Have you ever boiled your bass strings?

[etorgerson]

I've heard that for years. I remember the first article I read in a magazine about soaking strings in bleach and baking soda then boiling them and all sorts of hoodoo...
I just play mine, wipe 'em down after playing, and when I can't stand the way they sound, I change them.

I have a friend who says boiling them DOES work, and I respect his opinion, so all I can say is try it.

Isn’t bleach what you use to rust steel wool for kids’ science experiments?

 

[etorgerson]

If memory serves Warchal posted pictures of their synthetic strings’ core soaked with oil, grime, and rosin after trying solvent to clean them using a wipe on / wipe off method. Luthier Edgar Russ recommends a light wipe with his product which seems to be some organic alcohol-like solvent. He also recommends a microfiber cloth to pick up more of the crud.
Personally, I prefer the gray medium Scotch-Brite or Coconut fiber non abrasive Scotch-Brite pads for Double-Bass strings and cotton hankies for electrics.
It seems like the alcohol soak in a pvc tube attached to something that vibrates like a fan or washing machine might be a good bet (poor-musician’s parts washer.)

 

[etorgerson]

As to the limits of cleaning -death by metal fatigue- every once in a while I play strings until the octave harmonic at the 1/2 string length goes out of tune with the open string.

Is that more from crud build-up, surface wear, or core damage?

 

[bassdude51]

No. Just my eggs.

 

[rickster4003]

I hear a little garlic brings out the brightness....

 

[zontar]

I've never boiled strings--I had a friend who used to boil the new before he put them on--boil them, hang them, wipe them off to dry-then wipe them down with WD-40.
Then put them on.
But he never did that with strings already on the bass.

 

[jdh3000]

Isn’t bleach what you use to rust steel wool for kids’ science experiments?

I read it in some magazine somewhere long ago... didn't make any sense to me...of course I've never put any liquid on my strings.

 

[lizardking837]

I use to when i was younger and it worked fine however it was diminishing returns for me and eventually my rounds just wouldn't come back to life.

I now prefer using this to renew my strings. I haven't been using it long, but so far one treatment put my DR LoRiders back to new.

The Bass String Cleaning Tube | Bass Gear | StudyBass

I keep two sets and rotate them when one needs cleaning.

Good Luck!

Im totally gonna try that

 

[gigetto]

I've recently boiled with a little salt my Prosteel exausted. Why? Because they sounded well for a long time and with fast bridge changing them on my bass is a feww minute question as replace in case of necessity or to reuse them I've loved....