Properly cleaning and conditioning your guitar is vital to its health. Without the right care, the instrument will lose value and ultimately become unplayable. Thankfully, cleaning and conditioning a guitar is not difficult, all it takes is a little effort and time; which is definitely a worthy investment. Ensuring your guitar is in pristine condition will save lots of money in the future.
The fretboard and bridge are two essential components that require cleaning, conditioning and humidifying. This is vital because they are normally made of untreated or unfinished wood. An exception is maple fretboards as they have some kind of finish and as such, they only need to be cleaned. Ebony and rosewood bridges and fretboards must be cleaned and conditioned to prevent dirt and sweat from causing damage to the wood.
As the guitar is played, there is eventually a buildup of sweat, dead skin cells and dirt around the frets and on the fretboard itself. This is quite unattractive and worst of all, deterioration can result from the acids, moisture, and salts in the perspiration. This could further cause the fretboard to dry rot, resulting in loose frets and very costly repairs.
The electronics of a guitar can also be affected by sweat and dead skin cells. When there is a buildup of salts and acids on a pickup, the coils and magnets can become corroded and cause failure of the pickup. Additionally, the potentiometers and switches can be similarly affected by the corrosive materials.
Many manufacturers of strings and accessories offer guitar conditioners. However, it should be noted that many these products contain harmful solvents and chemicals that will be damaging to the wood and finish of your guitar. Therefore, you should go for a natural guitar conditioner that does not contain d-Limonene, silicone or alcohol.
Cleaning and Conditioning a Fretboard and Bridge
Apply a natural guitar conditioner to the fretboard and use the finest steel wool pad to rub it gently into the wood. Clean the wood in between the frets, ensuring the pad is worked along the side of every fret. Once clean, polish the frets by running the pad along them.
The bridge of a guitar is easy to clean and condition. Take off the bridge saddle and use a toothbrush and conditioner to scrub the bridge. Clean inside of the saddle slot with cotton swabs. Clean off the gunk and use paper towel to wipe down the bridge.
