Cleaning the mandolin?

[TheBlindBard]

Hello, all
I am at the point where I am playing my mandolin fairly frequently. Can anybody offer suggestions on cleaning it? polishing with guitar polish is pretty self explanatory. If I use the same cloth to polish and clean the strings, is that bad? I don't right now, but, just curious.
I am using lemon oil to clean the strings. I am using a cloth right now, using the bottle to put some on the strings then smelling it to see if it smells like lemon, then I just start rubbing them with the cloth again and again, going between the strings then when done doing the front, I slide the cloth under the strings to try and do the other side as well. Should I clean the strings that are in the tuning pegs up past the nut and past the bridge that go into the tailpiece of the mandolin? I believe it is the same for the fret-board, the lemon oil, at any rate.. If it is the same, Is there any way to clean the fret-board without removing the strings? perhaps getting a very small brush and scrubbing with that?
Should I use the same cleaning solution I have for the fret-board on the bridge as well?
Any other tips or things people know about cleaning a mandolin would be appreciated
Happy picking!

[Tim2723]

I use just a soft micro-fiber cloth to clean everything. I do oil the fret board and bridge once or twice a year with lemon oil, but I don't personally like doing it more often than that. Once a year I'll take the strings off and give everything a good cleaning with Dunlop 65 polish, but again, I don't like to overdo it. I change strings so often that I don't bother cleaning them at all.

[JEStanek]

This thread may be of use...

Jamie.

[JeffD]

This article may be of interest.

[Pete Summers]

This article may be of interest.

It would be if they used a type face visible to the human eye.

[OldSausage]

It would be if they used a type face visible to the human eye.

JazzMando is a fantastic resource, but it does appear to be optimized for Internet Explorer version 1a, released in 1937.

[billhay4]

Most browsers have a zoom feature in the "View" menu.
Bill

[JeffD]

Most browsers have a zoom feature in the "View" menu.
Bill

Yea I forgot. I look at everything 125%. Mostly because I can never find my glasses.

My experience with those silkweave clothes has been excellent. I never have to do anything else and my mandolins always look great. FYI my mandolin is in its case when not being played, so it never gathers dust, or grease, or grime from ambient air. Anything it gets while it is out being played gets wiped off before its put away.

[Dr H]

I use just a soft micro-fiber cloth to clean everything. I do oil the fret board and bridge once or twice a year with lemon oil, but I don't personally like doing it more often than that. Once a year I'll take the strings off and give everything a good cleaning with Dunlop 65 polish, but again, I don't like to overdo it. I change strings so often that I don't bother cleaning them at all.

This may be a controversial subject, but over the years I've been told by several teachers and at least one luthier to never put oil or wax on the fingerboard. Everywhere else, but not there. I have various books that say you should do this, and others that say you shouldn't. (The luthier was of the opinion that over-oiling could eventually loosen frets.)

I ended up going with the teacher I trusted the most, and keeping oils and waxes OFF the fingerboard. In fact, he recommended cleaning the fingerboard with alcohol (when changing strings), to remove built-up oils from the fingers. I've been following this procedure for many years, on all of my fretted instruments, and they all seem happy. I've also seen precedent for this among string bass players, many of whom sand all the varnish off the back of the neck of their instruments, and like their fingerboards smooth and dry.

It does make cleaning a little tricky, as you try to avoid getting wax on the fingerboard, and also avoid getting alcohol on the finish (which could damage it). I don't know if it necessarily hurts to oil a fingerboard, but there definitely are at least two schools of thought on this.

[TheBlindBard]

Thank you all for the swift responses. I regularly wipe the body of my mandolin down with a micro-fiber cloth. I wipe down the strings with the string cleaning fluid they gave me, it's "string cleaning and conditioning" and it smells like lemons.
The guitar polish I have seems to work nicely, gets rid of some stuff that I felt on the mandolin and leaves her feeling sexy smooth :D

[rb3868]

The guitar polish I have seems to work nicely, gets rid of some stuff that I felt on the mandolin and leaves her feeling sexy smooth :D

tried some of that on my ladyfriend, she just got mad

[rb3868]

I've heard differing things on oil and the fretboard - fast fret, olive oil, mineral oil, lemon or orange oil and no oil. Olive oil and mineral oil aren't very acidic, but citrus oils are. wouldn't the acidity affect the strings?

[TheBlindBard]

I get the feeling if I tried it on my girlfriend, she wouldn't like that too much-- but then again, my girlfriend is already sexy smooth, she uses lotion alot.

[JeffD]

Hmm. I never oil or polish anything. Just the microfiber cloth on the body, and change the strings when they get grody.

I might spray some of that Finger Ease on new strings, but I have forgotten to do that as often as I remembered.

[JeffD]

Hmm. I never oil or polish anything. Just the microfiber cloth on the body, and change the strings when they get grody.

I might spray some of that Finger Ease on new strings, but I have forgotten to do that as often as I remembered.

One other thing to add. I wear a sleeve on my right hand, a terry cloth cuff like tennis player sometimes wear, and like I have seen Ron Thomason (Dry Branch Fire Squad) use when he plays in short sleeves. The point is that my right arm doesn't make direct contact with the wood of the instrument.

[TheBlindBard]

How can you tell if you should change strings?

[Ivan Kelsall]

From above - "How can you tell if you should change strings ? ". The criteria that i use to decide if i need to change strings is when the "A" & "E" strings in particular begin to sound dead,especially playing above the 7th fret. When they begin to sound 'plinky',with no hint of sustain - they're gone !. The "G" & "D" strings aren't so bad,as they have enough mass to keep them vibrating for a tad longer,but they do sound a bit dead as well. It's amazing that usually it's not until after we've put on new strings,that we realise just how bad the old ones did sound. We still think there's some mileage in them,but it's just that the worsening of the tone is so gradual,that we don't realise that it's happened until it's really bad,
Ivan

[OldSausage]

How can you tell if you should change strings?

Well, really you should only change strings when you no longer like the way the ones you have sound or feel.

Most people seem to find that happens after anything between 3 weeks and 3 months, but there's a huge bell curve. If you're doing a lot of shows, and it's hot and sweaty, sometimes they will only last for one or two of those.

I was once at a workshop where someone asked Alan Bibey that question (it's a great workshop question, isn't it), and he claimed he sometimes changed his strings after as little as 20 minutes, particularly if he was in a recording studio. You'd have to be dedicated to do that, though, wouldn't you.

[Dave Hanson]

Apart from practising at home I play mostly in pubs, getting alcohol on your instrument is an occupational hazard, after 30 odd years it doesn't appear to have harmed any of my instruments.

Dave H

[Bertram Henze]

How can you tell if you should change strings?

I used to change them when they're dead. Then I learned to anticipate the time and change them every 3 months now before they go dead (I think airlines call this preventive maintenance).
And I clean them with Dr Duck's AxWax after playing (or else they'd be dead after two weeks); but only the strings, none of that on the rest of the instrument (a dry cloth will do for that, smooth enough).

[TheBlindBard]

How do you go about removing and changing the strings on a mandolin? I know you have to do something with the bridge, but, not sure aside from that.

[Bertram Henze]

I know you have to do something with the bridge, but, not sure aside from that.

The bridge is the one thing you shouldn't need to touch if you change strings one by one, as most people do.

[xiledscot]

I had a friend........................once!............... .....who insisted on boiling his strings in his girlfriend's saucepan to clear off the gunge.

Claimed it gave him another couple of days playing

A true Scotsman

[Ivan Kelsall]

When changing strings,if the intonation is ok at all the frets,for Pete's sake don't touch the bridge.As Bertram says above,change the strings one pair at a time. I usually remove 2 courses,the G & D strings first,then replace the D strings & then the G strings. I then remove the A's & E's & replace the A's then the E's. I simply find it easier to work from the inner strings to the outer ones.
xiledscot - A friend of mine did that once,& i stress once. Boiling his guitar strings made them so brittle that when he tuned up after putting them back on,the D string broke,whipped up & almost took out his left eye,
Ivan

[AlanN]

Yeah, I remember the buzz about boiling strings to increase life, back when I started picking and money was tight. Never did try it, seems like it would be tough to re-string once done. I trim my string ends to the quick, with no excess. Hence, at that end, they are all bent into the post wrap-around shape. To get them back on is hardly possible/worth it.

*plus, I get my strings free from a nice benefactor who ain't no slouch picker.