Playing the guitar is all fun and games until it’s time to clean it up. In this article, we are going to show you how to clean your guitar properly without damaging it.
It is important that you carefully clean your guitar, because your guitar is your baby and you would want to clean your baby, right? That’s what i thought.
So, what is needed to clean your acoustic guitar?
- 2 Microfiber Cloths
- Guitar Polish
- F1 Oil
- Paper Towels
- Water
Cleaning The Guitar’s Body
First of all, place your guitar on a flat surface such as a table or a carpet. The next thing you want to do is grab a few paper towels and carefully dip them into the water. Grab the paper towel and run it across the body of the guitar to loosen up the oils and make it easier for the polish to really do what it is supposed to do. Doing that will remove around 70% of the oils and other unwanted things from the body of your guitar.
The next step is to get your guitar polish and spray it on a piece of microfiber cloth. Repeat the same steps you did with the paper towels. Make sure you clean every corner of the guitar’s body carefully without applying too much pressure.
By now, you should be done with the guitar’s body.
Let’s move onto the next part: The Fretboard
Cleaning The Guitar’s Fretboard
For this part, you will need the F1 oil. Grab a new microfiber cloth (or just wash your old one) and drip a bit of the F1 Oil on it. The fretboard is usually the dirtiest part of the guitar, because that’s where we keep our hands most of the time. Your hands can get dirty very easily, especially if you don’t wash them at least 3 times a day. Playing the guitar with dirty hands will make the fretboard very dirty over time and cleaning it properly will need you to focus.
Start from the fret at the bottom and move your way up to the top. Make sure you apply some pressure to get rid of the oils, dirt and other things from the fretboard. Clean each of the frets carefully and use your fingernails to clean the dried oils from the fretboard.
Cleaning The Guitar’s Headstock
This part is easy. All you have to do is grab some paper towels, dip them into water and then carefully clean it. The head of the guitar usually doesn’t get dirty because we rarely touch it. After you’re done cleaning it with a paper towel, apply some guitar polish and the head should be cleaned.
There we go. We are done. Now, your guitar should look as good as new.
What Not To Use To Clean Your Guitar
When you read that you need guitar polish & F1 Oil, you probably thought that you can replace them with something else. WRONG. Please don’t do that.
Using anything other than what we mentioned in this article can damage your guitar if you’re not careful enough. Using a floor or glass cleaner for your guitar can be disastrous. Most cleaners nowadays contain abrasives or silicon. Those chemicals will damage your guitar and when you regret it, it will be too late. Always make sure you use dedicated guitar polishes & cleaners when cleaning your beloved guitar.