Sweat, skin oil and dust build up on every guitar. Left alone, that grime dulls the finish, makes the neck feel sticky, corrodes the strings and hardware and can even get into the electronics. A little everyday care keeps your guitar looking and feeling good between setups.
After Every Session: Wipe Down
The single best habit is a quick wipe after playing. Run a dry microfibre cloth along the strings (including underneath them), the back of the neck and the body where your arm rests. It takes 30 seconds and makes your strings last noticeably longer.
Every Few Weeks: Polish the Body
Spray a little polish onto a soft cloth (not directly onto the guitar), wipe the body in small sections, then buff with a clean, dry cloth. Dunlop Formula 65 Guitar Polish is safe on most modern finishes.
Be careful with:
- Satin and matte finishes: polishing can make them shiny in patches. Use a dry cloth only.
- Oil and raw wood finishes: don’t use gloss polish.
- Vintage nitrocellulose finishes: use only products labelled as safe for nitro.
Look After the Fretboard
Unfinished fretboards like rosewood and ebony dry out, especially in the Dutch heating season. A light coat of GuitarBuddy Fretboard Wax, handmade in Zandvoort, keeps the wood conditioned between setups. We explain why we prefer it to lemon oil here. Lacquered maple fretboards don’t need conditioning; a dry wipe is enough.
What Never to Use
- Household cleaners and glass sprays: they can contain alcohol, ammonia or solvents that damage finishes.
- Spray directly on the guitar: always spray onto the cloth.
- Lots of water: moisture and wood don’t mix.
- Abrasives like steel wool or scouring pads. Fret polishing is done with the fretboard masked off and the pickups protected, and it’s part of every setup.
Store It Well
Where your guitar lives matters as much as how you clean it. Keep it away from radiators and windows, and ideally in a room with stable humidity. More in How Humidity Affects Your Guitar.
Leave the Deep Clean to Us
Every GuitarBuddy setup includes a full clean of the body and fretboard, fret polishing and fretboard conditioning, along with all the adjustments and fresh strings. Here’s what happens during a setup. GuitarBuddy is based in Zandvoort and works with players in Haarlem, Aerdenhout and Amsterdam. Book your guitar setup.
