It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:45 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 34 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next
Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next
Author Message
Post subject: Best homemade solutions to disinfect a guitar?
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 3:18 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:56 pm
Posts: 6
Hi all,

What are some good homemade solutions for disinfecting and cleaning my guitar? I only really want to disinfect it once since I just bought it used, and then from there just keep it clean once in a while. I have always heard any alcohol-based products are a no-no, but recently someone said it was OK to do it once or twice; just don't do it often. Finally, is it OK to use baby wipes to clean the strings after use?

Thanks for any info!


Last edited by bossmusic1 on Fri Feb 08, 2013 7:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Best homemade solutions to disinfect a guitar?
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:17 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star

Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 2:37 pm
Posts: 8708
Location: Natural Bridge, Virginia
Did the previous owner have the Plague or something? Just get one of the many guitar spray cleaners available and wipe it down. Wipe the strings with a dry cloth.

_________________
Bill

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best homemade solutions to disinfect a guitar?
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 5:14 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2012 7:29 am
Posts: 937
you dont need to clean the strings every time you finish using the guitar :lol:

i dont think ive ever cleaned any of my guitars with anything. when the strings get grim i change them. and i have a 12 year fretboard oil rub stick that gets used about once a year.

i agree witht he above, unless the previous owner was a lepar or lived in the sewers with the teenage mutant ninja turtles, i wouldnt worry about it. damp rag is fine.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best homemade solutions to disinfect a guitar?
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 6:23 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:18 am
Posts: 1530
Location: The Frozen Tundra of MN
I have never heard of anyone disinfecting a guitar, nor can I find any reports of anybody becoming ill or dying from a disease riddled guitar. :shock:


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best homemade solutions to disinfect a guitar?
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 9:35 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2012 10:47 am
Posts: 1256
I wouldn't use baby wipes on the strings.. I will no doubt leave a residue that will gunk up the strings and kill their ability resonate properly. a clean cotton rag and dampen it with warm water.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best homemade solutions to disinfect a guitar?
Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 4:10 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star

Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 2:37 pm
Posts: 8708
Location: Natural Bridge, Virginia
Here's everything a fastidious guitarist could ever need to keep his/her #1 sparkling:

http://www.fender.com/accessories/guitar_care/

_________________
Bill

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best homemade solutions to disinfect a guitar?
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:39 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2007 4:04 pm
Posts: 388
Location: Lititz, PA
Wipe it down with alcohol.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best homemade solutions to disinfect a guitar?
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:23 pm
Offline
Roadie
Roadie
User avatar

Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 2:27 pm
Posts: 269
The Blacktop Jaguar I bought was really grimy. I bought a bottle of the StewMac cleaner/polish from the same guy who sold me the guitar. I used a torn up old cotton undershirt to wipe down the whole guitar.

The process worked great but the guitar smelled faintly of solvent for about six months after that.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best homemade solutions to disinfect a guitar?
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 8:33 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:50 pm
Posts: 7998
Location: ʎɹʇunoɔ ǝsoɹ pןıʍ
warnergt wrote:
Wipe it down with alcohol.

Scotch will leave the most delicious smelling residual aroma and if some doesn't make it all the way to the guitar, where's the harm?

_________________
Image
Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best homemade solutions to disinfect a guitar?
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 10:18 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star

Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 2:37 pm
Posts: 8708
Location: Natural Bridge, Virginia
BMW-KTM wrote:
warnergt wrote:
Wipe it down with alcohol.

Scotch will leave the most delicious smelling residual aroma and if some doesn't make it all the way to the guitar, where's the harm?


I find that Glenmorangie 25 leaves a deep, rich shine with a complex, yet delicate aroma.

Glenfiddich 21 has a more muted gloss with a brighter aroma.

Finally, Dewars 18 leaves a dull finish with a very harsh and pungent aroma akin to lighter fluid.

CAUTION: Jim Beam White label will strip the finish and kill any bug residing on or in the underlying wood.

_________________
Bill

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best homemade solutions to disinfect a guitar?
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 10:51 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:50 pm
Posts: 7998
Location: ʎɹʇunoɔ ǝsoɹ pןıʍ
I hear Maker's Mark Bourbon leaves a bit of a foul smell but polishes to a very high gloss.

My favourite is Laphroaig 1974. 'Tis a wee bit pricey but the complex bouquet and the deep luster are well worth the extra expense.

_________________
Image
Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best homemade solutions to disinfect a guitar?
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 12:25 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 9:50 am
Posts: 1399
Hmm, sounds like cootiphobia. :D
Therapy might help. :|
I guess boiling it is out of the question. :shock:

There's always the Hendrix and lighter fluid trick. :roll:

_________________
I have some Fender gear.
(Telecaster, Jaguar, Villager 12 String. Mustang l, Bronco, SCX2, Rumble 350, HRDIII, Rumble 2x8 Neo Cab)
http://www.reverbnation.com/modwiz


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best homemade solutions to disinfect a guitar?
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 5:53 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:33 am
Posts: 8461
Location: Mars, the angry red planet.
Years ago, a friend of mine asked me to refret his LP Custom. He gave it to me with the fingerboard all skanky from sweat and who knows what else. He never wiped down the guitar let alone ever clean it where needless to say, it was outright disgusting.

When the time came, I started pulling the frets. There was this green slime present under all of them. I really never gave it a second thought and did what I had to do. A couple of weeks later, I had warts all over my fingers and hands. (Note that to this day, this was the one and only time I ever had warts.) Of course, I went to the doctor. He was convinced that that green slime was the cause as there was some sort of active virus in it from my friends body chemistry. After this incident, I not only clean a 'nasty' guitar thoroughly to the furthest extent possible before working on it but I use surgical gloves throughout.

The point: Regardless of whether the OP is a germaphobe or not, I can totally appreciate his caution.

_________________
You dig?


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best homemade solutions to disinfect a guitar?
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 6:43 am
Offline
Roadie
Roadie
User avatar

Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 2:27 pm
Posts: 269
Martian wrote:
Years ago, a friend of mine asked me to refret his LP Custom. He gave it to me with the fingerboard all skanky from sweat and who knows what else. He never wiped down the guitar let alone ever clean it where needless to say, it was outright disgusting.

When the time came, I started pulling the frets. There was this green slime present under all of them. I really never gave it a second thought and did what I had to do. A couple of weeks later, I had warts all over my fingers and hands. (Note that to this day, this was the one and only time I ever had warts.) Of course, I went to the doctor. He was convinced that that green slime was the cause as there was some sort of active virus in it from my friends body chemistry. After this incident, I not only clean a 'nasty' guitar thoroughly to the furthest extent possible before working on it but I use surgical gloves throughout.

The point: Regardless of whether the OP is a germaphobe or not, I can totally appreciate his caution.


That's awful! I wonder if the sharp frets might have nicked your hands providing a portal of entry. Way to feed my OCD.

I'll never understand the mindset of dudes who buy used guitars and then leave them caked with grime. Leaving disease out of it, doesn't it make you feel a little depressed to have one of your most prized possessions covered in gunk?

What's so shameful about applying ten minutes of elbow grease to get closer to that new guitar feeling?


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Best homemade solutions to disinfect a guitar?
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 7:05 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:33 am
Posts: 8461
Location: Mars, the angry red planet.
Wayne2 wrote:
Martian wrote:
Years ago, a friend of mine asked me to refret his LP Custom. He gave it to me with the fingerboard all skanky from sweat and who knows what else. He never wiped down the guitar let alone ever clean it where needless to say, it was outright disgusting.

When the time came, I started pulling the frets. There was this green slime present under all of them. I really never gave it a second thought and did what I had to do. A couple of weeks later, I had warts all over my fingers and hands. (Note that to this day, this was the one and only time I ever had warts.) Of course, I went to the doctor. He was convinced that that green slime was the cause as there was some sort of active virus in it from my friends body chemistry. After this incident, I not only clean a 'nasty' guitar thoroughly to the furthest extent possible before working on it but I use surgical gloves throughout.

The point: Regardless of whether the OP is a germaphobe or not, I can totally appreciate his caution.


That's awful! I wonder if the sharp frets might have nicked your hands providing a portal of entry. Way to feed my OCD.

I'll never understand the mindset of dudes who buy used guitars and then leave them caked with grime. Leaving disease out of it, doesn't it make you feel a little depressed to have one of your most prized possessions covered in gunk?

What's so shameful about applying ten minutes of elbow grease to get closer to that new guitar feeling?


Actually, I had no nicks. It was just a really, really nasty guitar. I had chastised my friend about the filthy condition even before the warts. He laughed and said something along the lines of all he does is play it and he's not concerned about what it looks like. After I told him about the warts, he was clearly embarrassed but it did not change his hygiene habits as far as how he cared for his guitars. I will give him credit where credit is due though. From that point on, any guitar he gives me to service, he makes sure it is (relatively) cleaned up. Notwithstanding, I bomb his guitars (and those of others' in the same condition) with naptha and make damn sure I use the surgical gloves.

_________________
You dig?


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 34 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next
Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: