Cleaning a ukulele

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jnicholes

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Hello,

As many of you may already know, I have a soprano ukulele. Today, I've been noticing that it's been getting a little dirty. There's some smudges on the body of the ukulele, the head, and other places. Also some paint is chipping off in some places like on the fretboard.

Now, I bought this ukulele over 10 years ago in Hawaii. I think it's about time I cleaned it a little bit. Question is, I don't know how to do it without damaging the wood. Could someone help me figure out how to clean a ukulele?

Any help will be appreciated. I want it to look nice.

Jared
 
Is it natural or gloss?
 
I assume it's gloss. I'm not sure, I bought it so long ago.
 
jnicholes said:
I assume it's gloss. I'm not sure, I bought it so long ago.
Click to expand...

It can't possibly be so dirty that you can't tell. If it's shiny and smooth to the touch (like glass) wherever it's clean, that's gloss. If not, it's natural.

Either way, I would just take a slightly damp (water) lint-free cloth and try wiping it down as a first step.
 
Last edited:
Thank you. After what you said, I realize it is gloss. I just wiped it down a little bit, and it looks better.

Thank you for the help.

Jared
 
jnicholes said:
Hello,

As many of you may already know, I have a soprano ukulele. Today, I've been noticing that it's been getting a little dirty. There's some smudges on the body of the ukulele, the head, and other places. Also some paint is chipping off in some places like on the fretboard.

Now, I bought this ukulele over 10 years ago in Hawaii. I think it's about time I cleaned it a little bit. Question is, I don't know how to do it without damaging the wood. Could someone help me figure out how to clean a ukulele?

Any help will be appreciated. I want it to look nice.

Jared
Click to expand...

Hi Jared. Paint on the fretboard? Paint is a whole different kettle of fish. Most fretboards are unfinshed or oil-finished wood. There are fretboard treatment cleaners. But I stress, these are made for unfinished or oil-finished fretboards. Do not use them on paint.

The first step in cleaning is to lightly wipe it down with a lintfree cloth. You can use a barely damp cloth to clean off difficult smudges, like a food or dirt one from your hands. Often that is all you need to do.

Beyond that you can use a uke or guitar cleaner/polish to clean either a gloss or matt clear-finish on your uke. There are several on the market. Some bodies are oil-finished. Like MyaMoe ukes. They recommend using a light oil.

Taylor guitars uses an automotive Turtle Wax to polish and shine up their acoustic guitars. (I don't remember which one. Look on the Taylor website.)

So lots of choices.
 
IMO the best cleaner and polish for guitars, ukes and many other stringed instruments is Virtuoso Premium Cleaner and Virtuoso Premium Polish. They're used by many luthiers. They really do the job and even remove some minor scratches. I wouldn't use anything else on my instruments. They are relatively expensive but they go a long way. Hope this helps.
 
Thank you all for the help. It's nice and shiny now. Looks just like when I bought it.

Jared
 

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the attached picture in the last post I forgot to add is what I was talking about with the paint. That is on the fretboard.
 
Well, I completely understand. Let me say one thing really quickly. Just keep in mind I am not upset.

As I mentioned before, I bought this ukulele more than 10 years ago. I have known it for a very long time. It's going to be difficult parting with it. It's like an old friend to me.

I will buy a new ukulele, but it's going to be hard.

I'm sure you understand my feelings.

Jared
 
Your fretboard was probably dyed black rather than painted. Stewmac sells india ink (the same stuff's widely available elsewhere) as fretboard stain and includes instructions on to dye a fretboard on that page. There are oodles of youtube videos demonstrating this on already fretted instruments .

The same would probably work for the already fretted board, but masking and cleaning will be more difficult and more essential. Personally, I'd leave it as is and just consider it part of the ukulele becoming real.
 
Arcy said:
Your fretboard was probably dyed black rather than painted. Stewmac sells india ink (the same stuff's widely available elsewhere) as fretboard stain and includes instructions on to dye a fretboard on that page. There are oodles of youtube videos demonstrating this on already fretted instruments .

The same would probably work for the already fretted board, but masking and cleaning will be more difficult and more essential. Personally, I'd leave it as is and just consider it part of the ukulele becoming real.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I actually had some of that stuff on hand.

It looks a lot better now!

Jared
 
jnicholes said:
Thanks for the advice. I actually had some of that stuff on hand.

It looks a lot better now!

Jared
Click to expand...

I'm a little late to this conversation. I have a rosewood fretboard that also shows wear between the strings. Whenever it gets a little lighter light that, I apply fretboard oil and it darkens the area to better match the rest of the fretboard. A different solution to a different problem. However, I always have some mixed feelings that maybe I should just leave it, as it shows it has been a well played and well loved instrument.

Show us a new picture of how it looks all spiffed up!
 
Paint chipping off the fretboard?
 
That's what I thought too. Somebody pointed out that it was actually a stain.

Regardless, I got it fixed.
 
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