How often do you clean your guitar?

Good guitar maintenance is always a good thing, and cleaning is a part of it.

You really want to keep off any oils or dirt that get on the guitar.

Plus, it just looks better when it is clean! And yes, that even goes for the old, beat up models!

Cloths

I like to always keep a cloth in all of my guitar cases. A good microfiber kind works real well. Simply give the guitar a “wipe-down” when you take it out of the case. At the very least, wipe down the back and front of the guitar neck. Here are some good cloths you can use and they are all very inexpensive. Order them online or go get them at your favorite music store.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MN203–mus…

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/099-0524-0…

Polish/Cleaners

Cleaners that are also polishes work great! Except for the fretboards. I would offer extreme caution there. Why? It can add excessive wax that can affect the tone of your strings, not to mention it will get your fingers dirty!

Here are some good polish/cleaners:

I like this one a lot:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/654–dunlo…

This one I use on my acoustic:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/18A0073–m…

I have used this one too:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PolishPump…

Really, just google what you need and choose one that looks good for you.

Fretboard Cleaners

For your fretboards you will use something that is wax free. Most brands use some kind of a lemon oil mixture. Regardless, make sure it is a fretboard cleaner and not just a guitar cleaner.

Here are some examples:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MN105–mus…

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/6554–dunl…

Cleaning Kits

I prefer to grab guitar cleaning kits (in fact I need to get one soon). They are very inexpensive and are all in one. Some even have extra types of cleaners, like string cleaners, if you really want to go over the top.

This is a very popular one from Dunlop:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/6504–dunl…

Another one from Nomad:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MN140–mus…

I think you get the idea. Look for what might work best for your guitar.

When do you clean?

A good time is when you are changing strings. The guitar is for the most part bare and you have accessibility to all sections of the instrument. Make sure you have it available to use after the old strings are off and before the new ones go on.

Of course you need to be changing your strings regularly, so there is that…

And I will use the cleaner bottle more regularly on the guitar body and the back of the neck, especially when I have an upcoming performance. It simply makes everything look better.

I hope this helps make you more successful in your playing!

Rock On,

Tony G.

PS: Oh and hey, can you do me a favor? I’m starting a mission to grow my You Tube Subscriibers to more than 17 (Ha!). No, seriously, if you can quickly hop over there and “Subscribe”, it would be so very awesome!

I promise that the videos (most of them at least) will be entertaining and/or informative!

Here is the path to arrive there:

Six String Corner