Cleaning Your Guitar’s Fretboard

With the passage of time, certain parts of your guitar will start getting dirty. This is quite natural because of wear-and-tear, environmental effects (such as dust, pollution and humidity), and above all, usage (your own body sweat, oils and maybe even a bit of saliva!).

As a result, there might be a buildup around the frets, which means that you end up with a tacky, sticky fretboard.

Not only can this buildup affect your ability to play the guitar properly, it can also cause permanent damage to your guitar, creating cracks or chips in the fretboard, damaging the wood of the neck. Playing on an unclean guitar can also pose some health issues and concerns, because an unclean guitar is unhygienic.

Therefore, it is essential to properly clean your fretboard and the frets, because it protects your guitar from long-term damage, protects the wood of your fretboard, and most importantly, a clean guitar won’t affect your performance in any way whatsoever, allowing you to play the guitar like you want to, and have an instrument that plays and sounds good.

And let’s not forget, a clean guitar also looks good!

Often times, people focus on spending as much time as possible playing the guitar, while neglecting the fact that the instrument also needs regular clean-ups and maintenance. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with making the most of your time by playing the guitar, it is equally important to keep a clean and well-maintained instrument.

Fretboards should be cleaned and maintained on a regular basis. The process is pretty simple and straightforward.

First off, take off the strings from the fretboard. Be very careful when doing this, so as to not scratch the finish of your fretboard. Don’t be alarmed if you find large amount of dirt and dust buildups on the neck and the fretboard. And make sure that the strings are not present at the place you’ll be working in, since string ends and especially cut string ends can be sharp and can damage your guitar’s finish.

Properly wipe down the fretboard using a soft, clean and dry cloth. Most of the dirt and dust should come off easily, without a lot of trouble. However most of the dirt, grease and gunk buildup   will most likely be a whole lot stickier, and hence much harder to remove.

Some of the tools that I personally recommend using are as follows:

1.       Toothpick: Yes, the good old toothpick! Use one of those sturdy wooden or plastic toothpicks to scrape off the dirt, especially the dirt and grease that builds up and sticks to the sides of the frets. Toothpick won’t damage your fingerboard, and will provide you with a precision tool, like a metal blade for instance, but with little to now chances of damaging your guitar.

2.       Plastic credit cards: Another relatively safe method to remove the dirt – without the fear of damaging your guitar – would be to use plastic credit cards. Credit cards can also be used with toothpicks, and can easily scrape of dirt and gunk from areas where cloth or rags might not be so effective – such as the place where the fret meets the neck.

3.       Steel wool: Get the finest, most softest wool available (000 grade). This is essential because hard wool will most definitely damage the polish and finish of your guitar. When using wool with polish (more on that in a bit), do it in a parallel motion to the frets, and not across, as this will help get rid of the gunk and grease residue easily. All steel-wool residue should be removed, or it will end up getting attracted to the pickup magnets. It would be a good idea to tape up the pickups prior to doing this.

4.       Knives, metal blades, or steel rulers: Strong not recommended, unless you have some really tough-ass stains or residue to remove! When using these, it is essential to be careful about your own personal safety and the wood or finish of the fretboard. If you do decide to go this route, be extremely gentle and careful.

No matter which of these methods you use, it is extremely important to proceed with caution, and be as careful as possible. Above all, never rush things, and take your time with it. Be gentle when using steel wool, metal blades or knives so that the finish remains unaffected.

Two important things to consider and remember:

First off, fingerboards are made up of different kinds of wood types. Some might be easy to clean, while the others could be a downright pain-in-the-behind!

For instance, maple fingerboard usually come with a factory applied layer of lacquer, which means that it is much more resistant to grease or dirt buildup and hence wouldn’t require a lot of cleaning or frequent maintenance.

Ebony and rosewood fretboard and untreated fretboard types, and will hence require oil and product applications in order to maintain the wood. It is recommended to do so at least once-a-year, however that depends on how much you play and use the guitar.

Secondly, there are many polishes and maintenance products available in the market. You have two choices here: lemon-oil or furniture-oil. Lemon-oil products are actually harmful to the wood of your guitar, contrary to popular belief. Besides, these sealants also come with heavy waxes, silicone and other harmful chemicals.

It is instead recommended to buy furniture-oils and furniture application products. These products contain mineral oils, and don’t come with any silicon, waxes or chemicals.

These mineral oils – which are also available as separate products – contain petroleum distillates and other chemicals that are completely harmless to guitar woods. They are therefore much better than products that might contain waxes or other byproducts that are harmful to the guitar wood, its finish and can clog up fretboard rather than cleaning it up.

Oils should be applied only once you’ve thoroughly cleaned up you fretboard using the abovementioned methods, and should never be used excessively. Use only a very small amount. Wipe off the oil using a clean and dry soft cloth. These oils will help preserve the wood of your guitar, and their finish. Sweetwater has a great range of guitar maintenance accessories which might be worth checking out.

After you’re done, put on the strings again, use a tuner to tune and properly intonate your guitar once more and you should be good to go once again! What you’ll end up with is a clean, good-looking fretboard which accentuates the look of your guitar. Good luck!

Additional Read: If you're looking for a complete guitar maintenance guide, LearnGuitar.org has you covered!