Guitar Fretboard Cleaning

It's important to maintain a clean fingerboard so that dirty contaminants do not rot the wood and cause the frets to loosen. However, if you stay in the habit of wiping down your strings and fretboard after every use, then one cleaning per year is usually sufficient, even with frequent playing. As said elsewhere, it is best and easiest to do this cleaning when the strings are off, so do it during a string change.

Types of fretboards

The vast majority of guitars use one of three types of wood for their fingerboard: maple, ebony, or rosewood. Maple is a blonde colored wood, sometimes with ornate grain patterns such as birdseye or curly. All maple fingerboards have a finish applied to them so you won't be able to see any open pores in the wood. Because of its finish, they are cleaned the same way that you would clean the guitar body and neck. Ebony is a very dark, almost black, colored wood. It has a very tight grain pattern, which gives it a smooth look. Rosewood has a brown and reddish look with open pores that are quite visible. Ebony and rosewood are left bare because they retain their natural oils well and don't need to be finished. The following cleaning instructions apply to rosewood and ebony fretboards. Furthermore, the fingerboards of electric, acoustic, and classical guitars are all cleaned the same way.

Maple Fretboard Ebony Fretboard Rosewood Fretboard

Cleaning the fretboard

• First, the area of the body around the fretboard should be covered with tape. When rubbing the fretboard with steel wool it is likely that you'll come in contact with the body as well, which will dull the glossy finish. It is also a good idea to put tape over the pickups of an electric so the magnetic coils don't become covered with fine bits of steel wool. Only use non-tacky tape like painter's tape so that adhesive doesn't stick to the body when you remove it.
• With the strings off you can see what kind of gunk (if any) has accumulated on the fretboard. For heavy buildup you should take the bulk of this off with a very slightly damp cloth. The goal is to remove as much as possible before using the steel wool. Try to lift the dirt off rather than rubbing it into the wood pores. If there isn't a noticeable amount of dirt buildup then skip this step.
• Next, using #0000 steel wool, begin rubbing the fretboard gently, parallel to the frets. Be careful to rub only the fretboard and not the sides or back of the neck, as this will dull the finish there. Much of the dirt will accumulate next to the frets. You can get clean this area by using your fingernail or a guitar pick, covered with the steel wool, and rubbing along both sides of the fret. It isn't necessary to use a cleaning agent, though many guitarists like to use lemon oil or naptha (lighter fluid) with the steel wool during this procedure. Don't use any of the typical household cleaning agents as most will do harm to the wood. We find a cleaning agent to be unecessary most of the time because the steel wool can usually remove the grime. After cleaning each fret and the spaces in between rub the steel wool up and down the fretboard, with the grain, in order to remove any noticeable cross grain scratches you might have made.
• After you've finished with the steel wool clean off the tiny steel particles with compressed air, a vacuum cleaner, or a soft-bristled paint brush. Next, do a final wipe-down with a soft cloth.

Lubricating the fingerboard

It isn't always necessary to lubricate the fingerboard and some guitarists never do. If the fretboard looks dry then it is probably a good idea to do so. But, remember that a little bit of oil goes a long way and lubricating really shouldn't be done more than once a year. It's also important not to use any lubricants with silicone, wax, or other furniture style cleaners. Numerous types of oils have been recommended by luthiers and guitarists, but the safest bets are lemon oil and mineral oil. If there are any cracks in the fretboard then these should be repaired by a luthier before any oil is applied. We aren't talking about the narrow flecks and rays that you will see all over the fretboard, these are naturally occuring pores in the wood. We are speaking of any noticeable cracks where the wood is expanding and that you could probably put a fingernail in.

Apply a small amount of oil to a clean cloth and wipe it on the fingerboard. Don't apply the oil to the fingerboard, apply it to the cloth. You don't want to saturate the fingerboard as this will cause the oil to seep into the fret slots. Wipe on just enough until you see a glossy sheen over the fretboard (which doesn't take much). After this, let it sit for a few minutes and then wipe the fretboard dry with a separate clean cloth.

You're done!