How do I oil my fretboard?

[Arthur Sweeney]

Hello, I just picked-up a used Washburn 12-string acoustic, model D10S12. It has a rosewood

fretboard that needs cleaning/oiling. I do not know what to use. I have read online to use the

following: furniture oil, mineral oil, almond oil, lemon oil. Which one should I use??

Also, someone once told me to never remove all the strings of the guitar at once.

Is this true? Thank you for your advice. Most appreciated.

 

[Paul Hostetter]

Naphtha is a petroleum distillate.

[FRANK]

love that smell

 

[Paul Verticchio]

Hi Paul.

It seems you know something about naphtha that I don't.  I've used it as a primary cleaner/solvent for instrument work for over 30 years and haven't had a single unsatisfactory experience.  I also recommend it's use to customers for non abrasive cleaning of parts & FB's.  I've maintained several of those instruments for their owners for a like period of time and have detected zero issues or problems associated with it's use.

 

Every repair person whose counsel I've sought uses the stuff like I do, including Frank F. and Dan E.  Dan's "bible" is full of recommended uses for it.

 

Could you enlighten us as to the specific disadvantages of using naphtha for a cleaning solvent?  If there's a potential "fatal error" connected with it's use, I"ll have to find a different solvent.

 

Thanks for any info you can provide,

 

The Other Paul (:

[Paul Hostetter]

I never disrecommended it. I just think it's weird and unhelpful when someone recommends it but then says don't use a petroleum product. Where do they think naphtha comes from? Watermelons?

 

As far as a cleaner, water is the ultimate cleaner, way ahead of any petroleum product. Naphtha is great for undoing petroleum-based gunk like tape stickum and so on, but way beyond necessary for most cleaning tasks. But as I already mentioned, it's fairly harmless.

 

Naphtha (pronounced /ˈnæfθə/ or /ˈnæpθə/) normally refers to a number of different flammable liquid mixtures of hydrocarbons, i.e. a distillation product from petroleum or coal tar boiling in a certain range and containing certain hydrocarbons. It is a broad term covering the lightest and most volatile fraction of the liquid hydrocarbons in petroleum. Naphtha is a colorless to reddish-brown volatile aromatic liquid, very similar to gasoline.

When someone says they have "a rosewood fretboard that needs cleaning/oiling," I can agree with the cleaning, but not the oiling. And most people go terribly overboard with the methods they use for cleaning.

[RETROROD]

On the rare occasions that I get a guitar that I feel the fingerboard needs 'moisturizing', I will clean first with naptha to remove dirt buildup and then apply some of this 'sparingly' and buff off.....

 http://howardproducts.com/feednwax.htm

 

Its a beeswax/orange oil concoction...

[Paul Hostetter]

Have you ever read the MSDS on that stuff? "This product is a "Hazardous Chemical" as defined by the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard, 29 CFR 1910.1200."

"May cause stomach distress, nausea or vomiting. Contains a potential skin sensitizer."

It claims to contain no silicones, which permanently make lacquer work very complicated, but it has something in it that does exactly the same. It's really messed me up more than once.

 

[RETROROD]

Dang! Who would have "thunk it". It seemed harmless enough....Beeswax and orange oil? I guess I need to read the fine print.

 

[Paul Verticchio]

I understand.  It's an environmental (as opposed to a practical) consideration.

 

Thanks for the info.  It's much appreciated.

 

Paul (-:

[Russell Vance]

I have been on the receiving end of a build up of beeswax on guitars from time to time - mix it with some sweat and some smoke and chuck in a bit of temperature and you have my equation for an extremely disagreeable day.   Bees wax belongs on bees surfboards.

And, TWIMC:  the reasons most senior luthiers use Naptha is the quick flash-off time, which means you can use it on unstable surfaces because it does not remain in the substrate or destroy the bond between the finish and substrate.   Water is fine for some things, but, as us old school technicians were taught there is a heir-achy and order of testing and choosing solvents against their target dirt. 

Fret slots, for instance, expose end grain fingerboard wood and cleaning a fingerboard with water allows the endgrain to wick/capilliary water into the board around the fret tangs.   Water softens wood - the rest is self evident.  Good reason to use some glue when putting in frets I guess, and I use water to expand the exposed wood in fret slots if they are slack during refretting - but I also let the water fully evaporate from the empty slots before fretting.

Naptha is not good for you or your liver in large quantities - nor is whiskey........don't sniff it, use in a well ventilated area and wear gloves........if it was very nasty the FDA wouldn't let you use it in Zippos and breath it in when lighting up...but, who knows;   maybe they would?

[RETROROD]

Damn Russell! What in the hell IS good for us....in your opinion?

I feel like you are a bit paranoid of every damn thing. After all. What, pray tell, is more 'natural' than bees wax? Ear wax????

 

In my friggin' 57 years of living I have not had a problem or bad day from beeswax. Am I the "lucky one"?

Excuse me...I need a shot....Jeesh!

[Russell Vance]

Hmmm, there is nothing wrong with beeswax and Warwick and other premium bass makers swear by it - especially in wax finished or satiny finished guitars.  But, Bass players and classical dudes are benign critters who live clean, respect valuable instruments and generally look after stuff. 

My problem is the 30 year old 335 that has never seen the light of day, been used as an ashtray (that's what 'f' holes are for) and got cleaned last time the roof leaked.  Beeswax absorbs everything and softens nitro lacquer over which it sits - trying to clean this combination is for me, at least, impossible.

The other OH&S stuff I mentioned is important for all those who use it regularly - some of my colleagues have got some serious side effects from exposure to volatile and poisonous stuff over time - being dead is one such side-effect that one wishes to avoid and there are countless chemical we use daily that will do you in if you risk exposure to them too often.  

You need a shot - don't we all! 

Rusty.

[Mike Kolb]

My usual "go-to" for cleaning and conditioning rosewood fingerboards has always been "Old English Scratch Cover for Dark Wood". It's basically isoparaffin and mineral oil with just enough tint to treat minor flaws.  The MSDS is pretty benign. I'll apply liberally, leave it for 15-20mins, wipe off and buff.  It's taken me years to go through three 8oz. bottles, so it's not tough on the budget.