uke maintenance

kaizersoza

kaizersoza

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i was just wondering, what do you guys use to polish or nourish the wood you're uke is made of?
 
Nothing. Just wipe it down with a soft cloth....It will be fine. If you must, get some fret board oil and oil the fret board when you change strings.
 
I forgot to mention that it should be a very light coating of oil on the fretboard. Linseed oil works great and is cheap.
 
Opps! I just noticed that you listed a fluke. I'm assuming it has the plastic fretboard. In that case don't put anything on it.
 
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It depends on the finish and what your uke gets exposed to.

You'll find several thread several threads on this. Mostly I just wipe down the body/neck/fretboard after use and once or twice a year use lemon oil or feed'n'wax on the fretboard. My oil finish ukes get a lemon oil rub down on them about once a year.
 
I wipe of the spit, sweat, beer, and skin particles with Stewart Mac's polish. I'll put some lemon oil and Stew mac on the fretboard. Sometimes I'll use an old tooth brush to get the grime from besides the frets with the concoction soaking on it. Too much lemon oil maker Aqulias squeek for me. Then I rub it down with a soft cloth and wonder why I let it get so dirty.
 
i had this same q a few days ago then i watched this:

http://ukuleleunderground.com/2011/08/uke-minutes-134-how-to-clean-your-fretboard/

i just don't know if i can bring myself to actually use steel wool--even fine grain steel wool--on a high end uke. maybe a p.o.j. $70 uke, but a $1k koaloha or something? i'm just not sure...

anyone out there ever do what aldrine shows in this vid? i'm sure it works, but what does it do to the fret wires and actual wood?
 
I've gotten some old and grimey instruments, and I use naphtha and elbow grease on those. For regular maintenance I just use a polishing cloth. If there's a lot of grime on there I will use some guitar polish.
 
3nails4holes said:
i had this same q a few days ago then i watched this:

http://ukuleleunderground.com/2011/08/uke-minutes-134-how-to-clean-your-fretboard/

i just don't know if i can bring myself to actually use steel wool--even fine grain steel wool--on a high end uke. maybe a p.o.j. $70 uke, but a $1k koaloha or something? i'm just not sure...

anyone out there ever do what aldrine shows in this vid? i'm sure it works, but what does it do to the fret wires and actual wood?
Click to expand...

I use (0000) steel wool and linseed oil on the (ebony) fretboard of my $4,000 acoustic guitar and the (rosewood) fretboard of my 30 year old Gibson Les Paul Standard. So, no problem on a $1,000+ uke with a rosewood fretboard. Have you seen this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbsCnV2XvdM

If you get/have a cordless screwdriver, you can get that plastic tuner socket from Stew-Mac, it works GREAT:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Accessories/Stringwinders,_bridge_pin_pullers/Zap-It_EZ-Winder.html
 
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Unless you live in extremely dry climate, fretboard oiling is very often over done. Needs once a year application (max) in most places, and only if it looks like it is dry. Over oiling a fretboard can cause other issues and damage.

Linseed is ok, as is fret doctor bore oil (natural, as used by woodwind players) would avoid all other commercial guitar products as they are synthetic. If you can find genuine pure lemon oil, that is great, but sadly most products labelled as lemon oil today are synthetic.
 
bazmaz said:
Unless you live in extremely dry climate, fretboard oiling is very often over done. Needs once a year application (max) in most places, and only if it looks like it is dry. Over oiling a fretboard can cause other issues and damage.

Linseed is ok, as is fret doctor bore oil (natural, as used by woodwind players) would avoid all other commercial guitar products as they are synthetic. If you can find genuine pure lemon oil, that is great, but sadly most products labelled as lemon oil today are synthetic.
Click to expand...

If you see the Taylor video, he warns to use a small amount of linseed oil, no puddling. The purpose of the oil is to clean the fretboard, not give it a lube job.
 
I use the Dunlop guitar cleaning kit. It works really well on my UV finished kanilea. It makes the finish look like it's brand new. As for the fret board, I like the lemon oil, as other have posted above. It doesnt get that gross oily feeling that I seem to experience with other treatments, and it leave my uke lemony fresh :).

On a side note. What do you guys use to clean and maintain open geared tuners? I think I need to clean my gilberts pretty soon.
 
It all depends what kind of wood your uke is made out of. Like most on here I use fairly standard guitar cleaning products and techniques but be careful with those products because they may cause more harm than good on some ukes! For example treat lemon oil with total respect and only use it on your fret board if the wood your fret board is made out of is compatible with lemon oil and then only use the lemon oil very sparingly and at most once a year! If you keep your uke in a case and clean I wouldn't worry about cleaning it too much, just a once over wiith a dry soft cleaning cloth every now and then should do the trick.
 
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