Guitar Maintenance 101 - 5 Easy Steps to Clean & Polish Your Guitar

What's one of the most important tasks in guitar maintenance? If you said cleaning and polishing your guitar—you're absolutely right!

In this episode, Marlene walks you through a simple, step-by-step process to keep your guitar looking great and playing beautifully!

Now Available on YouTube Podcasts link:MarlenesMusic1

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I'm Marlene Hutchinson and welcome to Tips for Guitar Plane Success.

(00:09):
As many of you know, I've been sharing my guitar plane tips every Thursday for more than
10 years.
It's been my way to hopefully help you stay motivated, be inspired, and continue expanding
your guitar plane journey.
If you're interested in more learning resources, go to my website marleneesmusic.com.

(00:33):
And for anyone who's listening and feeling like you're missing out on all the guitar plane
fun, you can easily get started with my super simple learn to play guitar in a day course.
Now on to today's tip.
This podcast is brought to you in part by Gator.

(00:57):
Whether you just need a bag to gig with on the weekends or a frequent flyer needing a
flight-friendly TSA series case or a dedicated road warrior bringing your instruments on tour,
Gator has a solution for you.
For the stuff you love, guard it with Gator.

(01:17):
Today's tip is Guitar Maintenance 101.
Five steps to easily clean, polish, and protect your guitar.
In today's episode I'm breaking down one of the most essential guitar maintenance tips
every guitar player should know.
I'll be guiding you step by step on how to properly clean and polish your guitar.

(01:44):
This episode will help you extend the life of your guitar and keep it sounding and looking
its best.
So listen on to learn about this practical advice that'll have your guitar thanking you.
As always a big shout out this week and thank you to our fellow guitarists joining us from

(02:06):
the Czech Republic, Taiwan, Turkey, and Nepal.
By the way, if you listen on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to your podcasts or if
you're watching on YouTube, please do me a favor and hit the subscribe button right now
so you can be the first to know about new episodes.

(02:28):
And please share this podcast with your guitar playing buddies.
Now on to today's tip.
Learning and polishing your guitar is important and it's a super easy basic guitar care.
Let's get started.
Many people ask me how often they should clean and polish their guitar and what I like to

(02:50):
say is it's a good idea to give your guitar a thorough cleaning a couple of times per year.
And the best time is a string changing time because you'll need to remove your strings
to get a deep clean on your instrument.
As far as supplies go, you'll need three soft cloths, one for dusting and wiping off your

(03:13):
guitar, one for the fretboard conditioner or oil, and one for polish.
Guitar polish and fretboard conditioner or mineral oil.
By the way, if you're listening and you'd like to watch me as I demonstrate these steps,
let's go to the episode on YouTube.

(03:33):
The link, of course, is in the description below.
Step one, set your guitar on a flat surface like a table.
Then remove your strings.
To remove your strings first, loosen the strings by turning the tuning pegs, then use
a wire cutter to trim the strings.
I generally trim them right over the sound hole so you don't get any scratches on the

(03:57):
guitar.
Then remove the old strings from the machine heads on the headstock and then at the bridge.
Be sure to place the pins aside in order so you can put the same one back into the same
hole.
Step two, use the soft cloth that's for dusting and wiping the guitar down.

(04:17):
And of course, wipe the entire guitar down, including the headstock, bridge, the neck,
each fret bar, and the entire body.
By the way, in this step, if you happen to notice that there's a ton of excess buildup
around the fret bars, don't fret, ha ha.
That's just due to the natural oils on our skin.

(04:39):
If it won't wipe away easily with the cloth, then you could use a piece of very fine steel
wool and gently rub the fret areas that have the buildup.
Step three, once you've completely wiped away the dust and gunk, then you can use the
using that second cloth, a different cloth for the conditioner or oil, place a small amount

(05:05):
of the fretboard conditioner or the mineral oil directly on the cloth and then rub that
on the top of the neck or fretboard only.
You don't want this oil on the body of the guitar.
We'll use a different product for that.
Once you've rub the oil on the entire fretboard, then let it soak in for about 10 minutes.

(05:30):
Step four, while the neck is absorbing the oil, move on to polishing the guitar body.
To do this, you will need a third soft cloth, not the one used to wipe down the guitar and
not the one used for the oil on the fretboard.
Spray or put your guitar polish on the cloth.

(05:53):
You don't want to spray or place the polish directly on the guitar.
And just enough, why I, there are also cloths that have the polish already on it.
Now take that polish cloth and wipe the guitar body, front, sides and back, the headstock
front sides and back, the back of the neck only, not the front, because that's where we

(06:17):
have the oil on the fretboard.
This step is like polishing furniture, and there isn't a weight or absorption time like
the neck.
Step five, speaking of the neck, once you've finished polishing the guitar body, then return
to the fingerboard, the top of the neck, with the cloth that you use to oil the neck.

(06:41):
Be sure to choose an area of that cloth that has no oil on it and wipe the excess oil
off the neck and frets.
Voila!
Now you're ready to replace your strings, and that's next week's episode, so stay tuned.
And to recap, spring those strings, spring clean and polish your guitar, to help your guitar

(07:09):
have a long and healthy life.
I hope this episode's tip has helped you to continue expanding your guitar playing skills
and knowledge.
If you'd like to learn more, please check out the many learning resources available at marlenesmusic.com.

(07:30):
Thank you for joining today's podcast, and as I like to say, play on.
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