wd-40 for cleaning strings? probably dumb question i know

[totallyfrozen]

So I guess WD-40 is not as bad as kerosene. Well, THAT'S good.

 

[Munjibunga]

Do NOT use isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. It has a large percentage of water in it. Use denatured alcohol (you'll need to get it at a hardware store). Most denatured alcohols are denatured with a small amount of acetone. Both the acetone and alcohol are extremely volatile and completely evaporate from the strings quickly.
If you boil your strings in water, you have to remember that water will rust steel strings. Stainless strings, no problem of course.


Agreed. Some of us are just gear geeks about everything.

Even denatured alcohol has water in it. It's inevitable. It's very difficult to get that last 5 percent of water out of ethyl alcohol, the main constituent of denatured alcohol. Other minor constituents are added to make denatured alcohol unsuitable for consumption (poisonous). Usually methyl alcohol is added. That's why the highest proof Everclear is 190 proof, or 95 percent alcohol (pure ethyl alcohol, in this case).

 

[randysmojo]

I knew a lead guitar player with a '52 reissue telecaster that used WD40 on his neck and the strings. He swore by it and he was a good player with experience, but his neck finish darkened farther than almost any "vintage tint" job I've seen. Not so much that it looked bad. Just very vintage aged looking. Oh ya, it was a nitro finish, so Poly might not do that at all.