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Best way to clean a fingerboard
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Guitarsid
Posts: 52
Joined: Aug. 5 2013
From: Maryland USA
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 RE: Best way to clean a fingerboard (in reply to timoteo)
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Clean oily finger grease with rubbing alcohol, and then on occasion (you can almost tell when it is needed due to the dry look), oil the board with linseed oil. Let it soak in and wipe away if any excess oil is applied. It soaks into the wood, it dries completely by oxidation/polymerization, and it does not attract anything whatsoever, quite the opposite, it will help keep the wood from absorbing the wrong oils, such as from your hands. It is also a very good water and moisture repellent. Linseed is a time tested and proven very good treatment for unfinished wood, as it has been used as a wood preservative, conditioner for many centuries for these very reasons.
Non-drying oils, such as those exuded by human hands, will not dry and do attract and accumulate dirt. This is the key, the drying vs non-drying oil property of different types of oils is the crucial difference in what kind of oil is good and which is bad for which specific application.
Wiki info on linseed oil is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linseed_oil#Wood_finish
quote:
Additionally, a luthier may use linseed oil when reconditioning a guitar, mandolin, or other stringed instrument's fret board; lemon-scented mineral oil is commonly used for cleaning, then a light amount of linseed oil (or other drying oil) is applied to protect it from grime that might otherwise result in accelerated deterioration of the wood.
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Date Sep. 13 2013 14:51:19
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estebanana
Posts: 9413
Joined: Oct. 16 2009
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RE: Best way to clean a fingerboard (in reply to Guitarsid)
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quote:
Clean oily finger grease with rubbing alcohol, and then on occasion (you can almost tell when it is needed due to the dry look), oil the board with linseed oil. Let it soak in and wipe away if any excess oil is applied. It soaks into the wood, it dries completely by oxidation/polymerization, and it does not attract anything whatsoever, quite the opposite, it will help keep the wood from absorbing the wrong oils, such as from your hands. It is also a very good water and moisture repellent. Linseed is a time tested and proven very good treatment for unfinished wood, as it has been used as a wood preservative, conditioner for many centuries for these very reasons.
Non-drying oils, such as those exuded by human hands, will not dry and do attract and accumulate dirt. This is the key, the drying vs non-drying oil property of different types of oils is the crucial difference in what kind of oil is good and which is bad for which specific application.
Still not quite getting the chemistry right. Alcohol is not a complete solvent for oil, it might solve some hardened dirt or grime, but not all. It also dries out the wood. Sometimes restorers use Xelene whch is like alcohol, but will not act as a solvent for oil based finishes.
Naptha flashes off fast and is a solvent for oil, it usually solves and removes oil deposits alcohol won't remove. And more importantly naptha is not a solvent for Shellac or Lacquer finishes. This is important to tell to guitarists trying to clean their own guitars because they may not understand or be aware that alcohol dissolves French polished, shellac, finishes. That is why instrument makers refrain from telling customers to get near finishes with alcohol. There been more than on sad story of how some one cleaning an instrument spilled the alcohol over it or wiped too far..etc.
Linseed oil is a drying oil, put on wood? Sure, but it's not needed. A Q-tip with tiny bit of naptha is still better. It is impressive to a customer when they get a nice oiled dark fingerboard, but if you applied linseed oil every time you changed your strings and cleaned the fingerboard it would create a thick varnish like mess.
That is why I tell people to be fastidious about wiping off sweat and moisture from strings and fingerboard after a long playing session. It prolongs the life of the strings and wipes the grimy spooge off the fingerboard while it is wet and removable. Then think about where that oil goes when you put it on a fingerboard. It goes right into the windings of the strings. So sure some linseed oil is ok, but it's really not necessary. The preventative care of wiping the guitar dry, to me at least, is more important than applying all kinds of goops.
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Date Sep. 13 2013 23:50:28
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Guitarsid
Posts: 52
Joined: Aug. 5 2013
From: Maryland USA
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RE: Best way to clean a fingerboard (in reply to estebanana)
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quote:
but will not act as a solvent for oil based finishes.
Not getting the thread topic right, this cleaning is strictly talking about the cleaning of an unfinished fingerboard, not about cleaning the finish. Finish cleaning is another topic altogether, unless the fingerboard itself is finished and you want to preserve that finish. Rickenbachers have finished fingerboards, but I didn't think flamencos are normally finished.
When cleaning a fingerboard, you only need to moisten a rag or q-tip and clean off the residue on the unfinished fingerboard surface. There are a number of good cleaning agents one can use, lemon oil was mentioned, soapy warm cloths, spirits, alcohol, naptha,etc.
Alcohol will nicely clean off the unwanted oil and dirt. It can also be used to clean strings that have the same nasty finger deposits and residue deposited within the grooves of the wound strings. This will restore the bright sound and extend the life of the strings to a certain point. Alcohol and naptha both completely evaporate.
For finish cleaning, there are a number of caveats and specifics associated with proper cleaning and maintenance and french polished finishes are the most delicate .
Avoid any contact of any cleaner with a french polished guitar. Never wipe or clean a french polished surface with a wet cloth, with solvents, or with polishes; do not even use any of the cleaning agents and compounds specially sold for guitars - these are not intended for French Polished instruments. It is possible to clean off a french polished guitar with a very wrung out, slightly damp cloth, but one must excercise caution.
But for guitars with other commonly used modern varnishes, a number of cleaners can be used, soap and water, lemon oil, naptha, alcohol, murphy's oil soap, mineral spirits, a mix of turp and oil, commercial guitar cleaner formulations, etc.
Even these finishes have caveats, for instance, some should not be used with nitrocellulose, but some should be used for nitrocellulose.
As I said, the oiling of a fingerboard need only be done on occasion, wipe off any excess, it is absorbed by unfinished wood and does not get on the strings. I have done it many times, for many decades, to many guitars and I have never seen any problem whatsoever, I have only seem much benefit. I have never ever seen a fingerboard that was over oiled, but countess times, I have seen it greatly improve dried out fingerboards. Very old, worn, and dry fingerboards will soak up oil, some are often literally as thirsty as they can be and are very often badly in need of some oil. As I said, this is a centuries old, time tested, wood treatment that provides benefits without problems.
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Date Sep. 14 2013 3:21:35
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estebanana
Posts: 9413
Joined: Oct. 16 2009
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RE: Best way to clean a fingerboard (in reply to Pimientito)
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quote:
Guitarsid
aficionado
Posts: 47
Joined: Aug. 5 2013
From: Maryland USA
RE: waxing guitar (in reply to Guitarsid)
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Natural resin varnishes all also age, dry, and crack eventually, so periodically treating the guitar with carnauba wax or lemon oil will also help to slow this processs and preserve these finishes longer. Newer synthetic resin varnishes are less prone to this deterioration because the newer synthetic complex polymers are far more durable than traditional natural resin varnishes/shellac. So while newer poly finishes may not benefit as much from feeding the surface, they will also keep the guitar looking like it has been dipped in plastic forever.
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Report Abuse | Date Sep. 7 2013 3:16:33
This is what you posted the other day. It makes no sense at all.
Flamenco guitars get French Polished or sprayed with lacquer, both finishes are best kept by doing as little as possible. Wipe with a dry cloth, visit your guitar maker when they need care.
Some cheaper flamenco guitars occasionally get modern finishes, but which ones? Catalyzed lacquer is super hard and nothing really touches it, you can't put wax on it to 'feed' it.
Phenolic and Alkyd resins are also fairly hard and polyurethane is thick and formulated to not show scratches as white crusty lines. So they look like plastic? Who cares? One of them is actually plastic, the other three are seldom used on high end flamenco guitars so what's the point of discussing them?
I get the feeling that you just made that stuff up and it's not your experience over a long period of time as a builder of flamenco or classical guitars. A which is fine, but of you floss on like you you are the **** you need to really be the ****.
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Date Sep. 14 2013 5:32:47
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