Cleaning the San Dimas fretboard?

[Harmonious]

Hi all....I have an SD1 (which I love) and the fretboard is getting a bit "dirty looking". I've heard a few horror stories about people using the wrong stuff to clean the necks (Lemon oil, etc) and messing them up. Can anyone give me some good advice on what to use to get it back to its natural glory? Thanks folks

[Zaneus]

A damp rag goes well.

[Grandturk]

Nothing! Never clean it! You'll be removing precious Mojo!

[dg]

A couple times a year, I use a few drops of naptha (same thing as cigarette lighter fluid, and the main cleaning ingredient in most wood cleaners) on a rag & wipe back & forth with the grain. Every bit of the gray residue lifts right off of a maple board. If you look in the sticky topic at the top of the tech section, there is a whole post about cleaning fretboards & necks.

[XSSIVE]

do NOT use water or a damp rag. it will raise the grain and if you use too much it will swell the wood...bad idea on a neck that's only oil finished.

naptha is safe since it dries in a flash as is 0000 steel wool or the synthetic version of it. just make sure to tape over your pickups so the bits of steel wool doesn't get in them.

-Mike

[DonP]

Nothing! Never clean it! You'll be removing precious Mojo!

+1. Looks fine to me. Worry about something else.

[eelblack2]

A couple times a year, I use a few drops of naptha (same thing as cigarette lighter fluid, and the main cleaning ingredient in most wood cleaners) on a rag & wipe back & forth with the grain. Every bit of the gray residue lifts right off of a maple board. If you look in the sticky topic at the top of the tech section, there is a whole post about cleaning fretboards & necks.

This is exactly what I do. NEVER use water.

[Chubtone]

I've been using #0000 steel wool on my oil finished necks for 25 years now. It gets the grunge off but doesn't really clean the dirt that has soaked into the wood. That's the way I want it. I want my neck to look played like Eddie's, George's and Warren's necks looked. Dirty, old, worn in and comfortable, oil finished necks FTW!

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

For a maple fingerboard I would use a very small amount of lemon oil on an old sock turned inside out, if it was REALLY grungy. You don't want to soak it with lemon oil, actually I wouldn't even use ANY liquid on it if I could avoid it, which I can, because I don't mind if my maple fingerboards look a little dirty.

[P I K A]

i never clean my maple boards. like the way they look all worn in. i dont think this guy worries about it too much either. just leave it alone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ISosUk4rdI

[Hack]

If you want to clean it, Naptha is the best choice.