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Just ran across an issue about cleaning strings which the folks on this forum would far-and-away be best qualified to answer.

For years I've been following the advice given in post viewtopic.php?p=144656#p144656 to use a microfiber cloth to wipe down my strings. However, I just stumbled across this article at Sweetwater (https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/ar ... r-strings/) which says to use not just the cloth, but also a special string-cleaning chemical product they sell.

Now, I've been around the block enough times to know that most of these "guitar chemical" products, no matter what they're being sold to do, are often just repackaged from normal, more widely available products that do pretty much the same job. Case in point: deoxIT may be slightly better for guitar pots, but really a standard joe-blow contact cleaner will get the job done well enough.

So, two questions:
1. Is Sweetwater right--can you do a better job cleaning your strings if you use some kind of chemical along with the rag? Or is this total hooey?
2. If they are right about how to clean strings, there's got to be a regular, widely available version of the chemical rather than their marked-up "special guitar" product. What is it?

Thanks!

Probably a low odor quick drying VM&P naphtha. You want something that flashes off fairly quickly and isn't too deadly. Some of the lighter hydrocarbons may work a little better but xylene and benzene (as opposed to benzine) are rather toxic. Speculation on my part - others may know better.

The way I clean guitar strings is by opening a new package and installing new strings

Ha ha. Me too.

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piano techs use those Scotch Brite pads to clean rust and corrosion from the strings.

When I was a poor college student I would take off a set of dead strings, boil them in a teapot for an hour, and then take a small ball of steel wool and pull the strings through it a few times while pinching down on it. The strings would sound like new, but wouldn't last quite as long as new ones.

I ran into that method when I was much younger (boil with a ball of aluminium foil). Tried it a few times. I certainly ended up with cleaner, shiny strings, but I didn’t get that satisfying sound of a new string, so I dropped it.


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When I was out on the road starving as a sideman, I would coil my bass strings loosely and ask the kitchen staff to put them through the dishwasher. This extended to life of my bass strings immensely. But I only ever did it for my bass strings, my guitar strings would get changed weekly. The cost of guitar strings was not worth dealing with trying to straighten them out to reinstall them. Lol!!

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Me three. Never clean strings.

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OK, thus far it's looking like hooey. Strange--Sweetwater is usually reliable.

I don't think any of us have used those products. That doesn't mean they don't have some benefit (doesn't mean they do either). The selling point seems to be they will make the strings more slippery (less string noise?) and - possibly - reduce corrosion?
For me "cleaning strings" means scotchbriteing the rust off the plain steel strings on guitars I haven't played in a year. If it does reduce corrosion maybe I would get some benefit from using it.

Hmmm. OK, I'll keep cogitating. I hate changing strings; the reason this caught my eye in the first place is because manufacture of Elixir Polywebs, which is all I use on my cover-band guitars, has been suspended for the duration of the pandemic (of course so has a lot of public playing, so it's not as urgent as it would be in the case of some other type of emergency, but still).

Sorry to the purists, but I'll trade a bit of tone for a lot more life any day.

I’m late in responding. I keep a container of GHS Fast Fret in my guitar case. I think that using it after playing a gig, along with wiping a thin cloth under and over the strings, helps make the strings stay useful longer. Cleaning metal with a combination of scrubbing and lubricant is not a controversial thing.

As far as coated strings, I like Martin Lifespans.

I've read this thread with interest... And must now comment.

I was boiling bass strings back in the 70's. It didn't bring them back to complete high fidelity, but it would buy me at least 2 months playing time (and I was gigging regularly then). Bass strings have never been cheap to buy, so it made sense. Abrasion with Scotchbrite made sense on severe grunge, too.

Guitar strings? I have boiled them when new for installation on guitars with Floyd Rose whammies, because that's what Mr. Van Halen did to keep them from stretching. It made sense from a metallurgical viewpoint.

In reality, we are talking about only a few cents worth of steel. Acoustic strings have more expensive metals in them, copper and their relatives. So they are more valuable - BUT barely.

So in general, new strings make more sense than cleaning or renewing them for further musical usage.

On the subject of coated strings. I HATE THEM WITH THE HEAT OF TWO SUNS. They already sound half-dead to my ears. The advantage to the public seems to be.... They will sound half-dead for a really long time, instead of completely dead. Consistent tone, yes - but good tone? NOT. Give me naked strings, please.

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