Orange Oil / Lemon Oil for Fretboards

NoviceEternal said:
For me Dunlop Lemon oil for rosewood and ebony. Just ones in a year and few drops, that's enough.

I had AT100 guitar with maple fretboard and for that I didn't use any oil but instead Sinol and fretboard was like new and
no problems. (Idea for using Sinol I got from one guitar technican who works as professional)

Picture of that Sinol
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That Sinol takes dirt away really well and evaporate quick and it not absorbed inside wood.
Other equipments I use for guitar cleaning soft clout, toothbrush, and also I have few polishing rubbers.
After playing guitar I every time wipe strings from top side and here and there from downside.
I have MusicNomad tool
View attachment 126320
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From the MSDS sheet, Sinol appears to be almost entirely ethanol (grain alcohol). In the US it's sold as denatured alcohol. Everclear 190 proof from the liquor store is the "all natural" version.
 
Here they changed Sinol many many years ago, cause some people used that as substitute for alcohol.

I wonder how someone could drink it.
For me it's was quick cleaning that AT100 maple fretboard and it didn't harm fretboard.
Of course when using it you need to be carefully. I dip it to soft clout and wiped freatboard and only freatboard.
 
Mineral oil for conditioning. My wife got me some of the Music Nomad fretboard oil for a gift so I have been using that... it is nice smelling mineral oil.

As for using alcohol for cleaning… beware if your guitar has a poly top coat. Polys do not tend to be very resistant to alcohol. I learned this the hard way a long time ago. Took a lot of buffing/polishing to get the cloudiness out after I used alcohol to wipe down a guitar.

I use naptha for cleaning now.
 
Naphta. Been using it for a long time in countless guitars, amps, basses etc for cleaning and degreasing. 1 Gallon lasts about 2.5 years, its super efficient and safe on finishes and vinyls.
 
As it's already been said, as long as it's a wood conditioning product (Most likely mineral or boiled linseed oil) it's fine for a fretboard that isn't finished. There's no point in oiling a maple board with finish on it.

The problem I see out there is people using oil too often. I've had the same 2oz bottle of peavey lemon oil for close to 30 years. It's still half full. When I do oil a board I put a drop of oil on a paper towel and apply it to the board. Let it sit for about 15-30 minutes then buff dry. That's it... I oil my rosewood and ebony boards once a year. If it's a guitar I play often I don't oil it at all.

For cleaning I use Naphtha when needed and Jescar Paint Refresh Guitar Polish. Works fine on Nitro and Poly.
 
paranoid said:
Seems like to me, ebony and rosewood with oil on it just attracts gunk. A little H2O on a rag cleans it up.
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I've never had that problem. Water might help clean it, but it doesn't help preserve the wood. Avoid exposing unfinished wood to water unless it's absolutely necessary. That can raise the grain and cause other problems.

Occasional oiling replenishes the natural oils in rosewood and ebony that get depleted over time.
 
Yeah if it's attracting gunk, you're leaving way too much oil on the wood. Rub a little oil on to "wet" it, let it sit for a minute or two to soak in a bit and then wipe all the rest back off. It should not be wet with oil when you are done.
 
I have used Ernie Ball Wonder Wipes for ~15 years and have had great results with them. More reliable than their strings, lighter weight than their Stingrays. ;)

I used to get a little gunk around the fret wires but the wipes allowed me to 'floss' around the wires which eliminated the need to use another tool or process for removal, and I get almost no gunk now.
 
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