all social content from the community to the Discord. All lessons related conversations will still take place here though! Join the Discord below and view the full announcement for more details

    JOIN THE DISCORD VIEW THREAD

Guitar Best way to clean your fretboard?

Luke G

Free Bird Player
Nov 11, 2019
30
7
New Jersey
9
Hey all, I haven't been active on this website for a while and I have a question that seemingly everyone around me has a different opinion on. It's really simple, I just need to learn how to clean my fretboard, but yet I've gotten all sorts of different answers and I want to make sure I take extra care of my guitar. The fretboards are very dirty, as I had stopped playing for a while due to personal circumstances. Over the hiatus the fretboards for my guitars are caked in oil and soot and I want to get them looking brand new again. I initially spent about an hour or so rubbing off some of the more obvious dirt with a guitar pick, as to not scratch the wood, but there is still a considerable amount of residue left over. I heard to use steel wool, or lemon oil to get it out, but I don't want to damage the guitar. The frets are also not as shiny anymore, any recommendations on how to properly clean and take care of my guitars?

Thanks for the help!
-Luke
 

Attachments

  • IMG-4932.jpg
    IMG-4932.jpg
    596.8 KB · Views: 153
  • Like
Reactions: Nicky27B

hunte25

Garage band Groupie
  • May 15, 2022
    18
    9
    What I do I is I use the Dunlop deluxe cleaning kit I’ll first spray cleaner and prep on a cleaning cloth and rub it against the direction the wood goes (usually vertically) if that’s not enough then I’ll use a toothbrush (don’t use the one you use for your teeth that’s gross) which that definitely cleans it right off without scratching the wood (you don’t need to use a lot of strength too much force on the fretboard will hurt it). for maple fretboards I have no clue because I personally think maple is ugly and a pain in the butt 🤣
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Luke G
    Upvote 0

    Rad Synner

    Sold-out Crowd Surfer
    Staff member
    Legend+
  • Nov 11, 2019
    1,416
    4
    4,357
    Montreal
    8
    Yeah, lemon oil is great. I used the dunlop one for years and it has always been good but it's just very important to not use lemon oil for maple fretboards! As for the method, I just use a microfiber cloth once the lemon oil has been applied to clean the whole thing. I personally don't do it in any particular direction and im not particularly delicate either but also I don't press like crazy. I clean my fretboard like i'd clean a table or something.

    The last thing is also to wait a minute after the first wipe because there might be some rejected lemon oil from the fretboard to clean up.

    That's about it!
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Luke G and Ed Seith
    Upvote 0

    Ed Seith

    Supreme Galactic Overlord
    Staff member
    Legend+
  • Nov 11, 2019
    3,882
    15
    6,603
    54
    Marana, AZ USA
    soundcloud.com
    35
    For normal situations, yeah - cleaning spray or even warm soapy water on a microfiber rag. But if you're deep in the caked on shit and gunk, get Gorgomyte.

     
    • Like
    Reactions: Luke G
    Upvote 0

    Rad Synner

    Sold-out Crowd Surfer
    Staff member
    Legend+
  • Nov 11, 2019
    1,416
    4
    4,357
    Montreal
    8
    For normal situations, yeah - cleaning spray or even warm soapy water on a microfiber rag. But if you're deep in the caked on shit and gunk, get Gorgomyte.

    Holy shit, that website is old as fuck. I kind of dig it
     
    • Haha
    Reactions: Ed Seith
    Upvote 0