How to clean your guitar

What’s the last time you cleaned your guitar?

Oils and sweat from your hands, dust, and other contaminants can grime up your guitar. Use these tips to give your guitar a good cleaning and make sure that it lasts you a long time. 

Wash your hands first 

Even if your hands look clean, they’re a source of oil. Make sure that you scrub yourself up before getting to work cleaning your guitar. 

Take off the strings 

…and consider changing them if they look or sound dirty, discolored or dull. 

Clean the fretboard 

Wipe down the guitar’s fretboard using a soft cloth. You can use a clean T-shirt or another similar material, or a specially-designated cleaning cloth. Make sure to wipe down the front, back, and sides, clearing off any places your hands may have touched it during the process. 

Clean the guitar 

Repeat the process for the body of the guitar. 

Use a polish on the guitar body

If your guitar’s finish is gloss (poly-finish), spray a guitar polish onto a soft cloth and wipe it down. Buff the polish out with a dry cloth. 

Clean the hardware 

Use a soft cloth and a small amount of guitar polish to remove dirt, dust and grime from your guitar’s hardware. 

For more tips for overall guitar maintenance, check out this Ultimate Guitar Maintenance Guide. 

@fret_zealot Does your guitar need to be cleaned? Here’s a guide 🧹🧼🧽 #guitar #guitartok #cleanguitar #guitarcleaning #music #guitarist ♬ Storytelling – Adriel