The Best Ways to Clean Your Guitar

My Guitar is but a musical extension to my arm! I wish! But it is a cherished instrument nonetheless and it wasn't cheap either, so if you are a Guitarist, be that amateur or professional, you need to know how to best clean and care for your instrument. Simply by cleaning your Guitar each time you play it will not only extend its life but it will prevent any potential problems occurring in the future.

The most important piece of cleaning equipment in the Guitar care tool kit is a simple piece of soft cloth, preferably cotton. Some music stores also sell multi purpose cloths for instruments made from flannel. These work a treat and can be used on most instruments. You can improvise of course and use an old cotton t-shirt, but make sure it's clean and free of crispy prints which could scratch the surface just as paper towels and other rough fabrics could too.

If you wipe down your Guitar after playing it, this will help to keep the instrument looking new. There are those hard to reach places such as under the strings at bridge and head end, but a little improvisation with the cloth wrapped around a ruler should do the trick. Just remember not to poke and push too hard as the edge of the ruler could become exposed and scratch the surface if you're not careful.

Don't forget to clean those strings too. Sweaty fingers and bits of dry skin need removing after each play. By cleaning your strings you not only increase their tuning life but they will retain their crisp, bell-like tone for longer. It's taken years for someone to come up with a special string cleaning tool but now there is something called the Swipe. What this ingenious little string cleaning gadget does is removes corrosive sweat & grime. It cleans both the surface and the underneath of strings thus prolonging string life, brightness, clarity & tone. I have one and it's a real gem to my Guitar care kit.

If after cleaning your Guitar you still see a couple of smudges or smears, just apply a little moisture and weak detergent to a cloth and wipe the area over. Be careful not to use to much moisture though as you don't want runs getting into areas that could prove troublesome.

Once you are happy with you gleaming instrument, simply give it a final buff over with a soft clean cloth to remove any streaks that may be evident from the above cleaning procedure. That's it, 2 minutes of care will have your Guitar outliving you and it'll maintain its newness and function for many happy years to come.

Ginger Lowey is a proficient writer who has work on the website Cleanwhatever.com where there are articles on Cleaning Cat Urine and Using Acne Body Wash The site also has other cleaning related pieces throughout.

Author:: Ginger Lowey
K eywords:: Guitar, Guitarist, cleaning strings, string cleaning tool, playing Guitar, cleaning your Guitar
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