Your favourite cleaning products?

[ped]

So what do you use? What’s your routine? 

This is what I tend to use - Smith polish in my Smith bass as intended - I tried to get the partner wax for the untreated Morado fingerboard but can’t find it in the UK.  Sadowsky said he uses the Planet Waves Hydrate on Morado so I’m going to give it a try next time I re-string. 

My Wingbass is a Tung Oil finish and only needs a wipe with a damp rag so that’s easy. 

The Vigier has a very worn lacquer finish which has gone satin in places. Dunlop 65 works well on it, it seems to go on smoother than the smith stuff. The fingerboard is cleaned with a bit of WD40 to make it shine (don’t worry it’s not wood!)

So what do you use?

[Reggaebass]

I use mist & wipe ,especially when the misses splashes her red wine over them 😀

[Bolo]

[dmccombe7]

My Overwater i use Pledge or equivelant on a duster for the body and back of neck and use a little teak oil on the fretboard as instructed by Overwater.

My warwick i used to use the Warwick beeswax but was told about Briwax by luthier Chris McIntyre and now use that on Warwick. It doesn't leave any stickiness or feel greasy like Beeswax. Goes on the same but polishes off a lot easier.

On my other lacquered basses i use Gibson lacquer polish.

On fretted basses i'll use Duraglit to give a very light clean on the frets but only just to remove tarnished stains. Usually the polish will clean the fets

I think i need to invest in some new  cleaner for my lacquered basses as the Gibson one is getting a little watery looking so this thread will be interesting to see what's most popular.

I always polish the full bass when changing strings. In between string changes its just a quick clean with a duster to remove finger marks.

Great idea for a thread.

Dave

 

[Paul S]

Cleaning?

[Japhet]

Orange Swarfega in the bath. There's a water shortage you know.

[Newfoundfreedom]

Usually a wadded up section at the bottom of whatever t-shirt I'm wearing. 

[dmccombe7]

Remind me never to buy a bass from some of you guys 😕

 

[dmccombe7]

Maple or Rosewood neck ?

Rosewood then i use Briwax as recommended by a well known luthier to some very famous people. Chris McIntyre.

Doesn't leave a sticky feeling like beeswax which Warwick recommended to use.

Dave

[Reggaebass]

I bought a pretty grimy jazz a few years back , which had been stored uncovered , and I cleaned the rosewood fretboard with baby wipes , which have a soft soap , and then lightly oiled it with Dunlop fretboard 65 lemon oil , to re nourish the wood , and buffed it up with an old t shirt, it came up a treat 🙂

[Frank Blank]

[Reggaebass]

I read that the ,pure full strength lemon oils , are not good for your fretboard because they are too intense , and can dry them out but the Dunlop oil only has a tiny amount of lemon  which helps to clean , the rest is mineral oil.

[Reggaebass]

There’s some info here on oils 🙂

https://www.guitaranswerguy.com/12-lemon-oil-debate/

[Reggaebass]

14 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

That looks good 🙂

[chris_b]

Dunlop 65. Not very frequently!!

[lee650]

1 hour ago, Reggaebass said:

That looks good 🙂

The gerlitz stuff is fantastic! They do "smudge off" which is great for hardware and guitar honey for the fingerboard. I've used it for years 😁

[dmccombe7]

15 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Well, the Jazz is maple, but I have a few (cough) others of both 😀

I might be misremembering this, but I’m sure I heard somewhere that lemon oil wasn’t the best for fingerboards. It may well have been on Dave’s World of Fun Stuff, but he’s got hundreds of videos, so I’ve got no chance of finding it again.

Don't think the Briwax has lemon oil. I remember it has a mix of Carnauba and beeswax tho. I use that on my Overwater, Warwick and Rosewood necks and Autoglym car polish on my lacquered finished basses. That's because i had run out of guitar polish and brought it in from garage and its remained in the bass cave since. 

[Bobthedog]

D'addario, Dunlop and Rotosound are each used by me. But no lemon oil when I had a maple neck or two. Currently using the Rotosound Guitar polish on my Dingwall but only on the body. Clean duster for the back of the neck with a fret board cleaner only used when I change strings.

[Dan Dare]

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 3, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[dave_bass5]

[Owen]

I polished up my late 1800s Double Bass with Servisol Chrome Polish and a buffer pad on an electric drill. It came up lovely. I am not joking. 

[SimonEdward]

I was going to say, 'Waitrose own brand washing machine cleaner' - and then thought better of it... 😶

Hmm. This is tricky. I can't honestly remember the last time I cleaned or polished my Basses.

[ped]

Why not spend an afternoon giving them a proper clean? I find it really satisfying and it helps the equipment remain functional and reliable.

[Dan Dare]

If you do use Mr Sheen and other silicone based cleaners, don't spray them direct onto things. Silicone is a great insulator and can play havoc with electronics. Spray onto a cloth and wipe with that.