String Cleaning gone horribly wrong

[ctbass]

As long as I have been playing, I have NEVER heard of the alcohol soaking for cleaning strings. So I tried it with rubbing alcohol on my nickel strings, overnight in a tupperware. Oh, the horror of rusted strings!!

So, wrong kind of alcohol? Will this method not work on nickel strings? I remember seeing the threads that said denatured alcohol, which apparently is only available through the pharmacy. But talking with some bass players I know, they said they used rubbing alcohol with no problems.

Thanks in advance for the input.

chris

[FaithNoMan]

Rubbing alcohol is 70% water...and if they used that kind, they probably didn't soak the strings in it, lol!

[SamJ]

After trying both Isopropyl and Denatured alcohol to clean my stings, I have come to the conclusion that the best thing is to just wipe them down after every use with a barely damp cloth... this method has worked so far better than alcohol to clean them. The thing to keep in mind about me though is I replace strings after 2-3 weeks anyway as I like the bright sound.. If you on the other hand play flats, you're better off not cleaning them at all.

[dcr]

Yes, wrong kind of alcohol.

Rubbing alcohol contains about 30% distilled water, not to mention other chemicals, such as glycerin, fragerence, and other stuff you don't want on your strings.

What you need is denatured alcohol. Find it at Wal-Mart or big-box hardware stores like Lowe's or Home Depot.

Do a search -- there's a recent thread going on this.

And it does work. I've done it off-and-on for years. Many TB'ers will attest to its effectiveness.

Hope this helps.



dcr

[James Hart]

I use rubbing alcohol on stainless rounds... but always just wipe it down... never soak it!

[Puru]

You're local Ace hardware carries denatured. Works great.
I bought a cheap plastic dinning placemat to slide under the strings to protect my bass and wipedown strings with denatured periodically.

[zac2944]

Originally Posted by ctbass

So I tried it with rubbing alcohol on my nickel strings, overnight in a tupperware. Oh, the horror of rusted strings!!

That seems very strange to me. Nickel doesn't rust. Steel will rust and even some stainless steels (400 series) will rust, but not nickel.

[ctbass]

Right on. Thanks everybody.

[ZolkoW]

I used nitro-thinner (don't know the exact name in english- the thinner used for nito-laquer) a couple of times, with no problem and good results. it's cheap, agressive to oily dirt, and stinky
overnight, yes. I think it doesn't contain any water.
..oh yes, and if you just let the strings dry perfectly, the smell's gone, so no problem. I think any thinner should work.

[Micolao]

Sometimes denaturathed alcool for domestic use (or the cheap one) is 30-50% of water,
you have to find one with at least only 10% of water in it, (I always read about how is difficult to find it in the USA, but here in Italy is really common ) and don't let the strings in all night long!!
4-5 hours are enough!!

[Trevorus]

I get denatured alcohol which is alcohol with only methanol or something to make it poisonous so people won't drink it.