A good cleaning/conditioning product?

LazyLightning

LazyLightning

New member
Hi folks,
I have for the most part always ( even back in the early 90's before being forced out of playing due to an injury ) been pretty happy with the results of cleaning my fret boards with a damp towel. It has always worked well to get the grim and gunk off between string replacements.

I still feel it works well, but only up to a point anymore. I would like to give a cleaner / conditioner product a try, but in all honestly I have absolutely zero knowledge on the best products available these days.

Anyone mind giving me some advise ( based on personal experience would be the best ) on your favorite product to use?

Will be using it on both my Rosewood Strat as well as my Rosewood CD-60 acoustic's fret boards.

TIA!
 
Re: A good cleaning/conditioning product?

I will be posting some before and after photos of my ziricote fretboard after cleaning it using #0000 steel wool in a few weeks (or whenever I get around to it). #0000 steel wool is very fine and does not damage or scratch the wood but it completely gets rid of dirt and grime.

If your fretboard has a finish you can use almost any cleaner you want as long as it does not remove the finish. If your fretboard does not have a finish I would use something approved for guitars (like the Dunlop product greekdude linked to) or test it on a small area of the fretboard first if it is not approved for guitars
 
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Re: A good cleaning/conditioning product?

Clean with Windex and elbow grease. Condition with lemon oil.
 
Re: A good cleaning/conditioning product?

P.s. Steel wool works too, but cover your pickups with masking first! Magnets attract steel...one little bit inside the coil is enough to short windings. Be careful!
 
Re: A good cleaning/conditioning product?

My wife got me some of this stuff
http://www.virtuosopolish.com/page13.php
it's stupid expensive, but it works. As long as your guitar isn't finished with Lacquer, you can use Naptha ("real" Naptha, not "Ronsonol" since that supposedly isn't made of Naptha anymore. That and a tiny bottle of Ronsonol costs more than a quart of Naptha from the hardware store...) I haven't run across anything that can't be taken off with Naptha. If you're doing an unfinished rosewood fret board, definitely re-oil it after Naptha-ing it, because it will be super dried out.
 
Re: A good cleaning/conditioning product?

Guitar Honey for fretboards. Been using it 20-ish years, about 2x a year on unfinished boards. It's never done me wrong.
 
Re: A good cleaning/conditioning product?

Actually, a damp rag will remove about 99% of contaminants from your fretboard. Not a bad thing to do.

This is what I use: the Dunlop Formula 65 Guitar Maintenance Kit. The kit has a spritz polish, as well as Carnuaba Wax to protect your guitar's finish; the 65 String Cleaner works very well to prolong string life; and the Fretboard Cleaner and Conditioner will maintain that board and leave a silky feel. It also comes with a polishing cloth, and a nifty little fret polishing cloth.

Pure lemon oil is fine, but most of the products available have extra stuff in them that I'm not sure about. I think they have recently changed the formula for Gerlitz Guitar Honey, and I've quit using it. Petroleum distillates. I've just tried a new product called F-One, and it seems to be good stuff; did a nice job on my banjo's fretboard.

For restoring a finish, IME, nothing works better than Virtuoso Cleaner and Polish. (Not for fretboards, though.)

BTW, all of these products are available at Guitar Center.

Bill

P.S. A LOT of people swear by bore oil--notably a product called Fret Doctor. Never tried it, but it is supposed to be one of the fretboard conditioners out there.


http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/system-65-guitar-maintenance-kit
 
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Re: A good cleaning/conditioning product?

I've been using scotch brite pads to clean the fretboard when it gets really gross and a damp rag no longer works. So far that's been up to the task.
 
Re: A good cleaning/conditioning product?

formula73 said:
Guitar Honey for fretboards. Been using it 20-ish years, about 2x a year on unfinished boards. It's never done me wrong.
Click to expand...

+1 to this! Been using this on my Rosewood boards for a long time and works great. For other woods I use Linseed Oil but with that stuff a little goes a long way.
 
Re: A good cleaning/conditioning product?

They changed the formula????
vader.jpg



Boogie Bill said:
Actually, a damp rag will remove about 99% of contaminants from your fretboard. Not a bad thing to do.

This is what I use: the Dunlop Formula 65 Guitar Maintenance Kit. The kit has a spritz polish, as well as Carnuaba Wax to protect your guitar's finish; the 65 String Cleaner works very well to prolong string life; and the Fretboard Cleaner and Conditioner will maintain that board and leave a silky feel. It also comes with a polishing cloth, and a nifty little fret polishing cloth.

Pure lemon oil is fine, but most of the products available have extra stuff in them that I'm not sure about. I think they have recently changed the formula for Gerlitz Guitar Honey, and I've quit using it. Petroleum distillates. I've just tried a new product called F-One, and it seems to be good stuff; did a nice job on my banjo's fretboard.

For restoring a finish, IME, nothing works better than Virtuoso Cleaner and Polish. (Not for fretboards, though.)

BTW, all of these products are available at Guitar Center.

Bill

P.S. A LOT of people swear by bore oil--notably a product called Fret Doctor. Never tried it, but it is supposed to be one of the fretboard conditioners out there.


http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/system-65-guitar-maintenance-kit
Click to expand...
 
Re: A good cleaning/conditioning product?

Usually when I buy a guitar, I use the Dr. Stringfellows lem-oil on the fretboard: one single good application.
313_Kyser_Lemon_Oil_a.jpg


Every other time for the rest of that guitars life when it gets grimy, (during a full string change) I take a sock, turn it inside out, stick my hand in it, and spit on the board and rub it really hard till its clean again.
 
Re: A good cleaning/conditioning product?

80's_Metal said:
Usually when I buy a guitar, I use the Dr. Stringfellows lem-oil on the fretboard: one single good application.
313_Kyser_Lemon_Oil_a.jpg


Every other time for the rest of that guitars life when it gets grimy, (during a full string change) I take a sock, turn it inside out, stick my hand in it, and spit on the board and rub it really hard till its clean again.
Click to expand...


Remind me to never pick up one of your guitars without latex gloves on and even then ewwwwww. lol I tease :joke: ( I don't go around picking up other peoples ladies, it's not polite )
 
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