How to Clean an Old Guitar
With the right materials, a little patience and some hard work, you can make an old guitar can look brand new again. When you guitar has grime covering the pickups, it will not sound right, and rust on the bridge could be cutting strings even under the gentlest playing. Bring your old guitar back to life and let it sound new again.
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Things You'll Need
- Wire cutters
- Fine-grade steel wool (grade 00)
- Dry cotton cloth
- Linseed oil
- Brass cleaner
- Ammonia-based window cleaner
- Sponge
- Oil soap
- Warm water
- Guitar polish
Instructions
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Gently loosen the strings, cut them in the middle and remove them. If you do not loosen the strings before you cut them, then you risk warping your guitar neck.
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2
Rub the frets with the fine-grade steel wool. Work on the individual frets in an up-and-down motion as opposed to scraping across the fretboard.
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Wipe down the neck with a dry cloth.
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4
Apply linseed oil to the neck and the fretboard and polish them until they shine.
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5
Remove the hardware from the guitar and place it to the side.
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Clean the hardware with the cleaning solution and cloth. If you have brass hardware, then use brass cleaner; for any other hardware use an ammonia-based window cleaner.
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Wipe the body down gently with a solution of one cup of oil soap and one gallon of warm water. Use a sponge. This will remove any of the debris from the finish without damaging the finish.
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Dry the body with a cloth immediately after wiping it down with soap and water.
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Apply a guitar polish to the body and work it in with a cloth until the body shines.
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10
Replace the hardware.
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Tips & Warnings
Do not use furniture polish on your guitar. Furniture polish builds up on the guitar's finish and becomes a sticky mess after a while.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit guitar image by April K from Fotolia.com
