Cleaning an Old Ukulele

Just came across an old Harmony tenor from the late 50's - early 60's. Apparently it had either been stuck to a wall or sitting in an attic uncovered for many years, because the thing is pretty dirty.

I've tried searching the forum with very little success, and I looked at Aldrine's "Pimp Your Uke" episode. I don't think rubbing compound is the right thing to lift the dirt from the wood. Obviously, I don't want to wet the wood very much. I afraid the thing would warp or come unglued!

What's the correct way to clean the dirt from the wood grain of this ol' uke?

I was going to post this in the "Uke Talk" section, but I thought I'd go directly to the experts.

Thanks for any input!

I had the same concerns with an old Martin. The finish was dirty and hazy. After research on guitar forums, I found a lot of people really liked Virtuoso Cleaner and Virtuoso Polish for their vintage guitars. I found it at a local Guitar Center for under $10 a bottle(cheaper than I could find it for online) and followed the directions. I experimented in a small spot on the back first to be sure. The cleaner did such a good job so easily, I was wondering if I needed to use the polish at all, but the polish did give it a nice luster. Very happy with the product.

Plain old 409 has served me well in cleaning the greasy crap off old ukuleles. I was a little reluctant to post this until I went on 409's site and saw varnished wood finishes as one of their approved surfaces. I've used a bit of dish detergent and a rag, too, with similar results. It's just dirt.

Whatever cleaner you decide to use, you should test it on an inconspicuous spot before you go at the whole instrument. What works for one finish might destroy another.

Don't get carried away. It's easy to rub to a fine shine on antiques, to find all the lovely "patina" has gone. IMHO a vintage instrument needs to look vintage.

6sc

I used white vinegar to get gunk ( nicotine? ) off the metal parts on my banjo uke. White vinegar is a mild acid.

jvann said:

I had the same concerns with an old Martin. The finish was dirty and hazy. After research on guitar forums, I found a lot of people really liked Virtuoso Cleaner and Virtuoso Polish for their vintage guitars. I found it at a local Guitar Center for under $10 a bottle(cheaper than I could find it for online) and followed the directions. I experimented in a small spot on the back first to be sure. The cleaner did such a good job so easily, I was wondering if I needed to use the polish at all, but the polish did give it a nice luster. Very happy with the product.

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+1 I've used Virtuoso, too, and feel it did a very nice job. The only down side was that it was so clean, I had trouble holding it under my arm for a week or so afterwords--it just kept wanting to slip out!

I'd try a mixture of equal parts of alcohol, vinegar and raw linseed oil. Shake it up and rub on with a cloth. Try it on a small area first but it's unlikely to cause any harm. It works great on old furniture.

Thanks to all!

Found a crack on the face. Don't know how I missed it before. I know I've seen plenty of advice on that repair on other threads, so let me do some homework.

I'll post some photos when it's all fixed up.

Or... maybe not.

I think I'll show my bud down at the guitar shop. See what he can do. He's always treated me fairly, and has done nothing but excellent work in the past!

And a shout-out to JP at the Musician's Outlet:

Guitar-ER.net
44850 San Pablo Ave.
Palm Desert, CA 92260
(760) 341-3171

I am reviving this post... I bought a style 1 Martin at a local antique store. Condition was good except for rusted original tuners and a bunch of grime on the uke. I did a lot of research and decided to give a deep clean and refinish it. I cleaned it with 3M polishing compound. It got all the sticky stuff out...and I am sure the patina too...well, so bad...I wanted a ukulele to show and play...Then I refinished it with 6 coats of minwax antique oil finish. After the second coat I wet sanded with 600 grit and antique oil finish in between layers... After the 6 layers, I let it cure for 1 week and sanded with micro mesh 6000 then 8000 and then 12000. Applied orange oil to it and finally Howard's Feed-N-Wax over the orange oil...I am so happy with it...Now I have a clean and beautiful style 1 martin uke which I can show and play! ....BTW, I cleaned all the metal parts with Simichrome polish and it did as usual a fantastic job...I cleaned the fretboard with a one sided razor blade and then refinished it with steward mc donald's fretboard finish...I know some of you folks are going to consider this a crime and are going to tell me that no decent luthier (amateur or pro) would've done that...well that is your opinion and I appreciate it but I bought the uke to play it...It was a once in a lifetime chance to have a piece of history...it sounds so sweet...much better than any of my other 10 ukes!...Please be gentle on your comments! Specially the pros!

I wish this thread had before and after photos!

Me too...I screwed up as usual and did not take pics before I started (i was too excited)...i can post after pics if you wish me to... I am little afraid since i know the guys in this forum tend to be a little too harsh for my taste!...yes, i am the sensitive kind!...and even though we are in the luthier's lounge, i am not a luthier nor claim to be one!

Here are some pics.

The tuners are not holding well...I have tightened the screws and still they don't stay in tune...I might replace for some modern ones but I will have to widen the holes for them to fit...anybody knows if I can get similar ones to the originals, where?

drfrancov said:

The tuners are not holding well...I have tightened the screws and still they don't stay in tune...I might replace for some modern ones but I will have to widen the holes for them to fit...anybody knows if I can get similar ones to the originals, where?

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If you haven't already done this, take them apart and clean out any crud, corrosion etc (steel wool on the washersto remove corrosion). This might be all it needs - you probably have greasy dirt in there and the friction surfaces not fully touching.

I cleaned really well. They are not terrible, just not as good as the ones I am used to.