How to clean the fret board

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I don't use oil. I don't like the idea of oil ever getting near the fret slot and making fret work later on more difficult. It's just not worth the risk when other methods work fine.

Ebony is an extremely hard and fine-grained wood to begin with. It doesn't need to "drink" oil to be preserved. It just needs the finger gunk removed now and then. I use a dry method with a scrubber pad made of rough synthetic mat, like the kind used for dishwashing. It cleans any gunk without removing wood or leaving the metal bits you get with steel wool, leaving a nice smooth surface.

[Bob A]

OK, now I understand.

Until I read subsequent posts, "bore oil" was, to my mind, something used for firearms.

[Paul Hird]

Clean cloth and rub with Almond oil.

[edandjudy3946]

Is there a preferred product to use to clean the fretboard? I have always used a little bore oil to protect and sort of clean up the fretboard on my guitar and mandolin, but it's mostly for protection because they're never really that dirty.

But right now I have my buddy's mandolin and I'm going to change the strings and try it out for a while. The fretboard is pretty nasty and needs a good cleaning.

Any ideas?

Gorgomyte. Google it awesome.

[rfd]

don't need anything more than good old lighter fluid (aka "naphtha"), a stiff toothbrush, a piece of paper towel, and have at it. i go through a quart of home depot naphtha a month, just for cleaning fretboards and instruments. won't harm even a nitro finish. when done, rehydrate the board's top surface with a natural oil. it ain't rocket science, nor should be.

[Dave Hanson]

In over 30 years of playing I've never needed more than a wipe down with a cloth to clean a fretboard, getting stuff on a fretboard that needs an abrasive to clean off ? how do you manage that ? or is it peculiar to the USA ?

Dave H

[rfd]

In over 30 years of playing I've never needed more than a wipe down with a cloth to clean a fretboard, getting stuff on a fretboard that needs an abrasive to clean off ? how do you manage that ? or is it peculiar to the USA ?

Dave H

really? you never ever get finger oils and dead skin ground into the wood pores on yer fingerboard?

[Jeff Mando]

In over 30 years of playing I've never needed more than a wipe down with a cloth to clean a fretboard, getting stuff on a fretboard that needs an abrasive to clean off ? how do you manage that ? or is it peculiar to the USA ?

Dave H

A lot of players are not as careful as you are. From working at a vintage guitar shop, I've seen a lot of filthy instruments. I'm not sure how they accomplish it either, I'm guessing dirty hands, sweaty hands, bar sweat, beer drips, not wiping the instrument down after each use, not using a case, etc..........

The good news is that usually five minutes with lemon oil and 0000 steel wool removes 50-60 years of dirt from the fret board and also removes the tarnish from the frets. Fretwear is another story.......

[Billkwando]

I did my fingerboard with Dunlop lemon oil recently, when I restrung and fitting the bridge on my The Loar 310. Good stuff. Has an applicator tip. It's the first time for this mando, but on my guitars, I don't do it every time I change the strings. Just maybe once every couple years, or if it starts to look really dry.

I never polish my frets though, the strings do that for me.

Generic lemon oil reminder: You're not supposed to use it on maple fingerboard......not that I can ever recall seeing a mandolin with one, but still....