Cleaning the Fretboard

[Hal Loflin]

My mandolin fret board seems to be getting dirty from too much play (If there is such a thing). Lately my fingers have been coming away a little black after playing sessions. I have replaced the strings and am still getting the black on my fingers. What is a good product to clean the fretboard? I though about just using alchohol but do not want to cause any damage. Thanks for your help in advance!

[mikeomando]

I've used a product from Kyser - Dr. Stringfellow lem-oil fret board conditioner. Cost me $4 years ago, because I don't use it very often, I've got a lot of it left. It contains naptha, and it cleans and shines, but I don't what the long-term effects on a fret board are.

[John Flynn]

We had multiple discussions about this on the Cafe' many moons ago. Here is what I remember about those discussions: Most manufacturers either recommend no liquids on the fretboard, ever, (Martin guitars is an example) or recommend just a little lemon oil no more than once a year (Rigel is an example). The best advice seems to be to always make sure your hands are clean before playing and wipe down the strings and fretboard with a clean, dry cloth after playing. If you do that, you should never need anything else. BTW, I find that old cotton handkerchiefs are great for wiping down. They are thin enough to get under the strings. Having said all that, I have tried many of the products out there, including both the Lemon Oil and the String Cleaner by Stringfellow and I have never seen any ill effects. I can easily believe, though, that there may be ill effects if these products were used regularly over an extended period of time, so I try not to use them unless I have to.

[steve in tampa]

I use regular old Old English lemon oil to cleanthe fret board during string changes. Just a little goes a long way.

Once I had an electric bass neck that I got from the back room of a music store to replace one on a bass I had, and the frets were loose. I applied the lemon oil, let it set in, and it tightened the frets back in.