Cleaning Wenge fingerboards

[ghost_song]

I have had Warwick Corvette standard bass for about 10 months and I haven't cleaned the fingerboard yet b/c of no access to a guitar store. What kind of oil/cleaner should I use to clean the gunk off of the wenge board? How often should I treat the board?

[62bass]

Originally Posted by ghost_song

I have had Warwick Corvette standard bass for about 10 months and I haven't cleaned the fingerboard yet b/c of no access to a guitar store. What kind of oil/cleaner should I use to clean the gunk off of the wenge board? How often should I treat the board?

I use naptha (Coleman Camp Fuel or lighter fluid) or paint thinner (Varsol) and a soft cotton cloth. Gets all the crud off and won't hurt the finish. You don't need to go to a guitar store and waste money on fancy named products. After it's nice and clean wipe on a coat of mineral oil (Johnson's Baby Oil is one type or straight mineral oil from the drug store) let it soak in a couple minutes then wipe as dry as you can.

Do it again when it gets all gunked up again. The mineral oil isn't all that necessary but gives a nice look. You don't need special guitar products. The above are all I've used for over 40 years and I've never had problems.

Some products advertise that they feed and nourish the wood. That's a joke. The wood's been dead for years man. Nothing will bring it back to life.

[fat-J]

You can definitely use Naptha to clean your fingerboard, but I'm not so sure I would go for the baby oil treatment, I'm not sure of the ingredients list of baby oil right of hand, but I suspect there's something in there that would help gum things up quicker than normal. You should however do something to help restore some of the moisture content to your fingerboard after cleaning it. Naptha will dry out your fingerboard and dry fingerboards can crack. Linseed oil is popular and lemon oil can work too, plus it smells nice too.

[Eli_Upright12]

Make sure not to use any oils that have silicon in them because that can prevent any refinishing from happening.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by fat-J

You can definitely use Naptha to clean your fingerboard, but I'm not so sure I would go for the baby oil treatment, I'm not sure of the ingredients list of baby oil right of hand, but I suspect there's something in there that would help gum things up quicker than normal. You should however do something to help restore some of the moisture content to your fingerboard after cleaning it. Naptha will dry out your fingerboard and dry fingerboards can crack. Linseed oil is popular and lemon oil can work too, plus it smells nice too.

As I said, I've been using what I recommended for 40 years and had no problems.

Baby oil is mineral oil with a bit of perfume added. It doesn't gunk up anything. Just don't go to play at a biker's bar after using it.

Naptha dries so quickly it hardly has time to remove any oils in the wood. I've had no problems with it drying and cracking fingerboards.

I've used linseed oil. It works well. I don't usually recommend someone use it because if you leave too much on, it will for sure gunk things up. I use boiled linseed oil, let it soak in for a couple minutes then wipe it off thoroughly. Linseed oil darkens with age so expect the fingerboard to darken. Linseed oil eventually dries to a varnish like film so you don't want too much of a build up. Use boiled, not raw linseed oil, if you use it. Raw linseed oil won't dry. Well, maybe, a few years later.

[fat-J]

Honestly, I can't say I've ever seen a fingerboard dry out to the point of cracking just from wiping it down with a quickly evaporating solvent, but the ponit is that unfinished wood (even finished wood, albiet much slower) will absorb and give up moisture depending on climactic conditions for as much as 100 years or so after it's cut till it finally reaches equilibrium. Wood that is too dry can crack and split easily and oiling your fingerboard helps to prevent that.

[Gene Leone]

For what it's worth I use a Scotchbrite pad to gently clean the fingerboard, and then apply a very light coat of 100% pure tung oil.

[Scott in Dallas]

Originally Posted by fat-J

I'm not sure of the ingredients list of baby oil right of hand, but I suspect there's something in there that would help gum things up quicker than normal.

Regular Johnson's Baby Oil is straight mineral oil and a minute amount of fragrance. They have a bunch of other flavors of it with lavender and miosturizers and other junk, and I'd definitely stay away from those.