Finger board treatment

[Rickco]

Im cleaning up a few old guitars, the ones in question have Brazilian RW finger boards. Just wondering what people use for cleaning off old finger goo and treatment (if any) after.

[bluenote61]

BR is also Rosewood like todays Indian Rosewood, hence I use the same liquids, i.e. lemon oil.

[John A.]

Im cleaning up a few old guitars, the ones in question have Brazilian RW finger boards. Just wondering what people use for cleaning off old finger goo and treatment (if any) after.

I clean off old goo with a cloth moistened with a little water or saliva. If the stuff is really caked on, I might use something like an old credit cart to scrape it. Some people use naptha (lighter fluid), but I have not. I use "fingerboard oil" I got from a guitar store a couple of times a year (ish) to shine it up a little. I don't currently have any Brazilian RW, but I have in the past, and used these techniques (which I also use on ebony).

[deacon Mark]

Well a bit of naphtha can cut through any grime and do nothing to the finish. You can use a scotch Brite pad or 1000 sandpaper to give board and frets a polish. Going for broke you can go to 2000 sandpaper and a dremel polishing wheel. I do this sometimes but not often going years between this higher form of care.

[olejason]

Scotchbrite pad if there is physical gunk on the board or frets. After that I like to use bore oil (for clarinets, not guns) on the fingerboard.

[Rickco]

Has anyone tried those fret not cloths?

[jim777]

A note about lemon oil, is that it can eat through nitro finishes. Most Martin acoustics come with a hang tag that mentions that. I use bore oil, which I believe was originally meant for clarinets.

[lesyeuxnoirs]

Once you have done cleaning - you could always consider using some Monty’s ‘instrument food’, which does a wonderful job of conditioning

[Jimmy blue note]

I worship my guitar. So I keep it in a glass case. Wouldn't dare touch the fingerboard.

That's my solution.
Watch the police and the tax man miss me.


Seriously though, lemon oil for me, and I've never noticed any harm to my finish, but then again I don't notice much from the perspective I'm used to seeing it; bass side on my leg.

[sgosnell]

Most of the oils mentioned are simply mineral oil, although what is sold as lemon oil can have various additives. I like Johnson's Baby Oil, because it's cheap and smells nice. Mostly because it's cheap. I use white ScotchBrite pads for cleaning fretboards. They're very fine, and mostly polish instead of removing any material from the frets or fretboard, but will remove grime and leave the surface clean and shiny. I do use some oil, but seldom and sparingly. Both rosewood and ebony are somewhat oily woods, and don't need much extra unless they're in a very dry environment, and even then very little. If string treatments like FastFret or similar are used, that will provide more than enough oil. The ingredient list for FastFret is short - mineral oil.

[brad4d8]

I use food grade mineral oil when I need to oil a fingerboard, doesn't happen too often.

[kevmoga]

Like the last two posts, I use straight mineral oil. Simple, cheap, and the smallest container you can buy will last a lifetime. I’ve always found the concept of “lemon oil” amusing. What can you say- marketers gonna market!

[pauln]

ChapStick; apply, rub around, wipe off.

[GuyBoden]

I thought that 'Lemon oil' is only mineral oil with an added artificial lemon additive (smell).

[Mick-7]

I thought that 'Lemon oil' is only mineral oil with an added artificial lemon additive (smell).

That's the fake stuff, you can buy the pure distilled oil - but don't buy a 4 oz. bottle like I did, it may last as long as my guitars:
Pure Lemon Oil - Amazon.com