Do you want your guitar to sound nice and clean each time you play it? Do you want your guitar to look good for years? Do you want it to last longer than the hair on your head would? I am sure you answered in affirmative to all of the above questions. Then there is only, one answer to all of it. Clean your guitar regularly. Cleaning the guitar is one of the most overlooked aspects of learning guitar. I personally feel that it should be a part of guitar lessons for beginners. I made it a point to learn it from my instructor and there is no reason why you cannot do the same. Now, don’t fret and fume if your instructor didn’t teach you the cleaning routine. You are not alone. A lot of people have no clue on how to clean a guitar routinely and regularly. Here’s a brief glance into cleaning and maintaining your guitar the easy way. Aim: Learning how to clean your guitar. Apparatus: A cotton cloth – yes a plain old cotton cloth is the first and the most important piece of apparatus in cleaning the guitar. If you don’t have one in handy, then go and get old cotton t-shirt out of the closet and rip a piece out of it. That should suffice for now. The next thing is a guitar cleaning solution that you can find at most musical instrument shops. Do not even think of cleaning your guitar with anything else like a detergent for example. The third thing is a swipe that is used to clean under the strings and around it. Procedure: Start of by cleaning your guitar routinely irrespective of whether you play it or not (which you should be). Why is this necessary? Because there are dust particles, moisture and many other external elements in the air that can rob your guitar off its shine and the strings off its clean sound. You should also make it a point to wipe down your guitar each time you play it. There is a lot of dirt and oil that the skin sheds and this forms a thin invisible coat of grime on the strings. Start off by cleaning the body of the guitar with a cotton/flannel cloth. Wipe it slowly and ensure that you do not miss out any part. For the parts that are hard to reach with a cloth, use a paintbrush (albeit, a clean one). When you get to the strings, first wipe it down with the cotton cloth and then use the swipe under it. Pluck a string to see how it sounds and you will definitely see an improvement. Make sure that you do not use any solutions on the string. Observation: If you have made a habit of the cleaning routine and have been cleaning your guitar regularly, then the first observation will be that the look of the guitar has improved. It will be shining and looking as good as new. Secondly, it will sound much better than it did. Lastly, you will find that you are enjoying your cleaning routine. Conclusion: Regular cleaning and maintenance is the only way to prolong the life of the guitar. Additional help: The above mentioned cleaning methods have been created with an acoustic guitar in mind. If you own an electric, then the routine will change slightly. If you are unsure even now about cleaning your guitar, the log on to the internet and there are hundreds of resources to help you. Even your local musical instrument store will offer cleaning and maintenance packages. I personally feel that it is a habit that anyone can cultivate though.
