Help removing mildew from guitar!

[Gymrat76]

Hi all,

Opened up my guitar case and saw my electric guitar body with spotches of mildew and a fine coating of it all over, including the fret board! :bigeyes:

How do I best remove the mildew? Was thinking of wiping off with wet cloth, then with a layer of guitar polish over it, but not sure if the internals are also affected. Then put silica gel into the case. Wll that be sufficient?

If I send in to Guitar Hospital etc, how much will they charge?

 

[knpan]

lol guitar hospital?

 

[Gymrat76]

Got such a shop name la :sweatsm:

 

[cjtune]

A oft-quoted formula for cleaning lenses with fungus infestation on them is a 50:50 mix of isopropyl alcohol and household ammonia. Not sure how will the wood of your guitar react to that though.

I think for wood, there are oils or waxes that are commonly available for furniture that kills fungus and brings back the suppleness of wood.

 

[Gymrat76]

A oft-quoted formula for cleaning lenses with fungus infestation on them is a 50:50 mix of isopropyl alcohol and household ammonia. Not sure how will the wood of your guitar react to that though.

I think for wood, there are oils or waxes that are commonly available for furniture that kills fungus and brings back the suppleness of wood.

Thx, but I didn't want to use alcohol on my guitar, no telling what it would do to the finishing on the guitar. What I did instead was to prepare a very dilute bleach solution.. maybe 5ml of bleach to 1/4 bucket of water. I then wiped down the entire guitar with a wet cloth twice. After that I rinsed the cloth in tap water, then wiped off the bleach finally drying it with lint-free wipes. After that I polished the guitar with some guitar polish and it looks like new now!

I've put about 3 bags of silica gel into the case now... lol.. but think I should put the strings back on and play it once in a while also :sweatsm:

 

[Gunbucker]

Hi all,

Opened up my guitar case and saw my electric guitar body with spotches of mildew and a fine coating of it all over, including the fret board! :bigeyes:

How do I best remove the mildew? Was thinking of wiping off with wet cloth, then with a layer of guitar polish over it, but not sure if the internals are also affected. Then put silica gel into the case. Wll that be sufficient?

If I send in to Guitar Hospital etc, how much will they charge?

Hi, this happens due to humidity.

Firstly, what is your guitar body finish? Poly-coated (i.e., plasticky), or nitrocellulose? If you're not sure, tell us what your guitar model is. For instance, most Ibanez bodies and most Fender bodies are poly-coats. For such coats, feel free to use water or any crazy solvent you would want, coz poly is tough as nails (and kills your tone accordingly too, haha!)

OTOH, if it's a Gibson, or Fender CS/AV range guitars, then it is nitro coated. For such, use the guitar polish from Davis, Sweelee etc.

For the fretboard (especially for rosewood), I'd like to use Lemon oil, which is available under the product name of Dr Kyser or something like that. Can purchase those from Swee Lee I believe.

Let us know how it works out.

Cheers!