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I've never oiled the fingerboards on the guitars I made. Tempted to try, some of them look 'light' and I'm hoping that a touch of oiling would bring up the grain and do something, for want of a better phrase, to bring some 'depth' to the fingerboards.

So...common suggestion is to use 'lemon oil', which is about the cheapest thing at the grocery store sold as a wood polish.

I found lurking in a closet. two bottles we bought years ago, one labeled 'teak oil', quite fluid, and another labeled 'scandinavian oil', of motor-oil consistency.

Three questions, (1) is what I mentioned typical of what oiling fingerboards is meant to accomplish and (2) are these furniture-care oils appropriate for fingerboard application and (3) what's so special about lemon oil?

Thanks, folks.

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Peter Havriluk

I (and others too) use Howard's Feed and Wax.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I use paste wax. Never use oil because it will permanently soften wood.

+1 for Howard's.

I oil for cosmetic reasons. Most of my fingerboards are rosewood, and oiling upfront means the whole thing is darkened, whereas leaving it bare will absorb oil from fingers while playing and develop a characteristic pattern of dark spots according to what frets are used most often. When boards get grubby, I scrub them clean using water on bits of paper towel, and then re-oil.

I used to use pure walnut oil because I had it. Then at some point bought a bottle of Music Nomad F-One oil to try, and now use it because I have it. Both are low viscosity, and produce very similar results.

Dennis, thanks. My takeaways are 2: First 'because I have it' and second, 'low viscosity'. Both components are on hand....

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Peter Havriluk

Mineral oil is the major component of most "lemon oils" ("lemon" is the artificial scent that is added). It is also sold in small bottles as woodwind bore oil, for oiling - you guessed it - the bores of woodwinds. People use it to oil wooden salad bowls.
Somewhere around here I have a small bottle of bore oil for my oboe and cor anglais, which I occasionally use to oil fret boards. when I run out I will buy a big bottle of mineral oil and refill it.
I also had a beeswax and lemon oil mix that I've used on fretboards (who knows where these things get off to!). In moderation it worked o.k..
Most things marketed as "teak oil" and "Danish oil" (Scandinavian oil?) are intended to be finishes rather than cleaners. They usually rely on boiled linseed oil or some other drying oil as a major constituent, and will build up on a fretboard with repeated application.
Mineral oil, lemon scented or not, seems to clean and darken fretboards as well as most things and is reasonably cheap. Used in moderation it shouldn't hurt the wood (It will "kill" the strings if you oil them)

Not really true. Certainly depends on what oil is used. Motor oil? Yes.... Had a client bring a Tele back in the early 80's who used motor oil frequently, and the wood became so soft I could pull the frets out with my fingers. Also - a little goes a long way. I used lemon oil for decades with no problems, but recently switched to Howard Feed'n'wax.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

thanks, everybody. Wonderful symposium!

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Peter Havriluk

https://findanyanswer.com/open-detail/502634A7

An article I meant to post with my reply (short term memory fail).

I use lemon oil or thinned linseed oil, HD an buff with renaissance wax from amazon

At 15 bucks for 16 oz in Walmart , which will do hundreds of FBs, Howards Feed-n-Wax is a steal.
I bought 2 oz in UK and have done at least 30-40 with it, still got half (wasted a lot!)
And doesn't really have any cons, as far as I have found or heard.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I learned about Howards on this forum and it's great stuff for sure. It's what I use now.

I use Howard's products on antique furniture (restor-a-finish, feed n' wax), but still prefer mineral oil for fingerboards.

I've been using run of the mill mineral oil for a long time. The kind you can get at the drug store.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

I bought a bottle of “fingerboard oil” from StewMac years ago. Just ran out recently. Have no idea what was in it but it seemed OK.

Thanks for the tip on Howard’s.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I think there are a number of products that do an adequate job of sealing and protecting fingerboards, but mineral oil is NOT on my list. Mineral oil does not polymerise or “dry”, so after application it continues to react with and draw skin oils and dirt into the wood. In my opinion, a fingerboard oil/wax should dry quickly and be non reactive with skin oils.

I tend to use Howard’s Feed n wax on ebonies, and artist-grade linseed oil on rosewood. Both are vigorously removed within 10 minutes of application. Conditioning once per year is plenty.

My 2cents to the continuing debate.


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I like the fact that mineral oil doesn't dry or polymerise. I think the the mineral oil cleans and removes finger grunge and dirt from the fingerboard and adds a little oil to the wood. I agree, cleaning once or twice a year is plenty.

That hasn't been my experience, for whatever it's worth.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter